Morningstar, Inc. (MORN)

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The discussion included in this section, as well as under "Item 1—Business" and other sections of 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,” “estimate,” “future,” “goal,” “is designed to,” “maintain,” “may,” “might,” “objective,” “ongoing,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “prospects”, “continue,” “seek,” “strategy,” “strive,” “will,” “would,” "determine," "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;

•failure to prevent and/or mitigate cybersecurity events and the failure to protect confidential information, including personal information about individuals;

•compliance failures, regulatory action, or changes in laws applicable to our regulated businesses;

•failing to innovate our product and service offerings or meet or anticipate our clients’ changing needs;

•impact of AI technologies on our business and reputation, and the legal risks as they are incorporated into our products and tools;

•failure to detect errors in our products or failure of our products to perform properly due to defects, malfunctions or similar problems;

•failing to recruit, develop, and retain qualified employees;

•prolonged volatility or downturns affecting the financial sector, global financial markets, and the global economy and the effect on our revenue from asset-based fees and credit ratings business;

•failing to scale our operations and increase productivity in order to implement our business plans and strategies;

•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;

•failure of our strategic transaction, acquisitions, divestitures and investments in companies or technologies to yield expected business or financial benefits, negatively impacting our operating results and our ability to deliver long-term value to shareholders;

•failing to maintain growth across our businesses due to changes in geopolitics and the regulatory landscape;

•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 on our cash flow and financial and operational flexibility;

•liability, 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 and 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 maintain existing business and renewal rates and to gain new business;

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•the impact of recently issued accounting pronouncements on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures;

•impact on our stock price due to 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 Item 1A—Risk Factors of this Report. 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 section includes comparisons of certain 2024 financial information to the same information for 2023. Year-to-year comparisons of the 2023 financial information to the same information for 2022 can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on February 29, 2024.

All dollar and percentage comparisons, which are often accompanied by words such as “increase,” “decrease,” “grew,” “declined,” “was up,” “was down,” “was flat,” or “was similar” refer to a comparison with the prior year unless otherwise stated.

Understanding Our Company

Key Business Characteristics

Our mission is to empower investor success. The investing ecosystem is complex, and navigating it with confidence requires a trusted, independent voice. We deliver our perspective to institutions, advisors, and individuals with a single-minded purpose: to empower every investor with conviction that they can make better-informed decisions and realize success on their own terms.

Our strategy is to deliver insights and experiences that make us essential to investor workflow. Proprietary data sets, meaningful analytics, independent research, and effective investment strategies are at the core of the powerful digital solutions that investors across our client segments rely on. We have a keen focus on innovation across data, research, product, and delivery so that we can effectively cater to the evolving needs and expectations of investors globally.

Segments

The company has seven operating segments which are presented as the following five reportable segments: Morningstar Data and Analytics, PitchBook, Morningstar Wealth, Morningstar Credit, and Morningstar Retirement. The operating segments of Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes do not individually meet the quantitative segment reporting thresholds and have been combined and presented as part of Corporate and All Other, which is not a reportable segment. Prior-period segment information is presented on a comparable basis to the basis on which current period segment information is presented and reviewed by the chief operating decision maker (CODM). For additional information about our segment reporting, refer to Note 6 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II of this Report.

Revenue

We offer an extensive line of investment-related products and services for individual and institutional investors in public and private capital markets; financial advisors and wealth managers; alliances and redistributors; asset managers; retirement plan providers, advisors and sponsors; and issuers of fixed-income securities.

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Our segments sell many of our research and data products and services through license agreements on either a per user or enterprise-basis. Morningstar Data and Analytics and PitchBook generate most of our license-based revenue. Our license agreements typically range from one to three years and are accounted for as subscription services available to customers and not as licenses under the accounting guidance.

Our Morningstar Wealth and Morningstar Retirement segments generate most of our asset-based revenue where basis points and other fees are charged for assets under management or advisement (AUMA). Our asset-based arrangements typically range from one to three years.

Our transaction-based revenue includes revenue that is one time in nature and related Morningstar Credit recurring revenue primarily derived from surveillance and research.

Deferred Revenue

We invoice some of our clients and collect cash in advance of providing services or fulfilling subscription services to our customers. Deferred revenue totaled $563.2 million, of which $540.8 million was classified as a current liability with an additional $22.4 million included in long-term liabilities, at the end of 2024. We expect to recognize this deferred revenue in future periods as we fulfill the service obligations under our license and subscription agreements.

Operating Expense

We classify our operating expense into separate categories for cost of revenue, sales and marketing, general and administrative, and depreciation and amortization, as described below.

• Cost of revenue. This category includes compensation expense for employees who produce the products and services we deliver to our customers. For example, this category covers production teams and analysts who write investment research reports. It also includes compensation expense for programmers, designers, and other employees who develop new products and enhance existing products. In some cases, we capitalize the compensation costs associated with certain software development projects resulting in reduced expense that we would otherwise report in this category. Cost of revenue also includes other expenses, such as third-party data purchases and data lines as well as professional fees for third-party development activities.

• Sales and marketing. This category includes compensation expense for our sales teams, product managers, and marketing professionals. We also include the cost of advertising, digital marketing campaigns, and other marketing and promotion efforts in this category.

• General and administrative. This category includes compensation expense for our management team and other corporate functions, including employees in our compliance, finance, human resources, and legal departments. It also includes costs for corporate systems and facilities.

• Depreciation and amortization. Our capital expenditures mainly relate to capitalized software development costs, information technology equipment, and leasehold improvements. We amortize capitalized software development costs over their estimated economic life, generally three years. We depreciate property and equipment using the straight-line method based on the useful lives of the assets, which range from three to seven years. We amortize leasehold improvements over the lease term or their useful lives, whichever is shorter. We also include amortization related to identifiable intangible assets, which is mainly driven by acquisitions, in this category. We amortize intangible assets using the straight-line method over their estimated economic useful lives, which range from one to twenty years.

International Operations

As of December 31, 2024, we had wholly-owned subsidiaries in 31 countries outside of the US and included their results of operations and financial condition in our consolidated financial statements. We also have investments outside of the US, and where we have significant influence, we apply the equity method of accounting.

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How We Evaluate Our Business

When our analysts evaluate a stock, they focus on assessing the company's estimated intrinsic value, which is based on estimated future cash flows, discounted to their value in today's dollars. Our approach to evaluating our own business works the same way.

Our goal is to increase the intrinsic value of our business over time, which we believe is the best way to create value for our shareholders. We do not make public financial forecasts for our business because we want to avoid creating any incentives for our management team to make speculative statements about our financial results that could influence our stock price or take actions that help us meet short-term forecasts, but may not build long-term shareholder value.

We provide the following measures that can help investors generate their own assessment of how our intrinsic value has changed over time:

•    Revenue (including organic revenue);

•    Operating income (including adjusted operating income);

•    Operating margin (including adjusted operating margin); and

•    Free cash flow.

Organic revenue, adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, and free cash flow are not measures of performance set forth under US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

We define organic revenue as consolidated revenue excluding acquisitions, divestitures, adoption of new accounting standard changes (accounting changes), and foreign currency translations. We present organic revenue because we believe it helps investors better compare our period-to-period results, and our management team uses this measure to evaluate the performance of our business and product areas. We exclude revenue from businesses acquired or divested from organic revenue for a period of 12 months after we complete the acquisition or divestiture. Organic revenue is not equivalent to any measure required under GAAP and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

We define adjusted operating income as operating income excluding all mergers and acquisitions (M&A)-related expenses and gains (related to merger, acquisition, and divestiture activity including earn-outs), intangible amortization, and expenses related to the significant reduction and shift of the company's operations in China. We define adjusted operating margin as operating margin excluding all M&A-related expenses and gains, intangible amortization, and expenses related to the significant reduction and shift of the company's operations in China. We present these measures because we believe they better reflect period-over-period comparisons and improves overall understanding of the underlying performance of the business absent the impact of M&A and the shift of the company's operations in China.

We define free cash flow as cash provided by or used for operating activities less capital expenditures. Free cash flow is presented solely as a supplemental disclosure to help investors better understand how much cash is available after making capital expenditures. Our management team uses free cash flow to evaluate the health of our business. Free cash flow is not equivalent to any measure required under GAAP and should not be considered an indicator of liquidity. Moreover, the free cash flow definition we use may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

In addition to the measures described above, we calculate revenue renewal rates to evaluate how successful we've been in maintaining existing business for products and services that have revenue associated with periodic renewals. We use the annual contract value method, which tracks the dollar value of renewals compared with the total dollar value of contracts up for renewal during the period. We include changes in the contract value in the renewal amount. We use the actual revenue for the previous comparable fiscal period as the base rate for calculating the renewal percentage. The renewal rate excludes setup and customization fees and contract renewals that were pending as of January 31, 2025.

