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  4. [8-K] Morningstar, Inc. Reports Material Event

Morningstar Q3 2026 earnings per share rise 41% to $3.06

Credit and retirement revenue grew 18.3% and 21.3%, while free cash flow declined 2.9%.

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Rhea-AI Filing Summary

Morningstar, Inc. (MORN) reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $672.1 million, up 8.9% year over year, with organic revenue up 6.8% (7.8% excluding products being sunset). Operating income rose 31.0% to $167.4 million and adjusted operating income rose 26.1% to $189.9 million. Diluted earnings per share were $3.06, up 41.0%; adjusted diluted earnings per share were $3.48, up 36.5%. Cash from operations fell 2.6% to $190.7 million and free cash flow fell 2.9% to $155.4 million, as less favorable working-capital movements offset higher cash earnings.

Morningstar Credit and Morningstar Retirement revenue increased 18.3% and 21.3%, respectively; Morningstar Wealth revenue declined 4.3%, while PitchBook adjusted operating income declined 1.1%. Morningstar repurchased 486,573 shares for $100.0 million and paid $18.7 million in dividends during the quarter. As of September 30, 2026, cash, cash equivalents and investments totaled $524.6 million and debt was $1.7 billion. Morningstar launched Direct AI in October; PitchBook AI was in preview with a limited group of clients, with broader release expected by early 2027.

4 points · 0 major

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Positive

  • Moderate pointThird-quarter revenue rose 8.9% to $672.1 million.
  • Moderate pointOperating income increased 31.0% to $167.4 million.
  • Moderate pointDiluted earnings per share increased 41.0% to $3.06.
  • Minor pointMorningstar Credit revenue increased 18.3% to $107.8 million.

Negative

  • None.

Filing Explained

Through September thirtieth, Morningstar says five hundred million dollars in year-to-date repurchases reduced shares outstanding six point six percent from December thirty-first, twenty twenty-five.

Morningstar says PitchBook’s licensed-user count changed in Q3 2026 to include standalone PitchBook Data Premium Connector users. Because the prior count included only PitchBook platform users, the reported 4.6% year-over-year increase uses a broader user base than the prior-period figure.

Item 2.02 Results of Operations and Financial Condition Financial
Disclosure of earnings results, typically an earnings press release or preliminary financials.
Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure Disclosure
Material non-public information disclosed under Regulation Fair Disclosure, often investor presentations or guidance.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits Exhibits
Financial statements, pro forma financial information, or exhibit attachments filed with this report.
Reported revenue $672.1 million Third quarter 2026; up 8.9% year over year.
Organic revenue growth 6.8% Third quarter 2026; 7.8% excluding the impact of sunsetting certain products.
Operating income $167.4 million Third quarter 2026; up 31.0% year over year.
Adjusted operating income $189.9 million Third quarter 2026; up 26.1% year over year.
Diluted net income per share $3.06 Third quarter 2026; up 41.0% year over year.
Adjusted diluted net income per share $3.48 Third quarter 2026; up 36.5% year over year.
Cash provided by operating activities $190.7 million Third quarter 2026; decreased 2.6% year over year.
Free cash flow $155.4 million Third quarter 2026; decreased 2.9% year over year.
Organic Revenue financial
""Organic Revenue" is consolidated revenue before acquisitions"
Organic revenue is the sales a company generates from its regular business activities after stripping out extra effects like revenue added or lost from buying or selling other businesses and from currency swings. Think of it as measuring how much a store’s own customers increased spending, not growth from opening new stores or temporary price moves; investors use it to judge the true strength and sustainability of a company’s core demand.
Adjusted Operating Income (Loss) financial
""Adjusted Operating Income (Loss)" is consolidated operating income"
Free Cash Flow financial
""Free Cash Flow" is cash provided by or used for operating activities"
Free cash flow is the amount of money a company has left over after paying all its expenses and investing in its business, like buying equipment or updating facilities. It shows how much cash is available to reward shareholders, pay down debt, or save for future growth. This helps investors understand if a company is financially healthy and able to grow.
Assets under management and advisement (AUMA) financial
"Morningstar Wealth reported assets under management and advisement (AUMA)"
model context protocol (MCP) technical
"Our model context protocol (MCP) offerings bring Morningstar and PitchBook data"
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a system that helps financial models understand and share information about market conditions and data. It’s like a common language that ensures different tools and models work together smoothly, making predictions and decisions more accurate and consistent.
Reported revenue $672.1 million Up 8.9% year over year
Operating income $167.4 million Up 31.0% year over year
Diluted net income per share $3.06 Up 41.0% year over year
Free cash flow $155.4 million Decreased 2.9% year over year

FAQ

AI-generated questions and answers. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.

What revenue did MORN report for the third quarter of 2026?
Morningstar reported $672.1 million in third-quarter 2026 revenue, up 8.9% from the prior-year period; organic revenue increased 6.8%. Excluding the impact of sunsetting Morningstar Office in Morningstar Wealth and the second-party opinions product in Morningstar Sustainalytics, organic revenue would have increased 7.8%.

What was MORN's diluted EPS in the third quarter of 2026?
Morningstar reported $3.06 diluted earnings per share, up 41.0% from the prior-year period. Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 36.5% to $3.48.

How many users have tried Morningstar Direct AI?
Roughly 3,500 Direct users had logged into Direct AI at least once, and 86% of them had sent a query or run an agent. More than 42,000 prompts had been submitted to date.

When is PitchBook AI expected to be broadly released?
PitchBook AI is in preview with a limited group of clients, and Morningstar expects broader release by early 2027. The product turns natural-language requests into shareable work products and supports workflows including monitoring, briefings, investment committee preparation, earnings digests, and corporate development.

AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.

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0001289419false00012894192026-10-282026-10-28

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
______________________________
FORM 8-K
______________________________
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): October 28, 2026


MORNINGSTAR, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Illinois
(State or other jurisdiction
of incorporation)
000-51280
(Commission
File Number)

36-3297908
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
22 West Washington Street
Chicago, Illinois
(Address of principal executive offices)

60602
(Zip Code)
(312) 696-6000
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

N/A
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
__________________________________

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

    o    Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

    o    Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

    o    Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

    o    Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ¨

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of Each Class
Trading Symbol
Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered
Common stock, no par valueMORNThe Nasdaq Stock Market LLC






Item 2.02.    Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

On October 28, 2026, Morningstar, Inc. (the "Company" or "we") issued a press release announcing its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 (the "Earnings Release"). A copy of the Earnings Release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated herein by reference.

Additionally, on October 28, 2026, the Company published a Supplemental Presentation and a Shareholder Letter. A copy of the Supplemental Presentation and Shareholder Letter are attached hereto as Exhibits 99.2 and 99.3, respectively, and incorporated herein by reference.

The Earnings Release, Supplemental Presentation, and Shareholder Letter shall each be deemed furnished, not filed, for purposes of this Current Report on Form 8-K (this "Report").



Item 7.01.    Regulation FD Disclosure

The information set forth under Item 2.02, "Results of Operations and Financial Condition" is incorporated herein by reference.

Information or documents on the Company's website referred to in this Report or in the exhibits to this Report are not incorporated by reference into this Report.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This Report contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as "aim," "committed," "consider," "future," "is designed to," "maintain," "may," "might," "objective," "ongoing," "could," "possible," "potential," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," "prospects," "continue," "strategy," "will," "would," "evaluate," or the negative thereof, and similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among others, failing to maintain and protect our brand, independence, and reputation; failing to prevent and/or mitigate cybersecurity events and the failure to protect confidential information, including personal information about individuals; changing economic and market conditions, including prolonged volatility, recessions, inflation, or downturns affecting the financial, data and software sectors and global financial markets, fluctuating interest rates, and the impacts of global trade policies, may negatively impact our financial results, including those of our asset-based businesses; compliance failures, regulatory action, or changes in or expansion of laws applicable to our regulated businesses; failing to innovate or streamline our product and service offerings or meet or anticipate our clients’ changing needs; the impact of artificial intelligence technologies and related costs on our business and reputation, as well as legal and reputational risks as they are incorporated into our products and tools; failing to detect errors in our products or methodology or our products performing improperly due to defects, malfunctions or similar problems; failing to recruit, develop, and retain qualified employees; failing to scale our operations and increase productivity in order to implement our business plans and strategies, including failing to manage costs related thereto; liability for any losses that result from errors in our automated advisory tools or errors in the use of the information and data we collect; inadequacy of our operational risk management and business continuity programs to address materially disruptive events; our strategic transactions, acquisitions, divestitures and



investments in companies or technologies failing to yield expected business or financial benefits, negatively impacting our operating results and our ability to deliver long-term value to shareholders; triggering events for impairment of goodwill or assets; failing to maintain growth across our businesses due to changes in geopolitics and the regulatory landscape; failing to recognize deferred revenue; liability relating to the information and data we collect, store, use, create, and distribute or the reports that we publish or are produced by our software products; the potential adverse effect of our indebtedness (and rising interest rates) on our cash flow and financial and operational flexibility; liability, regulatory scrutiny, costs and reputational risks relating to environmental, social, and governance considerations; our dependence on third-party service providers in our operations; inadequacy of our insurance coverage; challenges in accounting for tax complexities in the global jurisdictions we operate in could materially affect our tax obligations and tax rates; the potential impact of vendor consolidation and clients' strategic decisions to replace our products and services with in-house products and services; our ability to build and maintain short-term and long-term shareholder value and pay dividends to our shareholders; our ability to repurchase shares of our common stock; our ability to maintain existing business and renewal rates and to gain new business; the impact of recently issued accounting pronouncements on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures; volatility in on our stock price due to market conditions, any future sales of our common stock, and fluctuations in our operating results; and failing to protect our intellectual property rights or claims of intellectual property infringement against us. A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties, among others, can be found in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2026 and June 30, 2026. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results and other future events may vary significantly from what we expect. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. You are, however, advised to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects, and about new or additional risks, uncertainties and assumptions in our future filings with the SEC on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K.


Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
    (d)    Exhibits:
Exhibit No.Description
99.1
Earnings Release dated October 28, 2026.
99.2
Supplemental Presentation dated October 28, 2026.
99.3
Shareholder Letter dated October 28, 2026.
104The cover page from this Current Report on Form 8-K formatted in Inline XBRL (included as Exhibit 101).
_____________________________________________________________________________________







SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
MORNINGSTAR, INC.
Date: October 28, 2026By:/s/ Michael Holt
Name: Michael Holt
Title: Chief Financial Officer


image_0a.jpg
image_1a.jpg        News Release
22 West Washington Street         Telephone: +1 312 696-6000
Chicago                Facsimile: +1 312 696-6009
Illinois 60602                


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Morningstar, Inc. Reports Third-Quarter 2026 Financial Results
CHICAGO, Oct. 28, 2026 - Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN) reported growth in revenue, operating and adjusted operating income, and margins in the third quarter.
"We continue to put important product enhancements in the hands of our clients while delivering profitable growth," said Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor. "This month, we launched Direct AI, which features agentic workflows backed by our trusted data, research, and analytics. As clients increasingly engage with our data within AI-driven workflows, we're also seeing strong adoption across our MCP offerings, with cumulative tool calls through the PitchBook Data Premium Connector surpassing 13 million in October, up from 1 million in July."
The Company's quarterly shareholder letter available at shareholders.morningstar.com provides more context on its third-quarter results and business performance.
Third-Quarter 2026 Financial Highlights
•Reported revenue increased 8.9% to $672.1 million compared to the prior-year period; organic revenue increased 6.8%. Excluding the impact of sunsetting certain products, organic revenue would have increased 7.8%.
•Reported operating income increased 31.0% to $167.4 million; adjusted operating income increased 26.1%.
•Diluted net income per share increased 41.0% to $3.06; adjusted diluted net income per share increased 36.5% to $3.48.
•Cash provided by operating activities decreased 2.6% to $190.7 million; free cash flow decreased 2.9% to $155.4 million, as higher cash earnings were more than offset by less favorable working capital movements compared with the prior-year period.
•Share repurchases totaled 486,573 shares for $100.0 million.
Year-To-Date Financial Highlights
•Reported revenue increased 9.7% to $2.0 billion compared to the prior-year period; organic revenue increased 7.0%. Excluding the impact of sunsetting certain products, organic revenue would have increased 8.3%.
•Reported operating income increased 31.9% to $483.9 million; adjusted operating income increased 26.8%.
•Diluted net income per share increased 41.6% to $8.61; adjusted diluted net income per share increased 35.9% to $9.76.




