S&P Global Inc. reports company news across data, benchmarks and analytics for capital, commodity and automotive markets. Coverage includes its credit ratings and market intelligence businesses, S&P Global Energy and Platts price assessments, and S&P Global Mobility products such as CARFAX vehicle history reports, listings, car care tools and recall data.
Recurring updates also include investor conference appearances, product and data launches, board and governance changes, and corporate-status developments involving the Mobility division.
CARFAX has been honored as a Best Place to Work for 2024 by both the Washington Post and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This marks the 10th time CARFAX has received this accolade from the Washington Post and the third consecutive year from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. CARFAX's culture focuses on employee well-being, offering perks such as 4-day summer work weeks, a $500 wellness benefit, and career-coaching programs. The awards are based on anonymous feedback from employees, highlighting CARFAX's commitment to a positive work-life balance and career growth opportunities. CARFAX has over 1,300 employees, with more than 120 new hires in 2024.
S&P Global Market Intelligence announced significant updates to its S&P Capital IQ Pro platform on June 20, 2024. The latest enhancements include the addition of over 19.4 million fixed income securities data, comprehensive pricing, and analytics covering government, sovereign, agency, and corporate securities. Additionally, the platform now features GenAI-powered summarization for earnings call transcripts, delivering topic and sentiment-organized summaries. Further improvements include expanded industry-specific data across sectors like banking, energy, and TMT, and an enhanced event calendar syncing capability. These updates underscore S&P's commitment to leveraging new technologies and enhancing user efficiency.
S&P Global Market Intelligence has expanded its Bond Reference Data by incorporating 20 new sustainability-related descriptive data fields. This enhancement covers over 11,000 active Corporate and Sovereign bonds in more than 60 currencies. The dataset now includes key metrics like key performance indicators (KPIs), sustainability performance targets (SPTs), use of proceeds, and sustainable development goals (SDG) alignment, providing more granularity into environmental, social, and governance bonds. The new data will aid investors in making informed decisions, regulatory compliance, and portfolio construction aimed at sustainable investments. This expansion aligns with the growing interest in sustainability projects such as renewable energy and affordable housing. The expanded dataset can be integrated with S&P Global's existing services, offering comprehensive support for financial institutions.
The S&P 500 Q1 2024 buybacks totaled $236.8 billion, up 8.1% from Q4 2023 and 9.9% from Q1 2023. However, the 12-month expenditure to March 2024 was $816.5 billion, a 4.8% decrease from the previous year. Consumer Staples increased spending by 32.7%, while Consumer Discretionary decreased by 44.1%. Information Technology saw a minor uptick of 1.8%, and Health Care surged by 93.5%. The 1% buyback tax reduced Q1 2024 operating earnings by 0.47% and GAAP earnings by 0.54%. EPS impact showed a positive change for the first time in five quarters. Total shareholder returns for Q1 2024 were $388.4 billion, a 4.1% increase from Q4 2023. Despite the 1% tax, buybacks were not significantly impacted.
S&P Global Market Intelligence has announced the launch of RiskGauge™ Desktop, a new solution aimed at enhancing credit risk management for corporations. Combining S&P Capital IQ data, advanced analytics, and an intuitive user interface, RiskGauge Desktop is designed to streamline credit risk assessment workflows across various sectors and geographies. Key features include proprietary scoring methodologies, early warning signals, and comprehensive reports for over 50 million companies. This tool aims to provide credit professionals with actionable insights to mitigate risk and identify new opportunities in a dynamic market environment.
The GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index surged into positive territory in May 2024, hitting 0.21 from -0.18 in April, marking the first positive reading since March 2023. This indicates that global supply chains are busier and capacity is being stretched. Major drivers include increased demand for raw materials and components, particularly from Asia, with China, India, and South Korea at the forefront. European and North American markets also saw significant improvements. However, labor shortages are causing order backlogs, which may lead to price pressures. Overall, the outlook for H2 2024 appears promising.
automotiveMastermind has launched Showroom, a tool embedded in its Mastermind technology, aimed at enhancing hyper-personalized consumer experiences for car dealers. Showroom dynamically creates personalized offer websites to capture customer preferences and improve the customer journey. This tool integrates with Mastermind's Predictive Marketing, allowing customers to customize their deals and start the purchasing process online. Showroom is designed to increase engagement, improve attribution, and enhance visibility of purchase intent. The new feature is available to dealer partners using Mastermind, and adds value by integrating with digital retail providers like CarNow and Gubagoo.
A new report from S&P Global Market Intelligence forecasts a 12% decline in U.S. community bank earnings year-over-year in 2024 due to margin pressure and higher credit costs. Despite expectations of a rebound in earnings by 2025 and 2026, community banks will face challenges from high-interest rates and deposit competition. Rate cuts by the Federal Reserve will provide modest relief in late 2024, but substantial decreases are necessary to lower deposit costs significantly. Community bank credit quality is expected to deteriorate in 2024 and continue weakening into 2025 and 2026, driven by higher delinquencies and losses in commercial real estate portfolios. However, this decline poses more of a hit to earnings than a threat to the institutions' safety and soundness.
S&P Global Market Intelligence forecasts the generative AI software market to reach $52.2 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 58% from 2023. Published by 451 Research, this Generative AI Market Monitor report highlights the rapid adoption of generative AI technologies across various sectors due to advancements in AI models capable of generating new content like text, images, and code. The 2023 market estimate has been revised from $3.7 billion to $5.1 billion. North America currently leads with 64% of revenue, but higher growth rates in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa are expected to erode this dominance. Code generators, including popular products like GitHub Copilot, are forecast to see the highest growth, increasing their market share from 6% in 2023 to 10% in 2028. Key areas where generative AI delivers the most value include process automation, customer interaction, and employee training.
The International Energy Forum and S&P Global Commodity Insights report that upstream oil and gas capital expenditures must rise by 22% by 2030 due to increasing demand and cost inflation. This equates to a cumulative $4.3 trillion investment required from 2025 to 2030. The report forecasts oil demand to grow from 103 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023 to nearly 110 million bpd by 2030. Annual investment needs to increase by $135 billion to $738 billion by 2030 to ensure sufficient supply. The Americas, particularly the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Guyana, will be major drivers of this capex growth. The report also highlights uncertainty in global oil and gas demand forecasts and emphasizes the importance of energy security and a balanced transition to net zero CO2 emissions.