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Regulatory Trends Affecting Our Business

In addition to the industry developments described under Part I, Item 1. Business - "Our Strategy," there are several longer-term regulatory trends we consider relevant to our business, as summarized below and as described in more detail in Part I, Item 1. Business - “Government Regulation” and in Part I, Item 1A - “Risk Factors” of this Report. The increased complexity and extent of regulation globally is a challenge for both Morningstar and its clients, and we continue to invest in our compliance organization, processes and controls. Additionally, current regulatory uncertainty in the US — including changes and the pace of changes enacted by the current presidential administration and related leadership changes at US government agencies such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as recent and potential future US Supreme Court rulings — may impact our business.

EU and UK Regulatory Divergence

For our regulated businesses in the UK and EU, following the UK’s Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, there is a growing risk of divergence as between the specifics of the EU and UK regulatory regimes, as the UK continues to adapt its post-Brexit financial services regulatory framework and to tailor its rules to suit the UK market, while seeking to strengthen its position in wholesale markets more generally.

With respect to our credit ratings and indexes business, divergence risks further increase the costs and complexity of regulatory compliance.

In relation to investment management, any divergence risk remains to be seen pending the next iteration of the UK Financial Conduct Authority's three-year strategy.

Increased ESG Regulation and Anti-ESG Scrutiny

Interest from investors, regulators and other relevant stakeholders in firms adopting ESG-related business and operational risk strategies persists. Morningstar is impacted by these trends on a corporate level, as a US public company with international operations, and on a business level. Specifically, we anticipate that this area will experience further regulatory developments likely to have long term impacts on our delivery of products and services, customer interactions, physical operations, technology systems, and dependencies on third parties.

Morningstar is monitoring proposed ESG legislation in the US, EU, and in other jurisdictions relevant to its business activities. The future of any US regulation of sustainability matters is uncertain and may not align with current or future regulations in other jurisdictions, including the EU. These and other potential regulations may impact not only the scope of our disclosure obligations and the products and services we provide to customers but also present an opportunity to guide and inform investors who are looking to understand the regulations and develop their own workflows to ensure their compliance with new requirements.

The politicization of ESG-related business activities and investments has increased in recent years, particularly in the US. This politicization may result in Morningstar facing heightened scrutiny in this regard, and may result in the company incurring increased costs in addressing related inquiries. Morningstar continues to closely monitor the ESG and anti-ESG landscape.

Cybersecurity, Data Privacy and Artificial Intelligence

Data privacy regulation continues to proliferate, as numerous national and state jurisdictions have adopted or are considering new data privacy regulations. As a related matter, issues of cybersecurity as they relate to the identification and mitigation of cyber threats also continue to grow in prominence and laws governing data breaches continue to proliferate globally. Financial regulators have also increased their scrutiny of the data protection practices of the entities, such as Morningstar, that they oversee.

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The introduction of the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act corresponds with a growing concern among financial services regulators as to the increasing influence of information technology service providers, and the risks to financial stability posed by dependency on those firms. Ensuring resiliency necessarily captures group (rather than individual entity) arrangements and is therefore both costly and complex. Morningstar is monitoring related developments in other countries that may follow the EU’s lead.

Regulators in various global jurisdictions have adopted or are considering regulations governing AI technologies, such as the EU AI Act. Additionally, regulators have sought to clarify that existing regulations apply to novel use cases involving AI technologies. Combined, this regulatory activity creates a complex and potentially costly compliance environment as Morningstar deploys AI technologies in its products and in tools used in the workplace.

Other Regulatory Trends

Finally, our company is impacted by government regulation and policies focused on macroeconomic trends such as inflation, trade, and unemployment. Central banks’ increases in interest rates to combat inflationary pressures increases our interest expense on our variable rate indebtedness, while the volatile rate environment can impact credit issuance volumes, impacting our credit rating business, as well as M&A activity more broadly. Our compensation expense reflects rising wage scales in many of the markets where we operate as unemployment rates remain low. Overall, our business, balance sheet, technological infrastructure, and teams have shown resilience and flexibility navigating global macroeconomic trends.

Consolidated Results

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pp — percentage points

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Consolidated Revenue

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NMF — Not meaningful

(1) Starting with the quarter ended March 31, 2024, revenue from PitchBook media sales product was reclassified from license-based to transaction-based. Prior periods have not been restated to reflect the updated classifications.

(2) Corporate and All Other provides a reconciliation between revenue from our reportable segments and consolidated revenue. Corporate and All Other includes Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes as sources of revenues. Revenue from Morningstar Sustainalytics was $117.3 million in 2024 and $118.2 million in 2023. Revenue from Morningstar Indexes was $84.7 million in 2024 and $65.5 million in 2023.

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In 2024, our consolidated revenue rose $236.5 million, or 11.6%. Foreign currency movements increased revenue by $1.3 million in 2024.

License-based revenue, which represents subscription services available to customers, increased 7.1%, or 7.6% on an organic basis, during 2024. Reported and organic revenue growth was primarily driven by strong demand for PitchBook and Morningstar Data and Analytics products.

Asset-based revenue increased 19.2%, on both a reported and organic basis, during 2024. Reported and organic revenue growth was primarily driven by increases in Morningstar Wealth, Morningstar Indexes, and Morningstar Retirement.

Transaction-based revenue increased 31.2%, or 28.8% on an organic basis, during 2024. Reported and organic revenue was primarily driven by Morningstar Credit.

Organic revenue

Organic revenue is considered a non-GAAP financial measure.

We exclude revenue from acquired businesses from our organic revenue growth calculation for a period of 12 months after we complete the acquisition. For divestitures, we exclude revenue in the prior period for which there is no comparable revenue in the current period. We will exclude revenue related to our Commodity and Energy Data business, which we divested in the third quarter of 2024, as well as revenue and interim service fees associated with the sale of customer assets from the US Morningstar Wealth Turnkey Asset Management Platform (TAMP) to AssetMark (sale of US TAMP assets), which we divested in the fourth quarter of 2024, from our organic revenue growth calculation for a period of 12 months after we complete the divestitures.

Excluding revenue from acquisitions, divestitures, accounting changes, and the impact of foreign currency translations, organic revenue increased 11.8% in 2024. Morningstar Credit, PitchBook, and Morningstar Data and Analytics were the largest drivers of the increase in organic revenue during 2024.

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The tables below reconcile consolidated revenue to organic revenue:

Revenue by geographical area

International revenue comprised approximately 28% of our consolidated revenue in 2024 and 2023. Approximately 58% of international revenue was generated from Continental Europe and the UK in 2024. Revenue from international operations increased $68.3 million, or 12.0%, in 2024 driven by strong demand for Morningstar Data and Analytics, Morningstar Wealth, and Morningstar Credit products.

Revenue Renewal Rates

As discussed in How We Evaluate Our Business, we calculate revenue renewal rates to help measure how successful we've been in maintaining existing business for products and services that have renewable revenue. The figures for license-based products includes the effect of price changes; increasing client bases upon contract renewal; any loss of clients due to cancellations; and changes to the contract value upon renewal (such as increased users). These factors, therefore, can result in renewal rate percentages greater or lower than 100%.

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Our revenue renewal rate calculation includes only those products that we consider to be license-based. These are primarily weighted toward Morningstar Data and Analytics and PitchBook products, but also includes other license-based products and services. For these license-based products and services, we estimate that our annual renewal rate was approximately 100% in 2024 versus 103% in 2023.

Consolidated Operating Results

Cost of revenue

Cost of revenue is our largest category of operating expense, representing about one-half of our total operating expense. Our business relies heavily on human capital, and cost of revenue includes the compensation expense for employees who produce our products and services. We include compensation expense for approximately 76% of our employees in this category.

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Cost of revenue increased $52.2 million, or 6.2%, in 2024. Higher compensation expense of $35.8 million was the largest contributor to the increase, primarily driven by higher bonus expense due to favorable performance compared to plan targets. The company updated its definition of compensation expense to incorporate commissions, severance, and stock-based compensation, in addition to salaries, bonus, employee benefits, and payroll taxes, which were all included in the earlier definition. Compensation expense for prior periods has been retroactively adjusted for the updated definition. Technology infrastructure costs consisting of expenses related to SaaS-based software subscriptions and cloud computing of $14.0 million were also a driver in higher operating expense during 2024 due to the company's investment in and renewal of various SaaS-based platforms across the business.

Sales and marketing

Sales and marketing expense increased $17.2 million, or 4.1%, in 2024. Higher compensation expense of $5.5 million was the largest contributor, primarily due to the factors noted above relating to cost of revenue. Advertising and marketing costs increased $5.4 million during 2024 due to higher advertising and marketing campaign expense.