•Cash provided by operating activities increased 13.5% to $437.9 million; free cash flow increased 17.8% to $331.5 million.
•Share repurchases totaled 2,777,829 shares for $500.0 million.
Third-Quarter 2026 Results
Revenue increased 8.9% to $672.1 million on a reported basis and 6.8% on an organic basis versus the prior-year period. Morningstar Credit and Morningstar Direct Platform were the largest contributors to organic revenue growth. Excluding the impact of sunsetting Morningstar Office in Morningstar Wealth and the second-party opinions product in Morningstar Sustainalytics, organic revenue would have increased 7.8%.
Operating expense increased 3.0% to $504.7 million versus the prior-year period, primarily driven by:
•A $7.1 million increase in certain technology infrastructure costs largely driven by cloud costs associated with the migration from on-premise data centers and costs associated with AI initiatives.
•A $5.3 million increase in advertising and marketing expense, primarily driven by corporate brand activities and the launch of the Game On brand campaign.
These increases were partially offset by a $7.9 million decline in compensation costs. Lower compensation costs were primarily driven by a decline in bonus expense compared to the relatively high level in the prior-year period, partially offset by a $6.9 million increase in severance costs.
Third-quarter operating income increased 31.0% to $167.4 million. Adjusted operating income was $189.9 million, an increase of 26.1%. Third-quarter operating margin was 24.9%, compared with 20.7% in the prior-year period. Adjusted operating margin was 28.3% in the third quarter of 2026, versus 24.4% in the prior-year period. The acquisition of CRSP was accretive to adjusted operating margin in the quarter.
Net income in the third quarter of 2026 was $115.5 million, or $3.06 per diluted share, compared with net income of $91.6 million, or $2.17 per diluted share, in the prior-year period, an increase of 41.0% on a per diluted share basis. Adjusted diluted net income per share increased 36.5% to $3.48 in the third quarter of 2026, compared with $2.55 in the prior-year period.
The Company's effective tax rate decreased to 25.0% in the third quarter of 2026, compared with 25.5% in the prior-year period.
Segment Highlights
Morningstar Direct Platform
Morningstar Direct Platform contributed $222.5 million to consolidated revenue and $11.4 million to consolidated revenue growth, with revenue increasing 5.4% compared to the prior-year period, or 6.2% on an organic basis. Higher revenue was primarily driven by Morningstar Data and Morningstar Direct. Morningstar Data organic revenue growth was driven in part by continued expansion with existing clients supported by new use cases, with strength in the managed investment data and
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Morningstar Essentials products. Morningstar Direct growth reflected increased revenue per license and expansion with existing clients in reporting solutions. Direct licenses were relatively flat compared with the prior-year period.
Morningstar Direct Platform adjusted operating income increased 11.2% to $104.2 million, and adjusted operating margin increased 2.4 percentage points to 46.8%.
PitchBook
PitchBook contributed $175.6 million to consolidated revenue and $6.6 million to consolidated revenue growth, with revenue increasing 3.9% compared to the prior-year period, or 4.0% on an organic basis. The increase in revenue was primarily driven by strong growth across multiple core client segments in direct data, which continued to expand from a smaller revenue base. PitchBook platform growth slowed with particular softness in the corporate and venture capital client segments, which continued to experience higher churn. PitchBook licensed users grew 4.6% compared to the prior-year period, including the addition of new PitchBook Data Premium Connector licensed users in the quarter associated with a large renewal.
PitchBook adjusted operating income decreased 1.1% to $52.3 million, and adjusted operating margin decreased 1.5 percentage points to 29.8% primarily due to an increase in compensation and technology infrastructure costs. Higher compensation costs were largely driven by an increase in commissions related in part to several large direct data transactions and an increase in severance expense, while the increase in technology infrastructure costs was driven in part by AI initiatives.
Morningstar Credit
Morningstar Credit contributed $107.8 million to consolidated revenue and $16.7 million to consolidated revenue growth, with revenue increasing 18.3% compared to the prior-year period, or 19.1% on an organic basis, supported by robust issuance. Revenue grew across geographies and asset classes, with particular strength in corporates and US asset-backed and residential mortgage-backed securities ratings.
Morningstar Credit adjusted operating income increased 44.5% to $40.6 million, and adjusted operating margin increased 6.9 percentage points to 37.7%. The increase in adjusted operating income and margin reflected revenue growth, partially offset by compensation costs driven by higher salaries due to added headcount to support growth.
Morningstar Wealth
Morningstar Wealth contributed $59.4 million to consolidated revenue and negative $2.7 million to consolidated revenue growth, with revenue decreasing 4.3% compared to the prior-year period, or 6.0% on an organic basis. Excluding the impact of sunsetting Morningstar Office, organic revenue would have increased 2.1%, supported by growth in Investment Management partially offset by lower advertising sales.
Morningstar Wealth reported assets under management and advisement (AUMA) decreased 8.5% to $64.8 billion compared with the prior-year period, primarily due to the loss of an Asset Allocation Services client in Japan, which accounted for a negligible share of Investment Management revenue. Combined Morningstar Model Portfolios and International Wealth Platform AUMA increased 12.1% to $56.5 billion, largely driven by market appreciation and supported by positive net flows outside the US.
Morningstar Wealth adjusted operating income increased 138.7% to $7.4 million, and adjusted operating margin increased 7.5 percentage points to 12.5%.
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Morningstar Retirement
Morningstar Retirement contributed $41.5 million to consolidated revenue and $7.3 million to consolidated revenue growth. Revenue increased 21.3% on a reported and organic basis. AUMA increased 12.1% to $333.9 billion compared with the prior-year period primarily due to market gains. Positive net flows, primarily driven by Advisor Managed Accounts, also contributed.
Morningstar Retirement adjusted operating income increased 40.2% to $23.7 million, and adjusted operating margin increased 7.7 percentage points to 57.1%.
Corporate and All Other
Revenue attributable to Corporate and All Other contributed $65.3 million to consolidated revenue and $15.4 million to consolidated revenue growth, with reported revenue increasing 30.9%, or 1.8% on an organic basis, compared to the prior-year period, driven by Morningstar Indexes. Organic revenue growth excludes revenue associated with the CRSP acquisition and foreign currency impact.
Morningstar Indexes revenue increased on a reported and organic basis, with reported growth driven primarily by the CRSP acquisition. Morningstar Sustainalytics revenue declined on a reported and organic basis primarily due to the sunsetting of the second-party opinions product.
The impact of Corporate and All Other on consolidated adjusted operating income was negative $38.3 million compared with negative $44.1 million in the prior-year period.
Balance Sheet and Capital Allocation
As of Sept. 30, 2026, the Company had cash, cash equivalents, and investments totaling $524.6 million and $1.7 billion of debt, compared with $528.7 million and $1.1 billion, respectively, as of Dec. 31, 2025.
Cash provided by operating activities decreased 2.6% to $190.7 million. Free cash flow decreased 2.9% to $155.4 million in the third quarter of 2026, as higher cash earnings were more than offset by less favorable working capital movements compared with the prior-year period.
During the quarter, the Company reduced its debt by $34.7 million, net, repurchased $100.0 million of its shares, and paid $18.7 million in dividends.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Organic revenue, adjusted operating income (loss), adjusted operating margin, adjusted diluted net income per share, and free cash flow are non-GAAP financial measures. The tables at the end of this press release include a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures used by the Company to comparable GAAP measures and an explanation of why the Company uses them.
Investor Communication
Morningstar encourages all interested parties — including securities analysts, current shareholders, potential shareholders, and others — to submit questions in writing. Investors and others may send questions about Morningstar’s business to investors@morningstar.com. Morningstar will make written responses to selected inquiries available to all investors at the same
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time in Form 8-Ks furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), on a monthly basis, with the exception of months when it releases earnings.
About Morningstar
Morningstar serves investors and financial professionals across the investment ecosystem, from individuals and advisors to asset managers, retirement plan providers, institutions, and issuers. Through independent data, analytics and research; credit ratings; indexes; and investment management and services, Morningstar helps them evaluate opportunities, manage risk, and break down the barriers that can stand in the way of their goals. More than $3.6 trillion in assets are linked to Morningstar indexes, and Morningstar offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries with approximately $398.7 billion in AUMA as of Sept. 30, 2026. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on X @MorningstarInc and LinkedIn.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as "aim," "committed," "consider," "future," "is designed to," "maintain," "may," "might," "objective," "ongoing," "could," "expect," "possible," "potential," "predict," "prospects," "continue," "strategy," "will," "would," "evaluate," or the negative thereof, and similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among others, failing to maintain and protect our brand, independence, and reputation; failing to prevent and/or mitigate cybersecurity events and the failure to protect confidential information, including personal information about individuals; changing economic and market conditions, including prolonged volatility, recessions, inflation or downturns affecting the financial, data and software sectors and global financial markets, fluctuating interest rates, and the impacts of global trade policies, may negatively impact our financial results, including those of our asset-based businesses; compliance failures, regulatory action, or changes in or expansion of laws applicable to our regulated businesses; failing to innovate or streamline our product and service offerings or meet or anticipate our clients’ changing needs; the impact of artificial intelligence technologies and related costs on our business and reputation, as well as legal and reputational risks as they are incorporated into our products and tools; failing to detect errors in our products or methodology or our products performing improperly due to defects, malfunctions or similar problems; failing to recruit, develop, and retain qualified employees; failing to scale our operations and increase productivity in order to implement our business plans and strategies, including failing to manage costs related thereto; liability for any losses that result from errors in our automated advisory tools or errors in the use of the information and data we collect; inadequacy of our operational risk management and business continuity programs to address materially disruptive events; our strategic transactions, acquisitions, divestitures and investments in companies or technologies failing to yield expected business or financial benefits, negatively impacting our operating results and our ability to deliver long-term value to shareholders; triggering events for impairment of goodwill or assets; failing to maintain growth across our businesses due to changes in geopolitics and the regulatory landscape; failing to recognize deferred revenue; liability relating to the information and data we collect, store, use, create, and distribute or the reports that we publish or are produced by our software products; the potential adverse effect of our indebtedness (and rising interest rates) on our cash flow and financial and operational flexibility; liability, regulatory scrutiny, costs and reputational risks relating to environmental, social, and governance considerations; our dependence on third-party service providers in our operations; inadequacy of our insurance coverage; challenges in accounting for tax complexities in the global jurisdictions we operate in could materially affect our tax obligations and tax rates; the potential impact of vendor consolidation and clients' strategic decisions to replace our products and services with in-house products and services; our ability to build and maintain short-term and long-term shareholder value and pay dividends to our shareholders; our ability to repurchase shares of our common stock; our ability to maintain existing business and renewal rates and to gain new business; the impact of recently issued accounting pronouncements on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures; volatility in our stock price due to market conditions, any future sales of our common stock and fluctuations in our operating results; and failing to protect our intellectual property rights or claims of intellectual property infringement against us. A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties, among others, can be found in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters
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ended March 31, 2026 and June 30, 2026. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results and other future events may vary significantly from what we expect. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. You are, however, advised to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects, and about new or additional risks, uncertainties and assumptions in our future filings with the SEC on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of Morningstar in any jurisdiction. Articles, documents and links referred to or included in this press release are not incorporated by reference into this press release or any other SEC filing.
# # #

