Investment research firm Morningstar (NASDAQ: MORN) reported Q1 CY2026 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, with sales up 10.8% year on year to $644.8 million. Its GAAP profit of $2.73 per share was 14.5% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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“In the first quarter, we created significant value, growing operating and adjusted operating income by more than 30%, while reducing shares outstanding by roughly 4% for a total of more than 10% over the past 12 months,” said Kunal Kapoor, Morningstar’s CEO.

Company Overview

Founded in 1984 by Joe Mansueto with just $80,000 in personal savings, Morningstar (NASDAQ: MORN) provides independent investment data, research, and analysis tools that help investors, advisors, and institutions make informed financial decisions.

Revenue Growth

Reviewing a company’s long-term sales performance reveals insights into its quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years. Over the last five years, Morningstar grew its revenue at a solid 11.5% compounded annual growth rate. Its growth surpassed the average financials company and shows its offerings resonate with customers, a great starting point for our analysis.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes, market returns, and industry trends. Morningstar’s annualized revenue growth of 9.2% over the last two years is below its five-year trend, but we still think the results were respectable. Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers, impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.

This quarter, Morningstar reported year-on-year revenue growth of 10.8%, and its $644.8 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 2.9%.

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Key Takeaways from Morningstar’s Q1 Results

It was good to see Morningstar beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. We were also happy its revenue outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. Zooming out, we think this quarter featured some important positives. The stock remained flat at $185.77 immediately following the results.

So do we think Morningstar is an attractive buy at the current price? We think that the latest quarter is only one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).