General and administrative

General and administrative expense decreased $28.6 million, or 8.0%, in 2024. A decline in professional fees and the 2023 DBRS, Inc. SEC-related settlement expenses of $15.8 million and $8.0 million, respectively, were the largest contributors to the decline in general and administrative expense. Professional fees decreased due to lower expenses for third-party resources supporting M&A activity and the transition of the company's China-based activities as well as a decrease in the use of outside professional services. In addition, professional fees in 2023 reflected the impact of higher legal fees primarily associated the SEC-related settlement.

On September 29, 2023, DBRS, Inc. entered into two settlements with the SEC requiring DBRS, Inc. to pay an aggregate of $8.0 million in civil monetary penalties. The DBRS, Inc. SEC settlements resulted in a $6.0 million civil monetary penalty to the SEC to resolve the investigation related to record-keeping, and a $2.0 million civil monetary penalty to the SEC to resolve the investigation related to commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) ratings methodologies, both in early October 2023.

Facilities-related expenses also declined $6.4 million during 2024 partially due to reduction of office space in certain geographies. These decreases were partially offset by higher compensation expense primarily due to an increase in company-sponsored benefits and bonus expense.

Depreciation and amortization

In 2024, depreciation and amortization increased $5.5 million, or 3.0%, primarily due to an increase in depreciation expense which was partially offset by a decrease in intangible amortization expense.

Depreciation expense increased $12.2 million in 2024, due primarily to higher capitalized software costs for product enhancements in prior periods, as well as the impact of accelerated depreciation related to the sale of US TAMP assets.

Intangible amortization expense decreased $6.0 million in 2024, as certain intangible assets from some of our earlier acquisitions became fully amortized.

Gain on sale of customer assets

In 2024, we recorded a $64.0 million gain on sale of US TAMP assets. Refer to Note 10 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

Consolidated Operating Income and Operating Margin

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Consolidated operating income increased $254.2 million in 2024, or a 110.2% increase from 2023, reflecting an increase in revenue of $236.5 million and a $64.0 million gain related to the company's sale of US TAMP assets offset by an increase in operating expense of $46.3 million. Operating margin was 21.3% in 2024, an increase of 10.0 percentage points compared with 2023. Excluding the gain on sale of US TAMP assets, reported operating income would have increased 82.5%. The sale of US TAMP assets had a 2.8 percentage point impact on operating margin.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We reported adjusted operating income of $493.8 million in 2024 compared with $326.5 million in 2023, which excludes intangible amortization expense, M&A-related expenses and gains, and expenses related to the significant reduction and shift of the company's operations in China. Adjusted operating income is a non-GAAP financial measure; the table below shows a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

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We reported adjusted operating margin of 21.7% in 2024 and 16.0% in 2023, which excludes intangible amortization expense, M&A-related expenses and gains, and expenses related to the significant reduction and shift of the company's operations in China. Adjusted operating margin is a non-GAAP financial measure; the table below shows a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

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(1) Excludes finance lease amortization expense of $0.5 million in 2024 and $1.2 million in 2023.

(2) Reflects non-recurring expenses related to merger, acquisition, and divestiture activity such as pre-deal due diligence, transaction costs, severance, and post-close integration costs.

(3) Reflects gain on sale of US TAMP assets.

(4) Reflects costs associated with the significant reduction of the company's operations in Shenzhen, China and the shift of work related to its global business functions to other Morningstar locations.

Severance and personnel expenses include severance charges, incentive payments related to early signing of severance agreements, transition bonuses, and stock-based compensation related to the accelerated vesting of restricted stock unit (RSU) and market stock unit (MSU) awards. In addition, the reversal of accrued sabbatical liabilities is included in this category.

Transformation costs include professional fees and the temporary duplication of headcount. As the company hired replacement roles in other markets and shifted capabilities, it employed certain Shenzhen-based staff through the transition period, which resulted in elevated compensation costs on a temporary basis.

Asset impairment costs include the write-off or accelerated depreciation of fixed assets in the Shenzhen, China office that were not redeployed, in addition to lease abandonment costs as the company downsized its office space prior to the lease termination date.

(5) Corporate and All Other includes unallocated corporate expenses of $181.4 million in 2024 and $153.5 million in 2023, as well as adjusted operating income/loss from Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes. Unallocated corporate expenses include finance, human resources, legal, and other management-related costs that are not considered when segment performance is evaluated.

Segment Results

Segment adjusted operating income reflects the impact of direct segment expenses as well as certain allocated centralized costs, such as technology, investment research, sales, facilities, and marketing.

Morningstar Data and Analytics

The following table presents the results for Morningstar Data and Analytics:

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Morningstar Data and Analytics total revenue increased $40.9 million, or 5.5%, in 2024. Revenue grew 5.8% on an organic basis, driven primarily by increases in Morningstar Direct and Morningstar Data. Organic revenue growth excludes revenue associated with the Commodity and Energy Data business beginning in the fourth quarter and foreign currency impact.

Morningstar Direct contributed $22.1 million to Morningstar Data and Analytics revenue growth, with revenue increasing 10.9%, or 10.8%, on an organic basis, reflecting growth across all major geographies. Morningstar Direct licenses increased 1.1%.

Morningstar Data contributed $19.4 million to Morningstar Data and Analytics revenue growth, with revenue increasing 6.9%, or 6.6% on an organic basis. Increases in managed investment (fund) data and Morningstar Essentials helped drive Morningstar Data growth, partially offset by softness in exchange market data.

Morningstar Data and Analytics adjusted operating income increased $15.6 million, or 4.6%, and adjusted operating margin decreased 0.4 percentage points in 2024. Increased revenue was partially offset by higher compensation costs, reflecting growth in bonuses, merit increases, and higher headcount; increased spending on sales and marketing; and the impact of the sale of the company's Commodity and Energy Data business.

Morningstar Data and Analytics depreciation expense was $37.9 million and $31.0 million for 2024 and 2023, respectively.

PitchBook

The following table presents the results for PitchBook:

PitchBook total revenue increased $66.5 million, or 12.0%, in 2024. Revenue grew 12.1% on an organic basis.

Revenue for the PitchBook platform, direct data, and Leveraged Commentary & Data (LCD) combined contributed $66.7 million to PitchBook revenue growth, with revenue increasing 12.3%, or 12.4% on an organic basis. Growth was primarily driven by the PitchBook platform with licensed users growing 16.4%, reflecting both new client users and expansion with existing clients, as well as variability driven by user maintenance activities and updates to user lists when enterprise clients renew. PitchBook clients who were not previously LCD clients drove the majority of the increase in licensed users, although growth continued to reflect the impact of legacy LCD clients who have moved to the PitchBook platform and are now reflected in licensed user counts. PitchBook platform growth drivers reflected strength in PitchBook's core investor and advisor client segments, including venture capital, private equity, and investment banks. This was partially offset by continued softness in the corporate client segment, especially with smaller firms with more limited use cases.

PitchBook adjusted operating income increased $38.3 million, or 25.9%, and adjusted operating margin increased 3.3 percentage points in 2024. The increase in margin was partially driven by the forfeiture of stock in the now-terminated PitchBook management bonus plan, which was a compensation vehicle designed primarily to incentivize PitchBook's former CEO.

PitchBook depreciation expense was $31.8 million and $26.8 million for 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Morningstar Credit

The following table presents the results for Morningstar Credit:

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Morningstar Credit total revenue increased $75.7 million, or 35.1%, in 2024. Revenue increased 35.3% on an organic basis. Ratings related revenue increased across asset classes and geographies as ratings activity rebounded compared to a relatively soft prior year, with particular strength in commercial mortgage-backed securities, residential mortgage-backed securities, and corporate ratings-related revenue. Recurring revenue, which is derived primarily from surveillance, research, and other transaction-related revenue, and also includes data licensing revenue, represented 41% of total Morningstar Credit revenue.

Morningstar Credit adjusted operating income increased $53.9 million, or 248.4%, and adjusted operating margin increased 15.9 percentage points in 2024. Adjusted operating income and margin growth in 2024 was driven by increased revenue, partially offset by higher bonus expense in the year reflecting strong performance versus plan targets and the comparison to relatively low bonus expense in 2023. Prior-year operating expenses included $8.0 million related to the DBRS, Inc. SEC settlements and $1.7 million in severance related to targeted reorganizations.

Morningstar Credit depreciation expense was $8.9 million and $9.1 million for 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Morningstar Wealth

The following table presents the results for Morningstar Wealth:

Morningstar Wealth total revenue increased $18.5 million, or 8.0%, in 2024. Revenue grew 8.1% on an organic basis, primarily driven by growth in Investment Management. Organic revenue growth excludes platform revenue from the US TAMP from prior year starting in December, interim service fees received from AssetMark associated with the sale of US TAMP assets, and foreign currency impact.