Media Relations Contact:
Angelina Haynes, +1 312-696-6037 or +44 203-1070087 (UK), angelina.haynes@morningstar.com
Investor Relations Contact:
Sarah Bush, +1 312-384-3754, sarah.bush@morningstar.com
©2026 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MORN-E
Page 6 of 13



Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Income
Three months ended September 30,Nine months ended September 30,
(in millions, except per share amounts)20262025Change20262025Change
Revenue$672.1 $617.4 8.9 %$1,980.1 $1,804.4 9.7 %
Operating expense:
Cost of revenue240.7 241.7 (0.4)%718.9 703.7 2.2 %
Sales and marketing117.8 115.5 2.0 %351.1 347.8 0.9 %
General and administrative93.1 85.9 8.4 %275.6 244.4 12.8 %
Depreciation and amortization53.1 47.0 13.0 %158.3 142.8 10.9 %
Total operating expense504.7 490.1 3.0 %1,503.9 1,438.7 4.5 %
Other operating income
— 0.5 NMF7.7 1.3 492.3 %
Operating income167.4 127.8 31.0 %483.9 367.0 31.9 %
Operating margin24.9 %20.7 %4.2 pp24.4 %20.3 %4.1 pp
Non-operating expense, net:
Interest expense, net
(17.6)(7.0)NMF(48.4)(19.8)NMF
Other income, net
2.6 2.3 13.0 %5.7 0.9 NMF
Non-operating expense, net
(15.0)(4.7)NMF(42.7)(18.9)NMF
Income before income taxes and equity in investments of unconsolidated entities
152.4 123.1 23.8 %441.2 348.1 26.7 %
Equity in investments of unconsolidated entities
1.5 (0.1)NMF0.5 (3.9)NMF
Income tax expense
38.4 31.4 22.3 %111.3 85.1 30.8 %
Consolidated net income
$115.5 $91.6 26.1 %$330.4 $259.1 27.5 %
Net income per share:
Basic$3.09 $2.18 41.7 %$8.67 $6.12 41.7 %
Diluted$3.06 $2.17 41.0 %$8.61 $6.08 41.6 %
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic37.4 42.1 38.1 42.4 
Diluted37.8 42.3 38.4 42.6 
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NMF - Not meaningful, pp - percentage points
Page 7 of 13


Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in millions)As of September 30, 2026 (unaudited)As of December 31, 2025
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents$496.7 $474.5 
Investments27.9 54.2 
Accounts receivable, net427.7 390.4 
Income tax receivable
8.1 16.2 
Other current assets103.6 102.7 
Total current assets1,064.0 1,038.0 
Goodwill1,745.7 1,610.8 
Intangible assets, net550.0 379.3 
Property, equipment, and capitalized software, net244.7 231.9 
Operating lease assets155.3 159.0 
Investments in unconsolidated entities51.0 50.3 
Deferred tax assets
93.9 78.7 
Other assets46.5 42.2 
Total assets$3,951.1 $3,590.2 
Liabilities and equity
Current liabilities:
Deferred revenue$600.3 $586.1 
Accrued compensation230.2 294.2 
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities101.7 97.9 
Operating lease liabilities40.4 41.8 
Current portion of long-term debt18.2 — 
Income tax payable
19.6 24.0 
Other current liabilities5.2 9.3 
Total current liabilities1,015.6 1,053.3 
Operating lease liabilities
140.3 146.7 
Accrued compensation20.2 20.1 
Deferred tax liabilities
21.1 27.2 
Long-term debt1,660.5 1,072.6 
Income tax payable
15.3 13.1 
Other long-term liabilities52.5 35.3 
Total liabilities2,925.5 2,368.3 
Total equity1,025.6 1,221.9 
Total liabilities and equity$3,951.1 $3,590.2 

Page 8 of 13


Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
Three months ended September 30,Nine months ended September 30,
(in millions)2026202520262025
Operating activities
Consolidated net income
$115.5 $91.6 $330.4 $259.1 
Adjustments to reconcile consolidated net income to net cash flows from operating activities
57.9 47.8 177.0 162.0 
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net17.3 56.3 (69.5)(35.4)
Cash provided by operating activities190.7 195.7 437.9 385.7 
Investing activities
Capital expenditures(35.3)(35.6)(106.4)(104.4)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired— — (359.6)(39.1)
Purchases of investments in unconsolidated entities0.3 (0.8)(0.2)(3.3)
Other, net14.2 3.4 35.0 19.2 
Cash used for investing activities
(20.8)(33.0)(431.2)(127.6)
Financing activities
Common shares repurchased(100.0)(170.1)(500.0)(391.7)
Dividends paid(18.7)(19.2)(57.6)(58.0)
Repayments of debt
(64.7)(95.0)(179.4)(220.0)
Proceeds from debt
30.0 105.0 785.0 370.0 
Other, net(9.8)(8.8)(24.9)(21.0)
Cash provided by (used for) financing activities
(163.2)(188.1)23.1 (320.7)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents0.5 (3.9)(7.6)34.1 
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
7.2 (29.3)22.2 (28.5)
Cash and cash equivalents-beginning of period489.5 503.5 474.5 502.7 
Cash and cash equivalents-end of period$496.7 $474.2 $496.7 $474.2 

Page 9 of 13


Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Supplemental Data (Unaudited)
Three months ended September 30,Nine months ended September 30,
(in millions)20262025ChangeOrganic20262025ChangeOrganic
Morningstar Direct Platform
Revenue
$222.5 $211.1 5.4 %6.2 %$659.8 $619.5 6.5 %5.4 %
Adjusted Operating Income
$104.2 $93.7 11.2 %$295.5 $277.1 6.6 %
Adjusted Operating Margin
46.8 %44.4 %2.4 pp44.8 %44.7 %0.1 pp
PitchBook
Revenue$175.6 $169.0 3.9 %4.0 %$522.7 $499.2 4.7 %4.6 %
Adjusted Operating Income$52.3 $52.9 (1.1)%$156.9 $158.0 (0.7)%
Adjusted Operating Margin29.8 %31.3 %(1.5) pp30.0 %31.7 %(1.7) pp
Morningstar Credit
Revenue$107.8 $91.1 18.3 %19.1 %$313.7 $249.1 25.9 %25.0 %
Adjusted Operating Income$40.6 $28.1 44.5 %$120.3 $80.0 50.4 %
Adjusted Operating Margin37.7 %30.8 %6.9 pp38.3 %32.1 %6.2 pp
Morningstar Wealth
Revenue$59.4 $62.1 (4.3)%(6.0)%$177.7 $187.7 (5.3)%(4.1)%
Adjusted Operating Income$7.4 $3.1 138.7 %$20.9 $5.3 294.3 %
Adjusted Operating Margin12.5 %5.0 %7.5 pp11.8 %2.8 %9.0 pp
Morningstar Retirement
Revenue$41.5 $34.2 21.3 %21.3 %$118.2 $99.5 18.8 %18.8 %
Adjusted Operating Income$23.7 $16.9 40.2 %$62.9 $46.9 34.1 %
Adjusted Operating Margin57.1 %49.4 %7.7 pp53.2 %47.1 %6.1 pp
Consolidated Revenue
Total Reportable Segments$606.8 $567.5 6.9 %$1,792.1 $1,655.0 8.3 %
Corporate and All Other (1)
65.3 49.9 30.9 %188.0 149.4 25.8 %
Total Revenue$672.1 $617.4 8.9 %6.8 %$1,980.1 $1,804.4 9.7 %7.0 %
Consolidated Adjusted Operating Income
Total Reportable Segments$228.2 $194.7 17.2 %$656.5 $567.3 15.7 %
Less: Corporate and All Other (2)
(38.3)(44.1)NMF(112.1)(137.9)NMF
Adjusted Operating Income$189.9 $150.6 26.1 %$544.4 $429.4 26.8 %
Adjusted Operating Margin28.3 %24.4 %3.9 pp27.5 %23.8 %3.7 pp
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(1) Corporate and All Other provides a reconciliation between revenue from our Total Reportable Segments and consolidated revenue amounts. Corporate and All Other includes Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes as sources of revenues. Revenue from Morningstar Sustainalytics was $26.3 million and $28.1 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively, and $78.4 million and $84.2 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2026, and 2025, respectively. Revenue from Morningstar Indexes was $39.0 million and $21.8 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively, and $109.6 million and $65.2 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2026, and 2025, respectively.
(2) Corporate and All Other includes unallocated corporate expenses as well as adjusted operating income (loss) from Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes. For the three months ended Sept. 30, 2026 and 2025, unallocated corporate expenses were $50.7 million and $47.1 million, respectively. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2026 and 2025, unallocated corporate expenses were $148.1 million and $139.0 million, respectively. Unallocated corporate expenses include finance, human resources, legal, and other management-related costs that are not considered when segment performance is evaluated.





Page 10 of 13


Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Supplemental Data (Unaudited)
As of September 30,
AUMA (approximate) ($bil)
20262025Change
Morningstar Retirement
Managed Accounts$207.0 $184.1 12.4 %
Fiduciary Services 77.7 68.2 13.9 %
Custom Models/CIT49.2 45.5 8.1 %
Morningstar Retirement (total)
$333.9 $297.8 12.1 %
Investment Management
Morningstar Model Portfolios (1)
$56.5 $50.4 12.1 %
Institutional Asset Management5.9 6.0 (1.7)%
Asset Allocation Services (2)
2.4 14.4 (83.3)%
Investment Management (total)
$64.8 $70.8 (8.5)%
Asset value linked to Morningstar Indexes ($bil) (3)
$3,614.2 $237.5 NMF
Three months ended September 30,Nine months ended September 30,
20262025Change20262025Change
Average AUMA ($bil)
$386.7 $360.4 7.3 %$373.2 $350.1 6.6 %
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(1) Includes AUMA in Morningstar Model Portfolios and assets on the International Wealth Platform invested in third-party model portfolios.
(2) Includes the loss of a client in Japan at the end of 2025, which started to meaningfully impact AUMA in the first quarter of 2026. This client accounted for a negligible share of Investment Management revenue.
(3) Includes $3.3 trillion of assets linked to CRSP indexes as of Sept. 30, 2026.



Page 11 of 13


Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures with the Nearest Comparable GAAP Measures (Unaudited)
To supplement Morningstar’s condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Morningstar uses the following measures considered as non-GAAP by the SEC, including:

•"Organic Revenue" is consolidated revenue before (1) acquisitions and divestitures, (2) adoption of new accounting standards or revisions to accounting practices (accounting changes), and (3) the effect of foreign currency translations.
•"Adjusted Operating Income (Loss)" is consolidated operating income (loss) excluding (1) intangible amortization expense, (2) the impact of merger, acquisition, and divestiture-related activity which, when applicable, may include certain non-recurring expenses such as pre-deal due diligence, transaction costs, contingent consideration, severance, and post-close integration costs (M&A-related expenses), and (3) certain other one-time, non-recurring items which management does not consider when evaluating ongoing performance (other non-recurring items).
•"Adjusted Operating Margin" is operating margin excluding (1) intangible amortization expense, (2) M&A-related expenses, and (3) other non-recurring items.
•"Adjusted Diluted Net Income Per Share" is consolidated diluted net income per share excluding (1) intangible amortization expense, (2) M&A-related expenses, (3) other non-recurring items, and (4) non-operating gains and losses.
•"Free Cash Flow" is cash provided by or used for operating activities less capital expenditures.
These non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies and should not be considered an alternative to any measure of performance promulgated under GAAP.
Morningstar presents organic revenue because the Company believes this non-GAAP measure helps investors better compare period-over-period results, and Morningstar's management team uses this measure to evaluate the performance of our business. Morningstar excludes revenue from acquired businesses from its organic revenue growth calculation for a period of 12 months after it completes the acquisition. For divestitures (including sale of assets), Morningstar excludes revenue in the prior-year period for which there is no comparable revenue in the current period.

