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Forensic Analysis · Professional & Commercial Services · as of Nov 9, 2026

S&P Global Inc. (SPGI)

A forensic read on S&P Global Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
3.1
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
13.9%
ROE
7.9%
Revenue growth

This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.

S&P Global Inc. earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 3.1, placing it in the Safe zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by shareholder returns.

What the filings flag

113% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns. Returned $6.2B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 113% of free cash flow. That is $715M (13%) more than free cash flow covered, and more than operating cash flow as well. New debt covered it: total debt rose $1.7B over FY2025, while cash and short-term investments rose $115M. A payout past free cash flow draws the balance sheet down in every year it continues, which isn't sustainable indefinitely. Counting the $236M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 117%.
9.6%
FY2025
Return on invested capital. Return on invested capital is 9.6% in the latest fiscal year and rising across FY2023–FY2025 from 6.0%. After-tax operating profit was $3.2B in FY2023 and $5.0B in FY2025, with operating income at 32.2% of revenue in FY2023, 39.3% in FY2024 and 42.2% in FY2025. The capital base behind it went from $53.2B in FY2023 to $52.4B in FY2025 (-2%), while the revenue it carried went from $12.5B to $15.3B.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$15.34B
Revenue Growth YoY+7.9%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+10.8%
Net Margin29.2%
Free Cash Flow$5.46B
Return on Equity13.9%
Debt / Equity0.42x

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Nov 9, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.

See a wrong number? Report an error with the filing it should match.