Asset-based revenue is based on quarter-end, prior quarter-end, or average asset levels during each quarter, which are often reported on a one-quarter lag for certain Investment Management products including Morningstar Model Portfolios (also known as Morningstar Managed Portfolios). The timing of this client asset reporting and the structure of our contracts often results in a lag between market movements and the impact on revenue. The following table summarizes our approximate Morningstar Wealth AUMA:

Investment Management contributed $19.7 million to Morningstar Wealth revenue growth, with revenue increasing 16.1% on a reported or 16.3% on an organic basis. Growth was primarily supported by higher revenue for Morningstar Model Portfolios. Reported AUMA, calculated using the most recently available average quarterly or monthly data, increased 12.3% to $62.3 billion compared with the prior year, helped by strong market performance which drove higher asset values and positive net flows to Morningstar Model Portfolios on third-party platforms and to the International Wealth Platform.

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Morningstar Wealth adjusted operating loss decreased $31.1 million and adjusted operating margin increased 13.9 percentage points in 2024. In 2024, the adjusted operating loss excludes the gain on sale of US TAMP assets, as well as related expenses. Prior-year period operating expenses included $1.8 million in severance related to targeted reorganizations in Morningstar Wealth.

Morningstar Wealth depreciation expense was $18.5 million and $15.8 million for 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Morningstar Retirement

The following table presents the results for Morningstar Retirement:

Morningstar Retirement total revenue increased $16.6 million, or 15.0%, on both a reported and organic basis, in 2024. AUMA, calculated using the most recently available average quarterly or monthly data, increased 19.7% to $275.9 billion compared with the prior year, reflecting market gains and positive net flows, supported by strong growth in traditional and Advisor Managed Accounts, fiduciary services, and custom models.

Asset-based revenue is based on quarter-end, prior quarter-end, or average asset levels during each quarter, which are often reported on a one-quarter lag. The timing of this client asset reporting and the structure of our contracts often results in a lag between market movements and the impact on revenue. The following table summarizes our approximate Morningstar Retirement AUMA:

Morningstar Retirement adjusted operating income increased $11.5 million, or 21.3%, and adjusted operating margin increased 2.6 percentage points in 2024.

Morningstar Retirement depreciation expense was $10.0 million and $11.0 million for 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Corporate and All Other

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.

Corporate and All Other revenue increased $18.3 million, or 10.0% on a reported basis, in 2024.

Morningstar Indexes revenue increased $19.2 million or 29.3%. Organic revenue increased 29.1% primarily driven by higher investable product revenue as market performance contributed to an increase in asset value linked to Morningstar Indexes of 19.4% to $210.9 billion.

Morningstar Sustainalytics revenue decreased $0.9 million or 0.8%. Organic revenue decreased 0.9% which was largely driven by lower revenues for ESG Risk Ratings and SPOs. Revenue was also negatively impacted by the streamlining of the licensed-ratings offering.

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Non-operating income (expense), net, Equity in investments of unconsolidated entities, and Effective tax rate and Income tax expense

Non-operating income (expense), net

The following table presents the components of non-operating income (expense), net:

Interest income reflects interest from our cash, cash equivalents, and investment portfolio. Interest expense mainly relates to the outstanding principal balance under our Amended 2022 Credit Agreement and the $350.0 million aggregate principal amount of our 2030 Notes.

Effective September 30, 2024, we sold our Commodity and Energy Data business within the Morningstar Data and Analytics segment for a purchase price of $52.4 million. In the third quarter of 2024, we recorded a $45.3 million gain on sale of business in the Consolidated Statements of Income. Refer to Note 10 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

Expense from equity method transaction, net for 2023 primarily reflects the impact of the Termination Agreement (the Termination Agreement) with Morningstar Japan K.K. (now known as SBI Global Asset Management Co., Ltd. (Wealth Advisors)) and the Tender Offer Agreement (the Tender Offer Agreement) with SBI Global Asset Management Co., Ltd. (now known as SBI Asset Management Group Co., Ltd. (SBI)). Refer to Note 11 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the Termination Agreement and the Tender Offer Agreement.

Other income (expense), net primarily consists of foreign currency exchange gains (losses) and unrealized gains (losses) on investments.

Equity in investments of unconsolidated entities

Equity in investments of unconsolidated entities primarily reflects losses from our unconsolidated entities and impairment. We recorded a $12.4 million impairment loss in 2024 related to our investment in SmartX Advisory Solutions. We describe our investments in unconsolidated entities in more detail in Note 11 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Effective tax rate and income tax expense

The following table summarizes the components of our effective tax rate:

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Our effective tax rate in 2024 was 21.9%, an increase of 2.9 percentage points, compared with 19.0% in the prior year. Our 2024 effective rate was favorably impacted by the book gain in excess of taxable gain on the sale of our Commodity and Energy Data business and was offset by deferred taxes that we recorded with respect to unremitted foreign earnings. Further, our 2023 effective tax rate was lower primarily due to the recognition of tax benefits related to a retroactive tax election.

In October 2021, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) agreed to a two-pillar approach to global taxation focusing on global profit allocation (Pillar One) and a global minimum tax rate (Pillar Two). In December 2022, the EU member states agreed to implement the OECD’s global corporate minimum tax rate of 15% under Pillar Two to be effective in January 2024. Other countries are also considering changes to their tax laws to adopt certain parts of the OECD’s proposals. This legislation represents a significant change in the international tax regime and could result in increases to our effective tax rate as a result of the imposition of minimum taxes. The Pillar Two minimum tax is treated as a period cost beginning in 2024 and did not have a material impact on our 2024 effective tax rate. We continue to monitor developments and administrative guidance in addition to evaluating the potential impact on our consolidated financial statements for future periods.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2024, we had cash, cash equivalents, and investments of $551.0 million, up $162.0 million from the prior year.

Cash provided by operating activities is our main source of cash. In 2024, cash provided by operating activities was $591.6 million, reflecting $498.8 million of net income adjusted for non-cash items and $92.8 million in positive changes from our net operating assets and liabilities. Cash provided by operating activities increased $275.2 million, from $316.4 million in 2023 primarily driven by higher cash earnings.

Cash used for investing activities decreased $60.6 million from $81.9 million in 2023 to $21.3 million in 2024, primarily driven by $65.0 million proceeds from sale of US TAMP assets in 2024 and $52.4 million proceeds from sale of our Commodity and Energy Data business in 2024. This was offset by higher capital expenditures in 2024.

Cash used for financing activities increased $106.0 million from $278.4 million in 2023 to $384.4 million in 2024. Financing cash flows were impacted by $274.4 million and $137.5 million net repayments to our financing arrangements in 2024 and 2023, respectively. On February 6, 2023, the company made its final $50.0 million contingent payment related to the acquisition of LCD, of which $4.5 million is reflected in operating cash flows and $45.5 million is reflected in financing cash flows.

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We believe our available cash balances and investments, along with cash generated from operations and our credit facility, will be sufficient to meet our operating and cash needs for at least the next 12 months. We are focused on maintaining a strong balance sheet and liquidity position. We hold our cash reserves in cash equivalents and investments and maintain a conservative investment policy. We invest most of our investment balance in stocks, bonds, options, mutual funds, money market funds, or exchange-traded products that replicate the model portfolios and strategies created by Morningstar. These investment accounts may also include exchange-traded products where Morningstar is an index provider.

Approximately 76% of our cash, cash equivalents, and investments were held by our operations outside the US as of December 31, 2024 and 2023. We generally consider most of our US directly-owned foreign subsidiary earnings to be permanently reinvested. During the fourth quarter of 2024, we determined $142.0 million in earnings of certain of our foreign subsidiaries to be no longer permanently reinvested. We anticipate a one-time repatriation of these earnings back to the US via distribution later in 2025. We have recorded a deferred tax liability of $7.1 million that reflects the income tax effects of the repatriation of these earnings, mostly due to non-US withholding taxes, that would be due at the time of remittance.

We intend to use our cash, cash equivalents, and investments for general corporate purposes, including working capital and funding future growth.

Credit Agreement

On May 6, 2022, the company entered into a senior credit agreement (the 2022 Credit Agreement), providing the company with a five-year multi-currency credit facility with an initial borrowing capacity of up to $1.1 billion, including a $650.0 million term loan and a $450.0 million revolving credit facility. The 2022 Credit Agreement also provided for the issuance of letters of credit and a swingline facility. The 2022 Credit Agreement was amended twice in September 2022 and again most recently in June 2024 (Amended 2022 Credit Agreement) to, among other items, eliminate the options for a second term loan draw and increase both the term loan and revolving credit facility to $650.0 million each, raising the total borrowing capacity to $1.3 billion (Amended 2022 Term Facility and Amended 2022 Revolving Credit Facility, respectively), and to update the reference rate for credit extensions in Canadian dollars. Aside from the increased borrowing capacity, the Amended 2022 Credit Agreement left the 2022 Credit Agreement terms largely unchanged. As of December 31, 2024, our total outstanding debt under the Amended 2022 Credit Agreement was $349.8 million, net of debt issuance costs, with borrowing availability of $650.0 million under the 2022 Revolving Credit Facility.