Morningstar presents adjusted operating income (loss), adjusted operating margin, and adjusted diluted net income per share because Morningstar believes they better reflect period-over-period comparisons, and improve overall understanding of the underlying performance of the business absent the impact of intangible amortization expense, M&A-related expenses, and certain other one-time, non-recurring items.
In addition, Morningstar presents free cash flow as a supplemental disclosure to help investors better understand how much cash is available after making capital expenditures. Morningstar's management team uses free cash flow as a metric to evaluate the health of its business.

Three months ended September 30,Nine months ended September 30,
(in millions)20262025Change20262025Change
Reconciliation from consolidated revenue to organic revenue:
Consolidated revenue$672.1 $617.4 8.9 %$1,980.1 $1,804.4 9.7 %
Acquisitions
(14.8)— NMF(39.8)— NMF
Divestitures(2.2)(3.7)NMF(10.9)(17.7)NMF
Effect of foreign currency translations0.2 — NMF(16.8)— NMF
Organic revenue$655.3 $613.7 6.8 %$1,912.6 $1,786.7 7.0 %
Reconciliation from consolidated operating income to adjusted operating income:
Consolidated operating income$167.4 $127.8 31.0 %$483.9 $367.0 31.9 %
Intangible amortization expense
19.2 15.1 27.2 %59.1 44.8 31.9 %
M&A-related expenses
3.3 8.2 (59.8)%9.1 18.9 (51.9)%
Other non-recurring items
— (0.5)NMF(7.7)(1.3)NMF
Adjusted operating income$189.9 $150.6 26.1 %$544.4 $429.4 26.8 %
Reconciliation from consolidated operating margin to adjusted operating margin:
Consolidated operating margin24.9 %20.7 %4.2 pp24.4 %20.3 %4.1 pp
Intangible amortization expense2.9 %2.5 %0.4 pp3.0 %2.6 %0.4 pp
M&A-related expenses0.5 %1.3 %(0.8) pp0.5 %1.0 %(0.5) pp
Other non-recurring items— %(0.1)%0.1 pp(0.4)%(0.1)%(0.3) pp
Adjusted operating margin28.3 %24.4 %3.9 pp27.5 %23.8 %3.7 pp
Reconciliation from consolidated diluted net income per share to adjusted diluted net income per share:
Consolidated diluted net income per share
$3.06 $2.17 41.0 %$8.61 $6.08 41.6 %
Page 12 of 13


Three months ended September 30,Nine months ended September 30,
(in millions)20262025Change20262025Change
Intangible amortization expense0.38 0.27 40.7 %1.14 0.78 46.2 %
M&A-related expenses0.06 0.14 (57.1)%0.18 0.33 (45.5)%
Other non-recurring items— (0.01)NMF(0.15)(0.02)NMF
Non-operating (gains) losses(0.02)(0.02)— %(0.02)0.01 NMF
Adjusted diluted net income per share
$3.48 $2.55 36.5 %$9.76 $7.18 35.9 %
Reconciliation from cash provided by operating activities to free cash flow:
Cash provided by operating activities$190.7 $195.7 (2.6)%$437.9 $385.7 13.5 %
Capital expenditures(35.3)(35.6)(0.8)%(106.4)(104.4)1.9 %
Free cash flow$155.4 $160.1 (2.9)%$331.5 $281.3 17.8 %






Page 13 of 13
Third-Quarter 2026 Supplemental Presentation October 28, 2026 2 This presentation contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on Morningstar's current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "prospects," or "continue." These statements involve known or unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ significantly from what Morningstar expects. More information about factors that could affect Morningstar's business and financial results are in its filings with the SEC, including its most recent Forms 8-K, 10-K, and 10-Q. Morningstar undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. 3 This presentation includes references to the non-GAAP financial measures listed below (including percentage growth or decline of those numbers). These non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is provided in the appendix to this presentation and in the Company's filings with the SEC, including its most recent Forms 8-K, 10-K, and 10-Q. "Organic Revenue" is consolidated revenue before (1) acquisitions and divestitures, (2) adoption of new accounting standards or revisions to accounting practices (accounting changes), and (3) the effect of foreign currency translations. "Adjusted Operating Income (Loss)" is consolidated operating income (loss) excluding (1) intangible amortization expense, (2) the impact of merger, acquisition, and divestiture-related activity which, when applicable, may include certain non-recurring expenses such as pre-deal due diligence, transaction costs, contingent consideration, severance, and post-close integration costs (M&A-related expenses), and (3) certain other one-time, non-recurring items which management does not consider when evaluating ongoing performance (other non-recurring items). "Adjusted Operating Margin" is operating margin excluding (1) intangible amortization expense, (2) M&A-related expenses, and (3) other non-recurring items. "Adjusted Operating Expense" is operating expenses excluding (1) intangible amortization expense, (2) M&A-related expenses, and (3) other non-recurring items. "Free Cash Flow" is cash provided by or used for operating activities less capital expenditures. "Free Cash Flow Conversion" is free cash flow divided by adjusted operating income. 4 Table of Contents Q3 26 Results Summary 5 Q3 26 Segment Detail 13 Appendix A: Additional Segment Detail 24 Appendix B: Reconciliations and Additional Information 38

 

Q3 26 Results Summary 6 Q3 26 Financial Performance ($mil) +8.9% Reported +6.8% Organic* +26.1% (2.9%)+31.0% $617.4 $672.1 $127.8 $167.4 $150.6 $189.9 $160.1 $155.4 Revenue Operating Income Adjusted Operating Income Free Cash Flow 25 26 25 26 25 26 25 26 *Excluding the impact of sunsetting Morningstar Office in Morningstar Wealth and the second-party opinions product in Morningstar Sustainalytics, organic revenue would have increased 7.8%. 7 Adjusted Operating Income Walk Q3 25 to Q3 26 Q3 25 Adjusted Operating Income Change in Revenue Compensation* Travel & Related Activities Professional Fees Advertising & Marketing Infrastructure Costs & Other** Q3 26 Adjusted Operating Income Changes in this chart reflect adjustments made in the calculation of adjusted operating income, as defined on p. 3 of this presentation, and may not match changes in reported expenses. *Includes salaries, bonus, commissions, severance, employee benefits, payroll taxes, and stock-based compensation. **Includes infrastructure costs (including third-party contracts with data providers, cloud costs, and SaaS-based software subscriptions), facilities, depreciation/amortization, and capitalized labor. $150.6 $54.7 ($2.8) ($5.3)($0.4) ($11.6) $4.7 $189.9 ($mil) 8 Quarterly Operating Margin Trends 20.3% 28.5% 19.6% 20.7% 20.7% 24.9% 24.2% 24.2% 24.9% 22.9% 20.6% 23.3% 23.7% 24.4% 23.9% 27.7% 26.5% 28.3% Operating Margin Adjusted Operating Margin Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26

 

9 Revenue vs. Adjusted Operating Expense Growth 10.5% 9.7% 7.2% 5.8% 8.4% 8.5% 10.8% 9.6% 8.9% 3.7% 10.2% 3.4% 4.7% 6.3% 3.9% 4.4% 5.5% 3.3% Reported Revenue Growth Adjusted Operating Expense Growth Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 10 Quarterly Adjusted Operating Income & Free Cash Flow ($mil) TTM Free Cash Flow Conversion 10 87.2% 91.5% 90.9% 86.5% 73.4% 71.5% 75.9% 69.9% 75.5% 70.6% Adjusted Operating Income Free Cash Flow TTM Free Cash Flow Conversion Q2 24 Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $50 $100 $150 $200 $250 Bars represent quarterly adjusted operating income and free cash flow ($mil). Line represents trailing 12-month (TTM) free cash flow conversion as of the end of each quarter shown, calculated as TTM free cash flow divided by TTM adjusted operating income. 11 Headcount Trends Headcount represents permanent, full-time employees. As of September 30, 2026, headcount was 10,610. (3.6%) (2.2%) (1.4%) (0.7%) 0.0% (1.0%) (1.5%) (2.2%) (4.9%) 0.0% (0.6%) 0.3% (0.5%) 0.8% (1.6%) (0.2%) (1.1%) (2.0%) Headcount (000s) Headcount Growth YOY Sequential Headcount Growth Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 11.1 11.1 11.1 11.1 11.2 11.0 10.9 10.8 10.6 12 Capital Allocation ($mil) 12 *Consolidated funded indebtedness to EBITDA as defined in our then-existing credit agreements. $0 $100 $200 $300 $400 $500 $600 $700 $800 Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Share Repurchase $0.0 $11.6 $109.6 $112.0 $170.1 $395.3 $300.0 $100.0 $100.0 Total Debt $864.7 $698.6 $803.7 $838.8 $848.9 $1,072.6 $1,712.8 $1,713.3 $1,678.7 Leverage Ratio* 1.2x 0.9x 1.0x 1.0x 1.0x 1.3x 2.0x 1.9x 1.8x Share Repurchases Dividends Paid Acquisitions, Net of Cash Capital Expenditures $100.0 $18.7 $35.3

 

Q3 26 Segment Detail 14 Morningstar Reportable Segments and Representative Products Morningstar Direct Platform Provides investors comprehensive data, research and insights, investment analysis, and AI-enabled software to empower investment decision-making. Morningstar Data Morningstar Direct Morningstar Advisor Workstation PitchBook Provides investors access to data, proprietary research, analytics, and AI-enabled software across private capital markets. Supports decision-making across the private-markets lifecycle. PitchBook Platform Direct Data Morningstar Wealth Serves financial advisors through model portfolios, separately managed accounts, and an advisor platform powered by our research and data, and individuals through Morningstar Investor. Morningstar Model Portfolios (Managed Portfolios) Morningstar Investor International Wealth Platform Morningstar Credit Provides investors with credit ratings, research, data, and credit analytics solutions that contribute to the transparency of international and domestic credit markets. Morningstar DBRS Morningstar Credit (Credit Data and Analytics) Morningstar Retirement Offers products to help individuals reach their retirement goals with highly personalized savings and investment advice at the employee level and scalable investment advisory and risk mitigation services at the employer and advisor level. Managed Accounts Corporate and All Other The operating segments of Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes have been combined and presented as part of Corporate and All Other, which is not a reportable segment. Morningstar Sustainalytics Morningstar Indexes 15 Q3 26 Contribution to Revenue 15 Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 *Corporate and All Other provides a reconciliation between revenue from our Total Reportable Segments and consolidated revenue amounts. Corporate and All Other includes Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes as sources of revenue. $ 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 $0 ($mil) PitchBook Morningstar Credit Corporate and All Other* Morningstar Retirement Morningstar Wealth Morningstar Direct Platform 16 Q3 26 Contribution to Adjusted Operating Income (Loss) 16 Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Morningstar Direct Platform *Corporate and All Other includes unallocated corporate expenses as well as adjusted operating income (loss) from Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes. $ 250 200 150 100 50 0 (50) ($100) PitchBook Morningstar Credit Morningstar Wealth Morningstar Retirement Corporate and All Other* ($mil)