The interest rate applicable to any loan under the Amended 2022 Credit Agreement is, at the company's option, either: (i) the applicable Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) plus an applicable margin for such loans, which ranges between 1.00% and 1.48%, based on the company's consolidated leverage ratio or (ii) the lender's base rate plus the applicable margin for such loans, which ranges between 0.00% and 0.38%, based on our consolidated leverage ratio.

The portions of deferred debt issuance costs related to the Amended 2022 Revolving Credit Facility are included in other current and non-current assets, and the portion of deferred debt issuance costs related to the Amended 2022 Term Facility is reported as a reduction to the carrying amount of the Amended 2022 Term Facility. Debt issuance costs related to the Amended 2022 Revolving Credit Facility are amortized on a straight-line basis to interest expense over the term of the Amended 2022 Credit Agreement. Debt issuance costs related to the Amended 2022 Term Facility are amortized to interest expense using the effective interest method over the term of the Amended 2022 Credit Agreement.

Private Placement Debt Offering

On October 26, 2020, we completed the issuance and sale of $350.0 million aggregate principal amount of 2.32% senior notes due October 26, 2030 (the 2030 Notes), in a private placement exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Proceeds were primarily used to pay off a portion of the company's outstanding debt under the prior credit agreement. Interest on the 2030 Notes will be paid semi-annually on each October 30 and April 30 during the term of the 2030 Notes and at maturity, with the first interest payment date occurring on April 30, 2021. As of December 31, 2024, our total outstanding debt, net of issuance costs, under the 2030 Notes was $348.8 million.

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Compliance with Covenants

Each of the Amended 2022 Credit Agreement and the 2030 Notes include customary representations, warranties, and covenants, including financial covenants, that require us to maintain specified ratios of consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to consolidated interest charges and consolidated funded indebtedness to consolidated EBITDA, which are evaluated on a quarterly basis. We were in compliance with these financial covenants as of December 31, 2024, with consolidated funded indebtedness to consolidated EBITDA calculated at approximately 0.9x.

Share Repurchases

On December 6, 2022, the board of directors approved a share repurchase program that authorizes the company to repurchase up to $500.0 million in shares of the company's outstanding common stock, effective January 1, 2023. This authorization replaced the then-existing share repurchase program and expires on December 31, 2025. Under this authorization, we may repurchase shares from time to time at prevailing market prices on the open market or in private transactions in amounts that we deem appropriate.

For the year ended December 31, 2024, we repurchased a total of 33,300 shares for $11.6 million. As of December 31, 2024, we have repurchased a total of 41,784 shares for $13.0 million under this authorization, leaving $487.0 million available for future repurchases.

Dividends

In 2024, we also paid dividends of $69.3 million. While subsequent dividends will be subject to board approval, we expect to make regular quarterly dividend payments of 45.5 cents per share in 2025. In December 2024, our board of directors approved a regular quarterly dividend of $0.455 per share, or $19.4 million, payable on January 31, 2025 to shareholders of record as of January 3, 2025.

Wealth Advisors

On January 27, 2023, we entered into the Termination Agreement and the Tender Offer Agreement. Pursuant to the Termination Agreement, Wealth Advisors agreed to cease use of the Morningstar brand, and Morningstar and Wealth Advisors agreed to terminate the License Agreement originally entered into in 1998. As consideration for the transaction, Morningstar agreed to pay Wealth Advisors 8 billion Japanese yen upon the termination of the license agreement and the achievement of certain conditions related primarily to the termination of the use of the Morningstar brand by Wealth Advisors’ customers. On April 6, 2023, we made the first cash payment of 6 billion Japanese yen ($45.1 million), and on April 19, 2023, we made the second and final cash payment of 2 billion Japanese yen ($14.8 million), pursuant to the Termination Agreement.

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As part of such transaction, pursuant to the Tender Offer Agreement, Morningstar agreed to tender up to 10 million shares in Wealth Advisors to SBI. The tender offer closed on February 28, 2023, and SBI purchased 8,040,600 shares of Wealth Advisors from Morningstar, resulting in net proceeds of $26.2 million and a pre-tax gain of $18.4 million. Refer to Note 11 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the Termination Agreement and the Tender Offer Agreement.

Other

We expect to continue making capital expenditures in 2025, primarily for computer hardware, software, and leasehold improvements for new and existing office locations.

We also expect to use a portion of our cash and investments balances in the first quarter of 2025 to make annual bonus payments of approximately $164.8 million related to the 2024 bonus program compared with $123.9 million paid in the first quarter of 2024 for the 2023 bonus program.

Consolidated Free Cash Flow

As described in more detail above, free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure defined as cash provided by or used for operating activities less capital expenditures. We present free cash flow solely as a supplemental disclosure to help investors better understand how much cash is available after making capital expenditures. Our management team uses free cash flow to evaluate the health of our business. Free cash flow is not a measure of performance. Also, the free cash flow definition we use may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

We generated free cash flow of $448.9 million in 2024, an increase of $251.6 million compared with 2023. The change reflects a $275.2 million increase in cash provided by operating activities as well as a $23.6 million increase in capital expenditures. The increase in cash flow from operations and free cash flow was primarily driven by higher cash earnings.

In 2023, free cash flow was impacted by $4.5 million LCD contingent payment within operating cash flow, payments related to the Termination Agreement of $59.9 million, and $26.4 million of severance and other related costs paid for the China transition, which together totaled $90.8 million. Excluding these items and $1.8 million in severance related to the sale of US TAMP assets in 2024, free cash flow would have been $450.7 million and $288.1 million in 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Acquisitions

We paid a total of $647.5 million, net of cash acquired, related to acquisitions over the past three years. We describe these acquisitions in Note 9 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

We paid a total of $40.4 million related to additional investments in unconsolidated entities over the past three years. We describe these investments in Note 11 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Divestitures

Over the last three years, we received a total of $52.4 million from the sale of business and $65.0 million from the sale of customer assets. We describe these divestitures in Note 10 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

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Application of Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based on our Consolidated Financial Statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. We discuss our significant accounting policies in Note 2 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements. The preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP requires our management team to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expense, and related disclosures included in our Consolidated Financial Statements.

We continually evaluate our estimates. We base our estimates on historical experience and various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable. Based on these assumptions and estimates, we make judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Our actual results could vary from these estimates and assumptions. If actual amounts are different from previous estimates, we include revisions in our results of operations for the period in which the actual amounts become known.

We believe the following critical accounting policies reflect the significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our Consolidated Financial Statements:

Revenue Recognition

A majority of our revenue comes from the sale of subscriptions for data, software, and Internet-based products and services. We recognize this revenue in equal amounts over the noncancellable term of the subscription or license, which generally ranges from one to three years. Our license-based revenue represents subscription services available to customers and not a license under the accounting guidance. We also provide research, investment management, retirement advice, and other services. We recognize this revenue when the service is provided or during the service obligation period defined in the contract.

We make judgments related to revenue recognition, including allocating the transaction price in a contract. For contracts that combine multiple products and services or other performance obligations, we make judgments regarding the value of each obligation in the arrangement based on selling prices of the items as if sold separately. We recognize revenue as we satisfy our performance obligations under the terms of the contracts with our customers.

We make judgments at the beginning of an arrangement regarding whether collection of the consideration to which we are entitled is probable and assess the likelihood of collection on a customer-by-customer basis. We typically sell to institutional customers with whom we have a history of successful collections.

Deferred revenue is the amount billed or collected in advance for subscriptions or services that has not yet been recognized as revenue. Deferred revenue totaled $563.2 million at the end of 2024 (of which $540.8 million was classified as a current liability with an additional $22.4 million, mainly credit rating surveillance, included in long-term liabilities). We expect to recognize this deferred revenue in future periods as we fulfill our performance obligations under our subscription and service agreements.

The amount of deferred revenue may increase or decrease based on the mix of contracted products and services and the volume of new and renewal subscriptions. The timing of future revenue recognition may change depending on the terms of the applicable agreements and the timing of fulfilling our service obligations.

Acquisitions, Goodwill, and Other Intangible Assets

We generally acquire businesses which are accounted for as business combinations. Our financial statements reflect the operations of an acquired business starting from the completion of the transaction. We record the estimated fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed as of the date of acquisition.

To account for each business combination, we utilize the acquisition method of accounting which requires the following steps (1) identifying the acquirer, (2) determining the acquisition date, (3) recognizing and measuring identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed, and (4) recognizing and measuring goodwill or a gain from a bargain purchase.

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Regardless of whether an acquisition is considered to be a business combination or an asset acquisition, allocating the purchase price to the acquired assets and liabilities involves management judgment. We base the fair value estimates on available historical information and on future expectations and assumptions that we believe are reasonable, but these estimates are inherently uncertain.