 

17 Organic Revenue Contribution Q3 25 to Q3 26 Q3 25 Reported Revenue Morningstar Credit Morningstar Direct Platform Morningstar Retirement PitchBook Morningstar Wealth* Corporate and All Other** M&A and Foreign Currency Adjustments Q3 26 Reported Revenue The Company's five reportable segment bars represent organic revenue growth and may not match changes in reported revenue. *In Q3 26, Morningstar Wealth organic revenue includes a $4.9 million negative impact from sunsetting Morningstar Office. **Corporate and All Other provides a reconciliation between revenue from our Total Reportable Segments and consolidated revenue amounts. Corporate and All Other includes Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes as sources of revenue. Corporate and All other organic revenue includes a $1.2 million negative impact from sunsetting the second-party opinions product. $617.4 $7.3$17.4 $13.0 ($3.7) $6.7 $0.9 $13.1 $672.1 ($mil) 18 Adjusted Operating Income Contribution Q3 25 to Q3 26 ($mil) Q3 25 Adjusted Operating Income Morningstar Credit Morningstar Direct Platform Morningstar Retirement Morningstar Wealth PitchBook Corporate and All Other* Q3 26 Adjusted Operating Income *Corporate and All Other includes unallocated corporate expenses as well as adjusted operating income (loss) from Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes. Unallocated corporate expenses include finance, human resources, legal, marketing, and other management-related costs that are not considered when segment performance is evaluated. $150.6 $10.5 $4.3$6.8 $12.5 $5.8 $189.9 ($0.6) 19 Morningstar Direct Platform Quarterly Segment Trends 19 4.7% 3.6% 4.2% 6.3% 6.2% 6.0% 5.0% 4.8% 6.2% Morningstar Direct Platform Revenue YOY Organic Revenue Trend Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $50 $100 $150 $200 $250 46.0% 43.6% 43.7% 46.0% 44.4% 43.7% 42.3% 45.2% 46.8% Morningstar Direct Platform Adjusted Operating Income Morningstar Direct Platform Adjusted Operating Margin Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $20 $40 $60 $80 $100 $120 Morningstar Direct Platform Revenue ($mil) Morningstar Direct Platform Adjusted Operating Income ($mil) 20 PitchBook Quarterly Segment Trends 20 12.2% 12.7% 11.1% 9.6% 7.7% 5.9% 4.8% 4.9% 4.0% PitchBook Revenue YOY Organic Revenue Trend Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $20 $40 $60 $80 $100 $120 $140 $160 $180 32.2% 30.0% 31.9% 31.7% 31.3% 30.2% 29.9% 30.3% 29.8% PitchBook Adjusted Operating Income PitchBook Adjusted Operating Margin Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50 $60 PitchBook Revenue ($mil) PitchBook Adjusted Operating Income ($mil)

 

21 21 34.0% 34.5% 23.2% 8.4% 27.0% 25.7% 34.3% 23.3% 19.1% Morningstar Credit Revenue YOY Organic Revenue Trend Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $20 $40 $60 $80 $100 $120 21.4% 24.5% 29.3% 35.9% 30.8% 33.0% 40.8% 36.7% 37.7% Morningstar Credit Adjusted Operating Income Morningstar Credit Adjusted Operating Margin Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50 Morningstar Credit Revenue ($mil) Morningstar Credit Adjusted Operating Income ($mil) Morningstar Credit Quarterly Segment Trends 22 Morningstar Wealth Quarterly Segment Trends 22 6.1% 6.2% 7.9% 7.2% 9.8% 6.3% (1.6%) (4.6%) (6.0%) Morningstar Wealth Revenue YOY Organic Revenue Trend Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $20 $40 $60 $80 (1.1%) (1.2%) (1.3%) 4.7% 5.0% 6.8% 9.7% 13.1% 12.5% Morningstar Wealth Adjusted Operating Income Morningstar Wealth Adjusted Operating Margin Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 ($2) ($1) $0 $1 $2 $3 $4 $5 $6 $7 $8 $9 $10 Morningstar Wealth Revenue* ($mil) Morningstar Wealth Adjusted Operating Income ($mil) *In Q3 26, organic revenue includes a $4.9 million negative impact from sunsetting Morningstar Office. Excluding the sunsetting of Morningstar Office, Morningstar Wealth organic revenue would have increased 2.1%. 23 Morningstar Retirement Quarterly Segment Trends 14.8% 11.3% 15.8% (2.7%) 7.5% 13.4% 17.9% 17.0% 21.3% Morningstar Retirement Revenue YOY Organic Revenue Trend Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $30 $35 $40 $45 53.1% 51.2% 44.4% 47.5% 49.4% 54.6% 51.0% 51.2% 57.1% Morningstar Retirement Adjusted Operating Income Morningstar Retirement Adjusted Operating Margin Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 Morningstar Retirement Revenue ($mil) Morningstar Retirement Adjusted Operating Income ($mil) Appendix A: Additional Segment Detail

 

25 Historical Segment Performance *Corporate and All Other provides a reconciliation between revenue from the Company's Total Reportable Segments and consolidated revenue amounts. Corporate and All Other includes Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes as sources of revenues. **Corporate and All Other includes unallocated corporate expenses as well as adjusted operating income (loss) from Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes. Unallocated corporate expenses include certain management-related costs that are not considered when segment performance is evaluated. (in millions) Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Morningstar Direct Platform Revenue $198.5 $196.0 $199.2 $209.2 $211.1 $211.1 $215.2 $222.1 $222.5 Adjusted Operating Income $91.4 $85.5 $87.1 $96.3 $93.7 $92.3 $91.0 $100.3 $104.2 Adjusted Operating Margin 46.0% 43.6% 43.7% 46.0% 44.4% 43.7% 42.3% 45.2% 46.8% PitchBook Revenue $156.6 $162.5 $163.7 $166.5 $169.0 $172.6 $172.4 $174.7 $175.6 Adjusted Operating Income $50.4 $48.7 $52.3 $52.8 $52.9 $52.1 $51.6 $53.0 $52.3 Adjusted Operating Margin 32.2% 30.0% 31.9% 31.7% 31.3% 30.2% 29.9% 30.3% 29.8% Morningstar Credit Revenue $70.9 $82.3 $73.0 $85.0 $91.1 $105.3 $101.0 $104.9 $107.8 Adjusted Operating Income $15.2 $20.2 $21.4 $30.5 $28.1 $34.8 $41.2 $38.5 $40.6 Adjusted Operating Margin 21.4% 24.5% 29.3% 35.9% 30.8% 33.0% 40.8% 36.7% 37.7% Morningstar Wealth Revenue $61.8 $65.0 $61.3 $64.3 $62.1 $63.7 $58.0 $60.3 $59.4 Adjusted Operating Income (Loss) ($0.7) ($0.8) ($0.8) $3.0 $3.1 $4.3 $5.6 $7.9 $7.4 Adjusted Operating Margin (1.1%) (1.2%) (1.3%) 4.7% 5.0% 6.8% 9.7% 13.1% 12.5% Morningstar Retirement Revenue $31.8 $33.6 $32.9 $32.4 $34.2 $38.1 $38.8 $37.9 $41.5 Adjusted Operating Income $16.9 $17.2 $14.6 $15.4 $16.9 $20.8 $19.8 $19.4 $23.7 Adjusted Operating Margin 53.1% 51.2% 44.4% 47.5% 49.4% 54.6% 51.0% 51.2% 57.1% Consolidated Revenue Total Reportable Segments $519.6 $539.4 $530.1 $557.4 $567.5 $590.8 $585.4 $599.9 $606.8 Corporate and All Other* $49.8 $51.6 $51.8 $47.7 $49.9 $50.3 $59.4 $63.3 $65.3 Total Revenue $569.4 $591.0 $581.9 $605.1 $617.4 $641.1 $644.8 $663.2 $672.1 Consolidated Adjusted Operating Income Total Reportable Segments $173.2 $170.8 $174.6 $198.0 $194.7 $204.3 $209.2 $219.1 $228.2 Less: Corporate and All Other** ($42.9) ($49.1) ($39.2) ($54.6) ($44.1) ($50.8) ($30.6) $(43.2) $(38.3) Adjusted Operating Income $130.3 $121.7 $135.4 $143.4 $150.6 $153.5 $178.6 $175.9 $189.9 Adjusted Operating Margin 22.9% 20.6% 23.3% 23.7% 24.4% 23.9% 27.7% 26.5% 28.3% 26 Quarterly Revenue Trend: Revenue by Type ($mil) 10.1% 10.6% 9.1% 5.9% 9.0% 8.1% 7.6% 6.8% 6.8% Consolidated Organic Revenue Trend Transaction-Based Revenue Asset-Based Revenue License-Based Revenue Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $100 $200 $300 $400 $500 $600 $700 25.9% 16.9% 6.4% 25.1% 16.4% 6.8% 21.4% 14.5% 6.2% 9.4% 0.2% 6.3% 26.1% 7.9% 5.9% 25.6% 9.4% 4.1% 30.6% 11.0% 2.6% 17.8% 13.8% 3.1% 13.3% 14.9% 3.7% Bars represent reported revenue. Percentages represent YOY organic revenue growth. In Q3 26, excluding the sunsetting of certain products, license-based organic revenue would have grown 4.9%, transaction-based organic revenue would have grown 14.7%, and total organic revenue would have grown 7.8%. 27 Revenue by Type ($mil) *Corporate and All Other provides a reconciliation between revenue from the Company's Total Reportable Segments and consolidated revenue amounts. Corporate and All Other includes Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes as sources of revenues. Morningstar Direct Platform Q3 25 Q3 26 Morningstar Wealth Q3 25 Q3 26 License-Based $211.1 $222.4 License-Based $18.3 $13.5 Asset-Based 0.0 0.0 Asset-Based 35.2 39.2 Transaction-Based 0.0 0.1 Transaction-Based 8.6 6.7 Morningstar Direct Platform Total $211.1 $222.5 Morningstar Wealth Total $62.1 $59.4 PitchBook Q3 25 Q3 26 Morningstar Retirement Q3 25 Q3 26 License-Based $166.9 $173.8 License-Based $0.4 $0.4 Asset-Based 0.0 0.0 Asset-Based 33.8 41.1 Transaction-Based 2.1 1.8 Transaction-Based 0.0 0.0 PitchBook Total $169.0 $175.6 Morningstar Retirement Total $34.2 $41.5 Morningstar Credit Q3 25 Q3 26 Corporate and All Other* Q3 25 Q3 26 License-Based $5.4 $6.4 License-based $32.9 $42.5 Asset-Based 0.0 0.0 Asset-based 15.7 22.7 Transaction-Based 85.7 101.4 Transaction-based 1.3 0.1 Morningstar Credit Total $91.1 $107.8 Corporate and All Other Total $49.9 $65.3 28 Key Product Area Revenue ($mil) *Includes revenue attributable to Morningstar Direct Advisory Suite. **In Q3 26, Morningstar Wealth organic revenue includes a $4.9 million negative impact from sunsetting Morningstar Office; excluding Morningstar Office, Morningstar Wealth organic revenue would have increased 2.1% in Q3 26. ***In Q3 26, Morningstar Sustainalytics organic revenue includes a $1.2 million negative impact from sunsetting the second-party opinions product; excluding second-party opinions, Morningstar Sustainalytics organic revenue would have decreased 1.7% in Q3 26. ****Beginning in Q1 26, includes revenue attributable to Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP). Q3 25 Q3 26 % Change % Organic Change Morningstar Direct Platform $211.1 $222.5 5.4% 6.2% Morningstar Data $107.6 $114.1 6.0% 7.8% Morningstar Direct $76.3 $80.6 5.6% 5.8% Morningstar Advisor Workstation* $23.5 $25.0 6.4% 6.4% PitchBook $169.0 $175.6 3.9% 4.0% Morningstar Credit $91.1 $107.8 18.3% 19.1% Morningstar Wealth** $62.1 $59.4 (4.3%) (6.0%) Investment Management $35.2 $39.2 11.4% 9.6% Morningstar Retirement $34.2 $41.5 21.3% 21.3% Corporate and All Other Morningstar Sustainalytics*** $28.1 $26.3 (6.4%) (5.9%) Morningstar Indexes**** $21.8 $39.0 78.9% 11.8%

 

29 License Trends 29 *In Q3 26, the Company added a meaningful number of new licensed users with access to the PitchBook Data Premium Connector, who are not concurrently PitchBook platform licensed users. Beginning in Q3 26, the licensed user count includes standalone licensed connector users in addition to PitchBook platform licensed users. The timing of activities, such as user maintenance, user audits, provisioning access, shutting off of users, and updates to the user lists when enterprise clients renew, results in fluctuations in licensed user counts over time. As a result, licensed user growth trends are best assessed on a rolling 12-month basis. 0.2% 18,771 18,814 Morningstar Direct Licenses Q3 25 Q3 26 +4.6% 113,453 118,684 PitchBook Licensed Users* Q3 25 Q3 26 30 Quarterly Segment Product Trends: Morningstar Direct Platform 30 9.6% 9.2% 6.8% 4.5% 5.6% 6.3% 6.0% 7.1% 5.8% Morningstar Direct Revenue YOY Organic Revenue Trend Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $20 $40 $60 $80 $100 4.2% 1.8% 4.1% 10.1% 7.7% 7.8% 6.3% 4.2% 7.8% Morningstar Data Revenue YOY Organic Revenue Trend Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $20 $40 $60 $80 $100 $120 Morningstar Data ($mil) Morningstar Direct ($mil) 31 Quarterly Segment Product Trends: Morningstar Direct Platform 31 (2.4%) (0.5%) (0.4%) (0.1%) 5.9% 3.9% 3.8% 4.8% 6.4% Morningstar Advisor Workstation Revenue YOY Organic Revenue Trend Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $10 $20 $30 *Starting in Q2 25 includes revenue attributable to Direct Advisory Suite. Morningstar Advisor Workstation* ($mil) 32 Quarterly Segment Trends: Morningstar Credit 32 Bars represent reported revenue. Percentages represent YOY organic revenue growth (decline). 34.0% 34.5% 23.2% 8.4% 27.0% 25.7% 34.3% 23.3% 19.1% $0 $20 $40 $60 $80 $100 $120 Revenue by Geography ($mil) Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 USA 51.7% 46.2% 27.0% 11.9% 22.4% 27.2% 37.1% 25.4% 20.6% Canada 13.1% 36.9% 6.4% (2.7%) 50.0% 18.9% 40.3% 35.5% 12.9% EMEA 19.6% 6.6% 37.1% 15.5% 13.6% 30.6% 19.7% 2.1% 23.7% YOY Organic Revenue Growth (Decline)

 

33 33 Bars represent reported revenue. In Q3 26, Structured Finance Ratings, Fundamental Ratings, and Data Licensing accounted for 59.6%, 34.4%, and 6.0% of revenue, respectively. Transaction-based new issuance revenue increased 28.5%, transaction-based recurring revenue increased 0.5%, and license-based revenue increased 19.6% in Q3 26 compared to the prior-year period. *Structured Finance Ratings includes Asset- Backed Securities, Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities, and Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities. **Fundamental Ratings includes Corporate, Financial Institutions, Sovereign, and Other. ***Recurring Revenue includes transaction-based recurring revenue and license-based revenue. $30.8 $30.9 $30.3 $33.5 $36.7 $36.6 $35.4 $37.3 $37.9 Structured Finance Ratings* Fundamental Ratings** Data Licensing Recurring Revenue*** Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $20 $40 $60 $80 $100 $120 Revenue by Asset Class ($mil) Quarterly Segment Trends: Morningstar Credit 34 Quarterly Segment Product Trends: Morningstar Wealth 34 13.3% 16.2% 14.8% 6.2% 16.1% 12.3% 10.6% 11.9% 9.6% Investment Management Revenue YOY Organic Revenue Trend Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 Investment Management ($mil) 35 35 Morningstar Wealth AUMA Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $20 $40 $60 $80 Morningstar Wealth Assets Under Management and Advisement (AUMA)* ($bil) Quarterly Segment Trends: Morningstar Wealth *Includes the loss of an Asset Allocation Services client in Japan at the end of 2025, which started to meaningfully impact AUMA in Q1 26. This client accounted for a negligible share of Investment Management revenue. 36 36 Morningstar Retirement AUMA Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $100 $200 $300 $400 Morningstar Retirement AUMA ($bil) Quarterly Segment Trends: Morningstar Retirement

 

37 Quarterly Product Trends: Corporate and All Other 37 23.7% 21.9% 15.7% (1.3%) (0.8%) 0.9% (0.7%) 13.0% 11.8% Morningstar Indexes Revenue YOY Organic Revenue Trend Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 (10.3%) (3.3%) (4.9%) (9.8%) (3.0%) (10.3%) (14.1%) (7.7%) (5.9%) Morningstar Sustainalytics Revenue YOY Organic Revenue Trend Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 *Beginning in Q1 26 includes revenue attributable to CRSP. **Excluding the sunsetting of the second-party opinions product, Morningstar Sustainalytics organic revenue would have decreased 1.7% in Q3 26. Morningstar Indexes* ($mil) Morningstar Sustainalytics** ($mil) Appendix B: Reconciliations and Additional Information 39 Quarterly Operating Income & Operating Cash Flow ($mil) 39 Operating Income Operating Cash Flow Q2 24 Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 $0 $50 $100 $150 $200 $250 40 Reconciliation from Reported to Organic Revenue Change by Revenue Type Consolidated Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 10.5% 9.7% 7.2% 5.8% 8.4% 8.5% 10.8% 9.6% 8.9% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.8% 0.9% 1.0% 1.2% 0.9% (1.0%) (2.3%) (2.2%) Effect of foreign currency transactions (0.4%) 0.1% 1.0% (0.9%) (0.6%) (1.3%) (2.2%) (0.5%) 0.1% Organic Change in Revenue 10.1% 10.6% 9.1% 5.9% 9.0% 8.1% 7.6% 6.8% 6.8% License-Based Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 6.3% 5.4% 4.4% 6.6% 6.4% 5.6% 6.4% 6.2% 5.5% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.9% 0.8% 0.6% 0.3% (0.1%) (1.7%) (2.6%) (1.9%) Effect of foreign currency transactions 0.1% 0.5% 1.0% (0.9%) (0.8%) (1.4%) (2.1%) (0.5%) 0.1% Organic Change in Revenue 6.4% 6.8% 6.2% 6.3% 5.9% 4.1% 2.6% 3.1% 3.7%

 

41 Reconciliation from Reported to Organic Revenue Change by Revenue Type Asset-Based Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 17.2% 16.2% 11.3% (2.7%) 1.1% 2.9% 11.0% 17.5% 21.6% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.5% 2.0% 3.6% 6.9% 6.8% 1.3% (3.3%) (5.9%) Effect of foreign currency transactions (0.3%) (0.3%) 1.2% (0.7%) (0.1%) (0.3%) (1.3%) (0.4%) (0.8%) Organic Change in Revenue 16.9% 16.4% 14.5% 0.2% 7.9% 9.4% 11.0% 13.8% 14.9% Transaction-Based Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 29.1% 26.6% 19.2% 10.3% 27.2% 27.2% 34.0% 18.0% 12.7% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Effect of foreign currency transactions (3.2%) (1.5%) 2.2% (0.9%) (1.1%) (1.6%) (3.4%) (0.2%) 0.6% Organic Change in Revenue 25.9% 25.1% 21.4% 9.4% 26.1% 25.6% 30.6% 17.8% 13.3% 42 Reconciliation from Reported to Organic Revenue Change by Segment Morningstar Direct Platform Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 5.2% 1.7% 1.3% 6.2% 6.3% 7.7% 8.0% 6.2% 5.4% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 2.0% 1.9% 1.6% 1.1% 0.3% 0.2% (0.7%) 0.7% Effect of foreign currency transactions (0.5%) (0.1%) 1.0% (1.5%) (1.2%) (2.0%) (3.2%) (0.7%) 0.1% Organic Change in Revenue 4.7% 3.6% 4.2% 6.3% 6.2% 6.0% 5.0% 4.8% 6.2% PitchBook Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 12.2% 12.5% 10.9% 9.8% 7.9% 6.2% 5.3% 4.9% 3.9% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% (0.2%) (0.2%) (0.3%) (0.2%) 0.0% 0.0% Effect of foreign currency transactions 0.0% 0.2% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% (0.3%) 0.0% 0.1% Organic Change in Revenue 12.2% 12.7% 11.1% 9.6% 7.7% 5.9% 4.8% 4.9% 4.0% Morningstar Credit Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 34.0% 33.8% 21.1% 9.5% 28.5% 27.9% 38.4% 23.4% 18.3% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.0% 0.4% (0.3%) (0.7%) (0.7%) (0.6%) 0.0% 0.0% Effect of foreign currency transactions 0.0% 0.7% 1.7% (0.8%) (0.8%) (1.5%) (3.5%) (0.1%) 0.8% Organic Change in Revenue 34.0% 34.5% 23.2% 8.4% 27.0% 25.7% 34.3% 23.3% 19.1% 43 Reconciliation from Reported to Organic Revenue Change by Segment Morningstar Wealth Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 6.6% 6.2% 3.9% 2.7% 0.5% (2.0%) (5.4%) (6.2%) (4.3%) Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.5% 2.4% 5.0% 9.6% 9.3% 7.5% 3.7% 0.0% Effect of foreign currency transactions (0.5%) (0.5%) 1.6% (0.5%) (0.3%) (1.0%) (3.7%) (2.1%) (1.7%) Organic Change in Revenue 6.1% 6.2% 7.9% 7.2% 9.8% 6.3% (1.6%) (4.6%) (6.0%) Morningstar Retirement Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 14.8% 11.3% 15.8% (2.7%) 7.5% 13.4% 17.9% 17.0% 21.3% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Effect of foreign currency transactions 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Organic Change in Revenue 14.8% 11.3% 15.8% (2.7%) 7.5% 13.4% 17.9% 17.0% 21.3% 44 Reconciliation from Reported to Organic Revenue Change by Product Area Morningstar Data Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 4.9% 1.9% 3.1% 12.6% 10.9% 9.6% 9.4% 6.4% 6.0% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% (0.4%) (1.4%) 0.5% 0.3% (1.5%) 1.4% Effect of foreign currency transactions (0.7%) (0.1%) 1.0% (2.1%) (1.8%) (2.3%) (3.4%) (0.7%) 0.4% Organic Change in Revenue 4.2% 1.8% 4.1% 10.1% 7.7% 7.8% 6.3% 4.2% 7.8% Morningstar Direct Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 10.0% 9.2% 5.6% 6.0% 7.3% 8.5% 9.4% 8.2% 5.6% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Effect of foreign currency transactions (0.4%) 0.0% 1.2% (1.5%) (1.7%) (2.2%) (3.4%) (1.1%) 0.2% Organic Change in Revenue 9.6% 9.2% 6.8% 4.5% 5.6% 6.3% 6.0% 7.1% 5.8% Morningstar Advisor Workstation* Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue (2.6%) (0.7%) (1.3%) (0.2%) 5.7% 3.9% 4.3% 4.7% 6.4% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Effect of foreign currency transactions 0.2% 0.2% 0.9% 0.1% 0.2% 0.0% (0.5%) 0.1% 0.0% Organic Change in Revenue (2.4%) (0.5%) (0.4%) (0.1%) 5.9% 3.9% 3.8% 4.8% 6.4% *Includes revenue attributable to Morningstar Direct Advisory Suite.