Determining the fair value of intangible assets requires significant management judgment in the following areas:

•Identify the acquired intangible assets: For each acquisition, we identify the intangible assets acquired. These intangible assets generally consist of customer relationships, trademarks and trade names, technology-related intangibles (including internally developed software and databases), and in certain acquisitions, noncompete agreements.

•Estimate the fair value of these intangible assets: We may consider various approaches to value the intangible assets. These include the cost approach, which measures the value of an asset based on the cost to reproduce it or replace it with another asset of like utility by applying the reproduction cost method or replacement cost method; the market approach, which values the asset through an analysis of sales and offerings of comparable assets which can be adjusted to reflect differences between the investment or asset being valued and the comparable investments or assets, such as historical financial condition and performance, expected economic benefits, time and terms of sale, utility, and physical characteristics, and the income approach, which measures the value of an asset based on the present value of the economic benefits it is expected to produce utilizing inputs such as estimated future cash flows based on forecasted revenue growth rates and margins, estimated attrition rates, and discount rate assumptions.

•Estimate the remaining useful life of the assets: For each intangible asset, we use judgment and assumptions to establish the remaining useful life of the asset. For example, for customer relationships, we determine the estimated useful life with reference to observed customer attrition rates. For technology-related assets such as databases, we make judgments about the demand for current data and historical metrics in establishing the remaining useful life. For internally developed software, we estimate an obsolescence factor associated with the software.

We record any excess of the purchase price over the estimated fair values of the net assets acquired as goodwill, which is not amortized.

We recognize the fair value of any contingent payments at the date of acquisition as part of the consideration transferred to acquire a business. Contingent payments are recognized at fair value at the date of acquisition using either a Monte Carlo simulation, which requires the use of management assumptions and inputs, such as projected financial information related to revenue growth and expected margin percentage, among other valuation related items, or calculating the weighted average of the estimated contingent payment scenarios. The liability associated with contingent consideration is remeasured to fair value at each reporting period subsequent to the date of acquisition considering factors that may impact the timing and amount of contingent payments until the term of the agreement has expired or the contingency is resolved. Any changes in the fair value measurement will be recorded in our Consolidated Statements of Income. In evaluating the characterization of contingent and deferred payments, we analyze relevant factors, including the nature of the payment, continuing employment requirements, incremental payments to employees of the acquired business, and timing and rationale underlying the transaction, to determine whether the payments should be accounted for as additional purchase consideration or post-combination related services.

We believe the accounting estimates related to purchase price allocations, subsequent goodwill impairment testing, and contingent payments are critical accounting estimates because changes in these assumptions could materially affect the amounts and classifications of assets and liabilities presented in our Consolidated Balance Sheets, as well as the amount of amortization and depreciation expense, if any, recorded in our Consolidated Statements of Income. The significance of this policy varies from period to period depending upon the volume of applicable acquisition transactions occurring.

Recently Adopted and Issued Accounting Pronouncements

Refer to Note 19 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements for recently adopted and issued accounting pronouncements as of December 31, 2024.

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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The discussion included in this section, as well as under "Item 1—Business" and other sections of 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 “committed,” “consider,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “future,” “goal,” “is designed to,” “maintain,” “may,” “might,” “objective,” “ongoing,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “prospects”, “continue,” “seek,” “strategy,” “strive,” “will,” “would,” 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;

•failure to prevent and/or mitigate cybersecurity events and the failure to protect confidential information, including personal information about individuals;

•compliance failures, regulatory action, or changes in laws applicable to our credit ratings operations, investment advisory, environmental, social, and governance (ESG), and index businesses;

•failing to innovate our product and service offerings or anticipate our clients’ changing needs;

•the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and related new technologies on our business, legal, and regulatory exposure profile and reputation;

•failure to detect errors in our products or failure of our products to perform properly due to defects, malfunctions or similar problems;

•failing to recruit, develop, and retain qualified employees;

•prolonged volatility or downturns affecting the financial sector, global financial markets, and the global economy and its effect on our revenue from asset-based fees and credit ratings business;

•failing to scale our operations and increase productivity in order to implement our business plans and strategies;

•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, business continuity programs and insurance coverage in the event of a material disruptive event;

•failing to efficiently integrate and leverage acquisitions and other investments, which may not realize the expected business or financial benefits, to produce the results we anticipate;

•failing to maintain growth across our businesses in today's fragmented geopolitical, regulatory and cultural world;

•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 on our cash flows and financial and operational flexibility;

•challenges in accounting for tax complexities in the global jurisdictions we operate in could materially affect our tax obligations and tax rates; 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 Item 1A—Risk Factors of this Report. 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 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K.

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This section includes comparisons of certain 2023 financial information to the same information for 2022. Year-to-year comparisons of the 2022 financial information to the same information for 2021 can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on February 24, 2023. This section also includes comparisons of 2022 segment financial information to the same information for 2021.

All dollar and percentage comparisons, which are often accompanied by words such as “increase,” “decrease,” “grew,” “declined,” “was up,” “was down,” “was flat,” or “was similar”, refer to a comparison with the prior year unless otherwise stated.

Understanding Our Company

Key Business Characteristics

Our mission is to empower investor success. The investing ecosystem is complex, and navigating it with confidence requires a trusted, independent voice. We deliver our perspective to institutions, advisors, and individuals with a single-minded purpose: to empower investors with the conviction that they can make better-informed decisions and realize success on their own terms.

Our strategy is to deliver insights and experiences that are essential to the investor workflow. Proprietary data sets, meaningful analytics, independent research, and effective investment strategies are at the core of the powerful digital solutions that investors across our client segments rely on. We have a keen focus on innovation across data, research, product, and delivery so that we can effectively cater to the evolving needs and expectations of investors globally.

Segments

Effective as of December 31, 2023, the company concluded that it has seven operating segments which are presented as the following five reportable segments: Morningstar Data and Analytics, PitchBook, Morningstar Wealth, Morningstar Credit, and Morningstar Retirement. The operating segments of Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes do not individually meet the quantitative segment reporting thresholds and have been combined and presented as part of Corporate and All Other, which is not a reportable segment. Prior period segment information is presented on a comparable basis to the basis on which current period segment information is presented and reviewed by the chief operating decision maker (CODM). For additional information about our segment reporting, refer to Note 6 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II of this Report.

Revenue

We offer an extensive line of investment-related products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, retirement plan providers and sponsors, and institutional investors and other participants in the private capital markets.

Our segments sell many of our research and data products and services through license agreements on either a per user or enterprise-basis. Morningstar Data and Analytics and PitchBook generate most of our licensed-based revenue. Our license agreements typically range from one to three years and are accounted for as subscription services available to customers and not as a license under the accounting guidance.

Our Morningstar Wealth and Morningstar Retirement segments generate most of our asset-based revenue where basis points and other fees are charged for assets under management or advisement (AUMA). Our asset-based arrangements typically range from one to three years.

Our transaction-based revenue, which is recognized primarily in our Morningstar Credit and Morningstar Wealth segments, is one-time in nature, compared with the recurring revenue streams represented by our license and asset-based products.

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Deferred Revenue

We invoice some of our clients and collect cash in advance of providing services or fulfilling subscription services to our customers. Deferred revenue totaled $544.0 million (of which $517.7 million was classified as a current liability with an additional $26.3 million included in long-term liabilities) at the end of 2023. We expect to recognize this deferred revenue in future periods as we fulfill the service obligations under our license and subscription agreements.

Operating Expense

We classify our operating expense into separate categories for cost of revenue, sales and marketing, general and administrative, and depreciation and amortization, as described below.

• Cost of revenue. This category includes compensation expense for employees who produce the products and services we deliver to our customers. For example, this category covers production teams and analysts who write investment research reports. It also includes compensation expense for programmers, designers, and other employees who develop new products and enhance existing products. In some cases, we capitalize the compensation costs associated with certain software development projects resulting in reduced expense that we would otherwise report in this category. Cost of revenue also includes other expenses, such as third-party data purchases and data lines as well as professional fees for third-party development activities.

• Sales and marketing. This category includes compensation expense for our sales teams, product managers, and marketing professionals. We also include the cost of advertising, digital marketing campaigns, and other marketing and promotion efforts in this category.

• General and administrative. This category includes compensation expense for our management team and other corporate functions, including employees in our compliance, finance, human resources, and legal departments. It also includes costs for corporate systems and facilities.

• Depreciation and amortization. Our capital expenditures mainly relate to capitalized software development costs, information technology equipment, and leasehold improvements. We amortize capitalized software development costs over their estimated economic life, generally three years. We depreciate property and equipment using the straight-line method based on the useful lives of the assets, which range from three to seven years. We amortize leasehold improvements over the lease term or their useful lives, whichever is shorter. We also include amortization related to identifiable intangible assets, which is mainly driven by acquisitions, in this category. We amortize intangible assets using the straight-line method over their estimated economic useful lives, which range from one to twenty years.

International Operations

As of December 31, 2023, we had wholly- or majority-owned subsidiaries in 31 countries outside of the U.S. and included their results of operations and financial condition in our consolidated financial statements. We also have investments outside of the U.S., and where we have significant influence, we apply the equity method of accounting.

How We Evaluate Our Business

When our analysts evaluate a stock, they focus on assessing the company's estimated intrinsic value, which is based on estimated future cash flows, discounted to their value in today's dollars. Our approach to evaluating our own business works the same way.

Our goal is to increase the intrinsic value of our business over time, which we believe is the best way to create value for our shareholders. We do not make public financial forecasts for our business because we want to avoid creating any incentives for our management team to make speculative statements about our financial results that could influence our stock price or take actions that help us meet short-term forecasts, but may not build long-term shareholder value.

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We provide the following measures that can help investors generate their own assessment of how our intrinsic value has changed over time:

•    Revenue (including organic revenue);

•    Operating income (including adjusted operating income);

•    Operating margin (including adjusted operating margin); and

•    Free cash flow.

Organic revenue, adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, and free cash flow are not measures of performance set forth under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

We define organic revenue as consolidated revenue excluding acquisitions, divestitures, adoption of new accounting standard changes (accounting changes), and foreign currency translations. We present organic revenue because we believe it helps investors better compare our period-to-period results, and our management team uses this measure to evaluate the performance of our business. We exclude revenue from businesses acquired or divested from organic revenue for a period of 12 months after we complete the acquisition or divestiture. Organic revenue is not equivalent to any measure required under GAAP and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

We define adjusted operating income as operating income excluding all mergers and acquisitions (M&A)-related expenses (including M&A-related earn-outs) and amortization, as well as all expenses related to the significant reduction and shift of the company's operations in China. We define adjusted operating margin as operating margin excluding all M&A-related expenses (including M&A-related earn-outs) and amortization, as well as all expenses related to the significant reduction and shift of the company's operations in China. We present these measures because we believe they better reflect period-over-period comparisons and improves overall understanding of the underlying performance of the business absent the impact of M&A and the shift of the company's operations in China.

We define free cash flow as cash provided by or used for operating activities less capital expenditures. Free cash flow is presented solely as a supplemental disclosure to help investors better understand how much cash is available after making capital expenditures. Our management team uses free cash flow to evaluate the health of our business. Free cash flow is not equivalent to any measure required under GAAP and should not be considered an indicator of liquidity. Moreover, the free cash flow definition we use may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

In addition to the measures described above, we calculate revenue renewal rates to evaluate how successful we've been in maintaining existing business for products and services that have revenue associated with periodic renewals. We use the annual contract value method, which tracks the dollar value of renewals compared with the total dollar value of contracts up for renewal during the period. We include changes in the contract value in the renewal amount. We also include variable-fee contracts in this calculation and use the actual revenue for the previous comparable fiscal period as the base rate for calculating the renewal percentage. The renewal rate excludes setup and customization fees and contract renewals that were pending as of January 31, 2024.

Regulatory Trends Affecting Our Business

In addition to the industry developments described under Part I, Item 1. Business - "Our Strategy" there are several longer-term regulatory trends we consider relevant to our business, as summarized below and as described in more detail in Part I, Item 1. Business - “Government Regulation” and in Part I, Item 1A - “Risk Factors” of this Report.

Even in its fragmented state, regulators globally continue to focus on certain recurring themes, including access to financial services, the quality of advice and the value of the services provided, the protection of customer data and transparency around the uses of such data, the minimization of conflicts of interest, and improvements in corporate governance and risk management.

With respect to our credit ratings business, the European Securities Market Authority or the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority may begin to make inconsistent modifications to the laws and regulations of the credit rating agency regulatory regimes, which would increase the cost and complexity of regulatory compliance for our credit ratings business.

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In the U.K. and Continental Europe, with respect to our Investment Management business, Morningstar continues to navigate the equivalence regimes and domestic laws governing matters of access in financial services post-Brexit. In other parts of the world, recent regulations and other guidance in jurisdictions, like Australia and New Zealand, have focused on investment management compliance practices, such as design and distribution obligations, conflicts of interest and fee disclosures. The increased complexity and extent of regulatory change globally is a challenge for both Morningstar and its clients, and we continue to expend resources to remain in compliance.

Interest from investors, regulators and other relevant stakeholders in firms adopting ESG-related business and operational risk strategies persists. Morningstar is impacted by these trends on the corporate level, as a United States (U.S.) public company with international operations, and on a business level, as a provider of ESG data, ratings and other services to help investors and companies identify, understand, and manage ESG-driven risks and opportunities and inform their decisions. These developments are expected to have long term impacts on our delivery of products and services, customer interactions, physical operations, technology systems, and dependencies on third parties.

Morningstar is monitoring proposed legislation in the U.S., European Union (EU), and in other jurisdictions relevant to its ESG business activities. These and other potential regulations may impact not only the scope of our disclosure obligations and the ESG-related products and services we provide to customers, but also present an opportunity to guide and inform investors who are looking to understand the regulations and develop their own workflows to ensure their compliance with new requirements.

The politicization of ESG-related business activities and investments has increased in recent years, particularly in the U.S. This politicization has led to the rise of anti-ESG proponents and actions, including individual and multi-state inquiries into companies’ ESG activities, the submission of anti-ESG shareholder proposals to U.S.-based public companies, and the filing of shareholder derivative lawsuits against U.S. companies. As Morningstar provides data and analysis with respect to ESG-related investments, Morningstar, along with other financial service providers, faces scrutiny in this political environment and expends resources in responding to inquiries. Morningstar continues to closely monitor the ESG and anti-ESG landscape.

Data privacy regulation continues to proliferate, as numerous national and state jurisdictions have adopted or are considering new data privacy regulations.

As a related matter, issues of cybersecurity as they relate to the identification and mitigation of cyber threats also continue to grow in prominence and laws governing data breaches continue to proliferate globally. Financial regulators have also increased scrutiny on the data protection practices of the entities, such as Morningstar, that they oversee. In the U.S., the SEC recently adopted disclosure requirements regarding cybersecurity hygiene and preparedness and cyber incident reporting.

Regulators in various global jurisdictions have adopted or are considering regulations governing AI technologies, including the EU’s AI Act. Additionally, regulators have sought to clarify that existing regulations apply to novel use cases involving AI technologies. Combined, this regulatory activity creates a complex and potentially costly compliance environment as Morningstar deploys AI technologies in its products and in tools used in the workplace.

Finally, our company is impacted by government regulation and policies focused on macroeconomic trends such as inflation and unemployment. Central banks’ increases in interest rates to combat inflationary pressures increases our interest expense on our variable rate indebtedness, while the volatile rate environment reduces credit issuance putting negative pressure on our credit rating business. Our compensation expense reflects rising wage scales in many of the markets where we operate as unemployment rates remain low. Overall, our business, balance sheet, technological infrastructure, and teams have shown resilience and flexibility navigating global macroeconomic trends.

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Consolidated Results

___________________________________________________________________________________________

pp — percentage points

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Consolidated Revenue

_________________________________________________________________________

NMF — Not meaningful

(1) Starting with the quarter ended March 31, 2023, the company updated its revenue-type classifications to account for product areas with more than one revenue type. Prior periods have not been restated to reflect the updated classifications. Revenue from Morningstar Sustainalytics' second-party opinions product was reclassified from license-based to transaction-based. Revenue from Morningstar Indexes data and services products was reclassified from asset-based to license-based. Revenue from Morningstar DBRS and Morningstar Credit data products was reclassified from transaction-based to license-based.

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(2) Corporate and All Other provides a reconciliation between revenue from our reportable segments and consolidated revenue. Corporate and All Other includes Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes as sources of revenues.

2023 versus 2022

In 2023, our consolidated revenue rose $168.0 million, or 9.0%. Foreign currency movements decreased revenue by $3.2 million in 2023.

License-based revenue, which represents subscription services available to customers, increased 14.0%, or 11.8% on an organic basis, during 2023. Reported and organic revenue growth was primarily driven by strong demand for PitchBook and Morningstar Data and Analytics products.

Asset-based revenue increased 3.8%, or 5.6% on an organic basis, during 2023, primarily due to increases in Morningstar Indexes as well as increases in Morningstar Retirement and Morningstar Wealth asset-based revenue, driven by the rebound in global asset values and net inflows across multiple products compared to the prior year.

Transaction-based revenue decreased 10.4%, or 11.5% on an organic basis, during 2023, primarily due to declines in Morningstar Credit revenue.

2022 versus 2021

In 2022, our consolidated revenue rose $171.3 million, or 10.1%. Foreign currency movements decreased revenue by $45.9 million in 2022.

License-based revenue increased 17.7%, or 18.0% on an organic basis, during 2022. Reported and organic revenue growth was primarily driven by strong demand for PitchBook and Morningstar Data and Analytics products.