 

45 Reconciliation from Reported to Organic Revenue Change by Product Area Morningstar Credit Canada Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 11.2% 33.0% 0.0% (3.5%) 48.5% 19.4% 46.8% 34.4% 11.2% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Effect of foreign currency transactions 1.9% 3.9% 6.4% 0.8% 1.5% (0.5%) (6.5%) 1.1% 1.7% Organic Change in Revenue 13.1% 36.9% 6.4% (2.7%) 50.0% 18.9% 40.3% 35.5% 12.9% Morningstar Credit EMEA Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 22.1% 7.9% 36.4% 26.9% 24.2% 43.1% 32.7% 3.5% 22.1% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% (4.6%) (4.8%) (4.0%) (2.9%) 0.0% 0.0% Effect of foreign currency transactions (2.5%) (1.3%) 0.7% (6.8%) (5.8%) (8.5%) (10.1%) (1.4%) 1.6% Organic Change in Revenue 19.6% 6.6% 37.1% 15.5% 13.6% 30.6% 19.7% 2.1% 23.7% Morningstar Credit USA Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 51.7% 46.2% 27.0% 10.8% 21.9% 26.7% 37.1% 25.4% 20.6% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.1% 0.5% 0.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Effect of foreign currency transactions 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Organic Change in Revenue 51.7% 46.2% 27.0% 11.9% 22.4% 27.2% 37.1% 25.4% 20.6% 46 Reconciliation from Reported to Organic Revenue Change by Product Area Investment Management Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 14.5% 14.8% 7.4% (1.7%) (1.1%) (3.5%) 1.1% 7.1% 11.4% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 1.0% 4.6% 9.4% 17.9% 17.5% 13.5% 6.9% 0.0% Effect of foreign currency transactions (1.2%) 0.4% 2.8% (1.5%) (0.7%) (1.7%) (4.0%) (2.1%) (1.8%) Organic Change in Revenue 13.3% 16.2% 14.8% 6.2% 16.1% 12.3% 10.6% 11.9% 9.6% Morningstar Indexes Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue 24.4% 22.0% 15.0% (1.0%) (0.5%) 1.4% 42.6% 85.3% 78.9% Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% (42.3%) (71.4%) (67.7%) Effect of foreign currency transactions (0.7%) (0.1%) 0.7% (0.3%) (0.3%) (0.5%) (1.0%) (0.9%) 0.6% Organic Change in Revenue 23.7% 21.9% 15.7% (1.3%) (0.8%) 0.9% (0.7%) 13.0% 11.8% Morningstar Sustainalytics Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Reported Change in Revenue (9.7%) (3.3%) (6.5%) (6.5%) 0.7% (5.4%) (7.6%) (6.6%) (6.4%) Acquisitions, divestitures, and accounting changes 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Effect of foreign currency transactions (0.6%) 0.0% 1.6% (3.3%) (3.7%) (4.9%) (6.5%) (1.1%) 0.5% Organic Change in Revenue (10.3%) (3.3%) (4.9%) (9.8%) (3.0%) (10.3%) (14.1%) (7.7%) (5.9%) 47 Reconciliation from Consolidated Adjusted Operating Income to Consolidated Operating Income ($mil) *Corporate and All Other includes unallocated corporate expenses as well as adjusted operating income/(loss) from Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes. Unallocated corporate expenses include certain management-related costs that are not considered when segment performance is evaluated. Q3 25 Q3 26 Adjusted Operating Income (Loss) Morningstar Direct Platform $93.7 $104.2 PitchBook 52.9 52.3 Morningstar Credit 28.1 40.6 Morningstar Wealth 3.1 7.4 Morningstar Retirement 16.9 23.7 Total Reportable Segments $194.7 $228.2 Less: Corporate and All Other* (44.1) (38.3) Total Adjusted Operating Income $150.6 $189.9 Intangible amortization expense (15.1) (19.2) M&A-related expenses (8.2) (3.3) Other non-recurring items 0.5 0.0 Operating Income $127.8 $167.4 48 Reconciliation from Operating Income to Adjusted Operating Income ($mil) Q2 24 Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Operating Income (Quarterly) $108.5 $115.5 $168.2 $114.1 $125.1 $127.8 $159.6 $155.9 $160.6 $167.4 Excluding (1) intangible amortization expense, (2) M&A-related expenses, and (3) other non-recurring items. (Quarterly) 22.5 14.8 (46.5) 21.3 18.3 22.8 (6.1) 22.7 15.3 22.5 Adjusted Operating Income (Quarterly) $131.0 $130.3 $121.7 $135.4 $143.4 $150.6 $153.5 $178.6 $175.9 $189.9 Q2 24 Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Operating Income (TTM*) $365.5 $411.0 $484.8 $506.3 $522.9 $535.2 $526.6 $568.4 $603.9 $643.5 Excluding (1) intangible amortization expense, (2) M&A-related expenses, and (3) other non-recurring items. (TTM) 81.3 74.1 9.0 12.1 7.9 15.9 56.3 57.7 54.7 54.4 Adjusted Operating Income (TTM) $446.8 $485.1 $493.8 $518.4 $530.8 $551.1 $582.9 $626.1 $658.6 $697.9 *Trailing 12 months.

 

49 Reconciliation from Operating Margin to Adjusted Operating Margin Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Operating Margin 20.3% 28.5% 19.6% 20.7% 20.7% 24.9% 24.2% 24.2% 24.9% Excluding (1) intangible amortization expense, (2) M&A-related expenses, and (3) other non-recurring items. 2.6% (7.9%) 3.7% 3.0% 3.7% (1.0%) 3.5% 2.3% 3.4% Adjusted Operating Margin 22.9% 20.6% 23.3% 23.7% 24.4% 23.9% 27.7% 26.5% 28.3% 50 Reconciliation from Total Operating Expenses to Adjusted Operating Expense ($mil) Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Operating Expense $453.9 $486.8 $467.8 $480.8 $490.1 $505.1 $489.8 $509.4 $504.7 Excluding (1) intangible amortization expense, (2) M&A-related expenses, and (3) other non-recurring items. (14.8) (17.5) (21.3) (19.1) (23.3) (17.5) (23.6) (22.1) (22.5) Adjusted Operating Expense $439.1 $469.3 $446.5 $461.7 $466.8 $487.6 $466.2 $487.3 $482.2 51 Operating and Free Cash Flow ($mil) Q2 24 Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Cash provided by operating activities (Quarterly) $152.7 $191.9 $153.4 $91.0 $99.0 $195.7 $204.0 $91.5 $155.7 $190.7 Capital expenditures (Quarterly) (31.9) (36.1) (40.6) (32.2) (36.6) (35.6) (42.7) (37.9) (33.2) (35.3) Free cash flow (Quarterly) $120.8 $155.8 $112.8 $58.8 $62.4 $160.1 $161.3 $53.6 $122.5 $155.4 Q2 24 Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Cash provided by operating activities (TTM*) $514.8 $576.0 $591.6 $589.0 $535.3 $539.1 $589.7 $590.2 $646.9 $641.9 Capital expenditures (TTM) (125.3) (132.1) (142.7) (140.8) (145.5) (145.0) (147.1) (152.8) (149.4) (149.1) Free cash flow (TTM) $389.5 $443.9 $448.9 $448.2 $389.8 $394.1 $442.6 $437.4 $497.5 $492.8 *Trailing 12 months. Q2 24 Q3 24 Q4 24 Q1 25 Q2 25 Q3 25 Q4 25 Q1 26 Q2 26 Q3 26 Free cash flow (TTM) $389.5 $443.9 $448.9 $448.2 $389.8 $394.1 $442.6 $437.4 $497.5 $492.8 Adjusted operating income (TTM) 446.8 485.1 493.8 518.4 530.8 551.1 582.9 626.1 658.6 697.9 Free cash flow conversion (TTM) 87.2% 91.5% 90.9% 86.5% 73.4% 71.5% 75.9% 69.9% 75.5% 70.6% 52 Investor Q&A Schedule For questions received by 5pm CT on: Expected 8-K response date: Nov. 5, 2026 Nov. 25, 2026 Dec. 4, 2026 Dec. 23, 2026 Jan. 5, 2027 Jan. 25, 2027 Mar. 5, 2027 Mar. 25, 2027 The Company follows a schedule for responding to investor questions. It provides responses during months when it is not reporting earnings. The Company continues to consolidate responses to questions addressing similar themes. If we have not received any questions for which we are providing a new or updated response, we will not file an 8-K. Please see below for the expected schedule.

 

 

© October 28, 2026. Morningstar. All Rights Reserved. Letter from CEO Kunal Kapoor Third-Quarter Earnings 2026 Dear Morningstar shareholders, In the third quarter of 2026, Morningstar reported 8.9% revenue growth, with organic growth of 6.8%. Excluding the impact of sunsetting certain products, organic revenue increased 7.8%. Operating and adjusted operating income increased 31.0% and 26.1%, respectively, lifting operating margin to 24.9% and adjusted operating margin to 28.3%. We repurchased $100 million of shares in the quarter, bringing year-to-date purchases to $500 million and reducing shares outstanding by 6.6% since the end of 2025. We're buying back stock at a price we believe is discounted while continuing to compound the value of the business. As an owner myself, I find this combination motivating and compelling. In this letter, I'll focus on our progress on two strategic themes–owning the language of public and private markets and becoming AI native–followed by an update on Morningstar Retirement. Owning the Language of Public and Private Markets The convergence of public and private markets is reshaping the investment landscape, creating new opportunities but also increasing the complexity of the decisions facing investors. Investors and the professionals who work with them are grappling with shifting risk-reward ratios, new liquidity challenges, and opaque pricing. And institutions are still figuring out how to effectively serve retail investors with private investments. Our 40-year-plus track record of shaping how investors and advisors think about the markets and our broad reach, which extends to asset managers, institutional asset owners, fixed-income security issuers, regulators, and the media, put us in a unique position to bridge this gap and provide a language of investing for the decades ahead. We continue to lead with research. To help investors understand what they’re paying, we recently introduced new semiliquid fee comparison research and tools and are integrating fee comparisons into the Morningstar Medalist Ratings methodology. PitchBook has expanded its coverage of late-stage private companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, drawing on the depth of its historic data on financing rounds, valuations, and ownership changes. Morningstar Credit is helping fixed-income investors identify credit risks and opportunities as private credit issuance surges to finance energy infrastructure projects. For the year-to-date through Sept. 30, unpublished ratings accounted for roughly 30% of total credit ratings-related revenue, contributing to Morningstar Credit’s 25.9% revenue growth compared to the prior-year period. We're also hearing increasing interest from corporates in other sectors in using hybrid public-private credit financings that, until now, have been used primarily to support data center construction, creating potential new opportunities for the business. As private credit and evergreen vehicles continue to scale, our indexes are gaining meaningful traction with investors navigating this fast-growing segment of private markets. We’ve seen strong client engagement with Morningstar PitchBook Evergreen Fund Indexes for evaluating and benchmarking evergreen and semiliquid funds. Additionally, Morningstar Indexes announced a collaboration with Houlihan Lokey earlier this year to bring independent, daily-valued benchmarks to the $1.5 trillion collateralized loan obligation market in early 2027, extending our indexing capabilities into a key growing segment of private credit.

 

Letter from CEO Kunal Kapoor Third-Quarter Earnings 2026 © October 28, 2026. Morningstar. All Rights Reserved. Morningstar Wealth is addressing the challenge of bringing public and private market capabilities together within a single model portfolio framework, drawing on its independent research, disciplined asset allocation, and portfolio construction capabilities. In October, we announced that Morningstar Wealth will make the Morningstar Public/Private Select Series, developed in collaboration with Apollo, Franklin Templeton, and J.P. Morgan Asset Management, available through Envestnet’s platform. Becoming AI Native AI is rapidly changing workflows across the economy, and over time it will likely change nearly every aspect of how people invest, but most investors are building on the portfolios and frameworks they already have, not starting over. We are moving quickly to embed our trusted data, independent research, and proprietary intellectual property wherever decisions are made, including inside our client’s own AI tools. Enhancing Our Platforms with New Agentic Capabilities On Oct. 7, we launched Direct AI. It pairs specialized agents and conversational capabilities with Morningstar’s research, ratings, and analytical frameworks to help users solve complex problems and find new, better ways to work, while reducing time spent on manual tasks. Our manager research analysts provided early feedback and analytical insights throughout development as we leveraged our broader team’s deep knowledge of investment workflows to tailor Direct AI’s capabilities to our clients’ needs. The resulting product goes beyond what’s available in general-purpose AI tools. Our agents support a range of workflows from manager research to product development to distribution. For example, an analyst at a wealth management firm reviewing an underperforming manager can use a simple prompt to generate a detailed performance and attribution analysis, supplemented by context provided by our analyst team’s research where available. The early response has been encouraging. Roughly 3,500 Direct users have logged into Direct AI at least once, and 86% of them have sent a query or run an agent, with engagement rising daily and more than 42,000 prompts submitted to date. Manager research is the most common use case, although users are increasingly exploring other capabilities. Also in October, PitchBook announced PitchBook AI, new agentic capabilities that turn a natural-language request into a complete, shareable work product and automate the recurring work investment teams run every week. Now in preview with a limited group of clients, PitchBook AI supports workflows across the investment lifecycle, from monitoring and briefings to investment committee prep, earnings digests, board and client deliverables, and corporate development, all grounded in PitchBook’s curated data. We expect broader release by early 2027. Keep an eye out for further enhancements coming to the platform next month, including the introduction of our first AI-native standalone workflow solution. Meeting Demand for Data Where Our Clients Work We’re seeing growing evidence that AI is driving demand for our data. Our model context protocol (MCP) offerings bring Morningstar and PitchBook data, research, and intellectual property into third-party AI platforms and our clients’ internal AI tools, and adoption is growing: Roughly 28% of PitchBook clients and 28% of Morningstar Direct clients (with at least one Direct license) have accessed our MCP offerings since they were launched. As clients increasingly engage with our data within AI-driven workflows, we’re seeing engagement grow as well. For example, from its launch a year ago through late October 2026, cumulative tool calls to the PitchBook Data Premium Connector exceeded 13 million, an increase from 1 million in July 2026.

 

Letter from CEO Kunal Kapoor Third-Quarter Earnings 2026 © October 28, 2026. Morningstar. All Rights Reserved. With the recent launch of the Morningstar Sustainalytics MCP, we see an additional opportunity to bring curated data backed by consistent methodologies and IP to our clients. This goes well beyond what they can easily access in third-party AI tools: An internal assessment found that a leading large language model drawing on public sources could identify climate emissions in only 12-15% of companies in a sample of the Morningstar US Large Cap 500 Index; that number fell to less than 1% for corporate involvement in key product and business activities. In time, these figures will inevitably rise, but our goal is to keep innovating and raising the bar for the pace at which we launch new data and research IP. More broadly, data is contributing to revenue growth across the business, however clients access it. Within Direct Platform, our core managed investment data product has grown at a strong clip so far this year, supported by expanded client use cases as investment professionals increasingly leverage internal and external AI tools within their workflows. While a year ago we were focused on growth in Morningstar Direct licenses, now we’re increasingly focused on and seeing growth across our important enterprise relationships. At PitchBook, our direct data offering is still a smaller share of segment revenue but is growing quickly and was an important driver of segment growth for the year-to-date through Sept. 30. Morningstar Retirement Update The retirement business is one we love—it’s mission aligned and delivers tangible outcomes for millions of American workers, including the 2.6 million retirement plan participants enrolled in managed accounts as of June 30, 2026. We also have great relationships with key partners and have grown together with them over time. We believe investors have been well served by professional investment management, reasonable fees, and the long-term orientation of our offerings. That said, the retirement industry, historically slow to change, has entered a period of more rapid transformation. As baby boomers age, more affluent participants are rolling their assets out of defined contribution plans, with an estimated $6.3 trillion leaving between 2015 and 2024 through rollovers and cashouts, including benefit payments to retired participants and beneficiaries. When investors roll over their accounts into retail IRAs, it’s not always for the better, as investors often end up in higher-fee offerings. Rollovers also put pressure on net flows to managed accounts. At the same time, we’ve seen a number of other changes and innovations, spanning new state mandates, discussion of a federally backed IRA program, new flexibility to incorporate private assets in defined contribution portfolios, growing interest among wealth advisors in offering retirement plan services, and an explosion of smaller plans. With our range of offerings, we’re well-positioned to help investors meet their goals even as the market changes. We’ve spent several years repositioning our products to better serve advisors and smaller plans, and to support a broader range of investments. Advisor managed accounts, launched in 2022, give the growing number of advisory firms (registered investment advisors and broker-dealers) that help employers design retirement plans more input and control. In addition to expanding Morningstar's reach into the growing advisor market, advisor managed accounts can also reduce incentives to recommend rollovers, making clients more likely to remain in their existing plans, which often offer lower fees and more thoroughly vetted investment options. Sales cycles are long in this business, and it takes time to gather assets once a program is in place, but adoption has been encouraging. Advisor managed accounts were an important driver of net inflows both in 2025 and for the year-to-date through Sept. 30, 2026. Earlier this year, we also significantly upgraded Fiduciary Services, which helps advisors and employers (plan sponsors) build and manage investment lineups while seeking to reduce their fiduciary risk. It primarily serves small plans and gives us another way to reach advisor-sold plans. We rebuilt the technology platform and redesigned the underlying methodology so plans can choose from a broader range of asset classes and investments while retaining our fiduciary

 

Letter from CEO Kunal Kapoor Third-Quarter Earnings 2026 © October 28, 2026. Morningstar. All Rights Reserved. coverage. That can make it easier for employers to tailor lineups to their employee base and reduce disruption to existing plan lineups that are adopting our service. Looking ahead, we’re working with a leading private asset manager to design private market investments to offer within an advisor or traditional managed accounts service. Our teams are helping to identify an appropriate asset allocation and structure a liquidity sleeve to account for the illiquidity of the underlying assets. All in all, we’re positioning the business for today’s retirement market and see a good runway for growing the business while helping investors achieve their retirement objectives. Closing Thoughts I know that many of you pay close attention to PitchBook’s licensed user count, so I want to highlight a small change we’re making to that metric. Historically, our count of licensed users included only licensed users of the PitchBook platform. Our direct data product did not involve the licensing of individual users, and until recently, access to our PitchBook Data Premium Connector required a PitchBook platform license. As part of a large renewal, we added a meaningful number of new licensed users with access to the PitchBook Data Premium Connector in the third quarter who are not concurrently PitchBook platform users. Beginning this quarter, we are including licensed connector users in our total licensed user count. We believe this provides a more complete view of user adoption and expect to see future growth driven by this use case. Finally, just a reminder that we will be taking investor question submissions through Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, with a targeted 8-K response date of Wednesday, Nov. 25. For the full schedule through January 2027, please see page 52 of our investor presentation.

 

Letter from CEO Kunal Kapoor Third-Quarter Earnings 2026 © October 28, 2026. Morningstar. All Rights Reserved. What I'm Reading Here is recent commentary by our researchers that I especially enjoyed:  New Enhancements for Morningstar’s Semiliquid Fund Medalist Ratings, Bryan Armour, Oct. 21, 2026  Debunking 8 Myths About Private Credit and Semiliquid Funds, Eric Jacobson, Oct. 16, 2026  Leveraged Loan Market Takes on AI Infrastructure Debt, Alvaro Ledgard, Oct. 16, 2026  High Growth, Low Margins, No Moat: Neoclouds Have a Ceiling as an Investment Class, Luke Yang, Oct. 13, 2026  Q4 2026 OpenAI: Priced on a Target It Has Not Hit, Harrison Rolfes, Oct. 12, 2026  Your Nontraded REIT Pays You Regularly, but Is Your Money Trapped? David Reyna, Oct. 7, 2026  Moats and Monetization in AI: Our View on How Frontier AI Labs Are Building Economic Moats, Malik Ahmed Khan, Tucker Hawthorne, Dhruv Kothari, Oct. 5, 2026  AI Financing Partnerships Are Credit-Positive for Nvidia and Data-Center Operators, Vineet Khattar and Toby Moerschen, Oct. 2, 2026  Building the Bridge to Wealth, Morningstar and Cerulli Associates, October 2026  4 Key Questions for Investors to Ask at the Start of Q4, Dan Lefkovitz, Sept. 30, 2026  How AI Infrastructure and Data Centers Could Enter 401(k) Portfolios, Miguel Puerto, Sept. 30, 2026  Q3 2026 Anthropic: IPO Impact, Harrison Rolfes, Sept. 30, 2026  Tighter Financing Conditions: Uneven Credit Effects Across Corporate Asset Classes, Erin Davis, Stacey Mawson, Aarti Magan, Jason Graffam, Sept. 17, 2026  Asset Owner Perspectives Survey 2026: Quantitative Analysis, Margaret Stafford, Sept. 16, 2026  Demystifying Semiliquid Fund Fees, Bryan Armour, Sept. 9, 2026  The Magnificent Seven Through an ESG Lens, Henzy Richter, Alina Olaru, Melissa Bird, September 2026  Artificial Intelligence and the Real Test of Trust, Kilian Theil, Aug. 26, 2026  Diminishing Returns to Scale, Taylor Criswell, July 17, 2026 You may also appreciate these recent pieces that share more about our research, strategy, and product innovations:  Why Kunal Kapoor turned down a better-paid job to join Morningstar, CNBC Executive Decisions, Oct. 27, 2026  How American Retirees on Different Incomes Rely on Social Security, The New York Times, Oct. 12, 2026  Morningstar rolls out agentic AI platform built on its research, InvestmentNews, Oct. 7, 2026  Growing signs of stress in private credit: DBRS, Investment Executive, Sept. 22, 2026  Morningstar integrates with Marloo to give advisers AI fund research, Citywire, Sept. 2, 2026  Private-Credit Default Rates Could Be Downplaying Risk, Pitchbook Says, The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 18, 2026 Thank you for your continued trust. Best regards, Kunal

 

Letter from CEO Kunal Kapoor Third-Quarter Earnings 2026 © October 28, 2026. Morningstar. All Rights Reserved. This letter contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial or operating performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as “may,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “will,” “can,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “prospects,” or “continue.” These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. More information about factors that could affect Morningstar’s business and financial results, including expectations regarding company strategies and objectives, value creation, share repurchase activity, AI initiatives, public private convergence and Morningstar Retirement, among others, are in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent reports on Forms 8-K, 10-K and 10-Q. Morningstar undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. In addition, this letter references non-GAAP financial measures including, but not limited to, organic revenue, free cash flow, adjusted operating income and adjusted operating margin. These non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. A discussion of our third- quarter results, including a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures described in this letter, is provided in our earnings materials for the third quarter, which have been furnished to the SEC and is available on our website. Articles, videos and links referred to or included in this letter are not incorporated by reference into this letter or any other SEC filing.

 

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