Asset-based revenue increased 1.7%, or 1.5% on an organic basis, during 2022, driven by increases in Morningstar Indexes which was partially offset by lower asset-based revenue in Morningstar Wealth and Morningstar Retirement reflecting declines in global markets.

Transaction-based revenue decreased 11.0%, or 8.3% on an organic basis, during 2022, primarily due to declines in Morningstar Credit revenue.

Organic revenue

Organic revenue (revenue excluding acquisitions, divestitures, adoption of new accounting standard changes (accounting changes), and the effect of foreign currency translations) is considered a non-GAAP financial measure. The definition of organic revenue we use may not be the same as similarly titled measures used by other companies. Organic revenue should not be considered an alternative to any measure of performance as required under GAAP.

We present organic revenue because we believe it helps investors better compare our period-to-period results, and our management team uses this measure to evaluate the performance of our business and product areas. We exclude revenue from acquired businesses from our organic revenue growth calculation for a period of 12 months after we complete the acquisition. For divestitures, we exclude revenue in the prior period for which there is no comparable revenue in the current period.

Excluding revenue from acquisitions, accounting changes, and the impact of foreign currency translations, organic revenue increased 7.5% in 2023. PitchBook and Morningstar Data and Analytics were the largest drivers of the increase in organic revenue during 2023.

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The tables below reconcile consolidated revenue to organic revenue:

Revenue by geographical area

International revenue comprised approximately 28% of our consolidated revenue in 2023 and 2022. Approximately 59% of international revenue was generated from Continental Europe and the U.K. in 2023. Revenue from international operations increased $51.3 million, or 9.9%, in 2023 driven by strong demand for Morningstar Data and Analytics products.

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Revenue Renewal Rates

As discussed in How We Evaluate Our Business, we calculate revenue renewal rates to help measure how successful we've been in maintaining existing business for products and services that have renewable revenue. The figures for license-based products includes the effect of price changes; increasing client bases upon contract renewal; any loss of clients due to cancellations; changes to the contract value upon renewal (such as increased users); and changes in the value of variable-fee contracts. These factors, therefore, can result in renewal rate percentages greater or lower than 100%.

Our revenue renewal rate calculation includes only those products that we consider to be license-based. These are primarily weighted toward Morningstar Data and Analytics and PitchBook products, but also includes other license-based products and services. For these license-based products and services, we estimate that our annual renewal rate was approximately 103% in 2023 versus 105% in 2022.

Consolidated Operating Expense

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In 2023, operating expense increased $105.2 million, or 6.2%.

In July 2022, the company began to significantly reduce its operations in Shenzhen, China and to shift the work related to its global business functions to other Morningstar locations. Costs incurred in 2023 related to this transition totaled $15.6 million, due primarily to severance and personnel costs, transformation costs, which consisted of professional fees and the temporary duplication of headcount as the company hired replacement roles in other markets and continued to employ certain Shenzhen-based staff through the transition, and asset impairment costs. This compared to $35.7 million in 2022. During the third quarter of 2023, the company substantially completed these activities.

Excluding the impact of the China operations transition, M&A-related expenses, and intangible amortization, operating expenses increased 8.9% during 2023.

Higher compensation expense (which primarily consists of salaries, bonuses, and other company-sponsored benefits), depreciation expense, SaaS-based software subscriptions, facilities-related expenses, and commissions were the key contributors to operating expense growth in 2023. Foreign currency translations had a favorable impact of $8.3 million on operating expense in 2023.

Compensation expense increased $121.7 million in 2023. These higher costs reflect higher bonus expense and higher salary costs, including the impact of merit increases, in the PitchBook and Morningstar Data and Analytics segments to support growth.

Depreciation expense increased $15.4 million during 2023 as a result of higher capitalized software costs for product enhancements in prior periods. The shift in headcount to regions with higher compensation costs due to the company's China operations transition contributed to higher capitalized software costs. Higher leasehold improvements and additions of computer equipment also drove higher depreciation expense in 2023.

Higher software subscriptions were also a driver during 2023, increasing $10.9 million, due to the company's investment in various SaaS-based platforms across the business.

Facilities-related expense increased $8.7 million during 2023, in connection with lease expansion in certain geographies.

Sales commission expense increased $8.2 million in 2023, due to strong sales performance and higher amortization of capitalized commissions related to prior year sales performance.

On September 29, 2023, DBRS, Inc. (DBRS) entered into two settlements with the SEC requiring DBRS to pay an aggregate of $8.0 million in civil monetary penalties, thus resulting in $8.0 million of expense in 2023. Under the terms of the settlements, DBRS paid a $6.0 million civil monetary penalty to the SEC to resolve the investigation related to record-keeping, and paid a $2.0 million civil monetary penalty to the SEC to resolve the investigation related to commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) ratings methodologies, both in early October 2023.

These increases were partially offset by lower stock-based compensation, professional fees, severance expense, and capitalized labor.

Stock-based compensation decreased $30.5 million in 2023, primarily driven by the PitchBook management bonus plan. The current year of the plan features lower target payouts versus the prior year. In 2022, higher stock-based compensation was driven in large part by the overachievement of targets under the prior year plan.

Professional fees decreased $17.1 million in 2023, reflecting efforts to reduce the use of outside professional services as well as lower expenses for third-party resources supporting M&A activity and the transition of the company's China-based activities. In addition, professional fees in 2022 reflected the impact of higher legal fees primarily associated with a completed independent investigation regarding certain research practices of Morningstar Sustainalytics.

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Severance expense decreased $12.7 million in 2023, compared to the prior year when severance related to the transition and shift of the company's China operations totaled $25.9 million. This decline was partially offset by $9.0 million of severance expense during 2023, respectively, related to targeted reorganizations and headcount reductions in certain parts of the business, including Morningstar Sustainalytics, Morningstar Wealth, and Morningstar DBRS. During 2023, the most significant reductions were at Morningstar Sustainalytics. These reorganizations were in part in response to slower than anticipated progress against growth targets due in part to softening demand for ESG solutions for Morningstar Sustainalytics, the impact of sharp market declines in 2022 for Morningstar Wealth, and weak credit issuance activity, especially in U.S. CMBS, for Morningstar DBRS. In addition, the company incurred $2.4 million in severance expense related to the company's China operations transition during 2023.

An increase of $11.7 million in capitalized software development related to the shift in headcount to regions with higher compensation costs due to the company's China operations transition and accelerated product development efforts for our key product areas reduced operating expense in 2023.

Cost of revenue

Cost of revenue is our largest category of operating expense, representing about one-half of our total operating expense. Our business relies heavily on human capital, and cost of revenue includes the compensation expense for employees who produce our products and services. We include compensation expense for approximately 75% of our employees in this category.

Cost of revenue increased $64.2 million, or 8.2%, in 2023. Higher compensation expense of $66.1 million was the largest contributor to the increase, primarily due the factors noted above. Cloud computing and production expense also increased $5.6 million and $4.7 million, respectively. These increases were partially offset by lower capitalized software expense of $11.7 million and lower professional fees of $10.7 million, due to the factors described above.

Continuous focus on the development of our major software platforms for our key product areas, in addition to bringing new products and capabilities to market, resulted in an increase in capitalized software development over the prior year, which in turn reduced operating expense. In 2023, we capitalized $100.0 million associated with software development activities, internal infrastructure, and software, compared with $88.3 million in 2022. The increase in capitalized software development related to the company's China operations transition resulted in a shift of headcount to higher compensation regions.

Sales and marketing

Sales and marketing expense increased $67.3 million, or 18.9%, in 2023. Higher compensation expense of $54.3 million was the largest contributor, primarily due to the factors noted above. Sales commission expense grew by $7.6 million due in large part to strong sales performance and higher amortization of capitalized commissions related to prior year sales performance, primarily for PitchBook. Advertising and marketing costs increased $5.3 million during 2023 due to higher pay-per-click advertising and marketing campaign expense.

General and administrative

General and administrative expense decreased $44.6 million, or 11.1%, in 2023. A decline in stock-based compensation expense of $32.4 million was the largest contributor to the decline during 2023. The decrease in stock-based compensation expense was primarily driven by the PitchBook management bonus plan. The current year of the plan features lower target payouts versus the prior year. In 2022, higher stock-based compensation was driven in large part by the overachievement of targets under the prior year plan.

Severance expense also declined $18.2 million during 2023 due to the factors noted above. The decline in severance expense was partially offset by an increase of $9.0 million of severance expense related to targeted reorganizations in certain areas of business during 2023 as noted above. Professional fees decreased $6.3 million during 2023.

These decreases were partially offset by an increase in expense related to settlements between the SEC and DBRS, Inc. totaling $8.0 million and higher rent expense of $6.8 million during 2023.

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Depreciation and amortization

In 2023, depreciation and amortization increased $18.3 million, or 11.0%, primarily due to depreciation expense.

Depreciation expense increased $15.4 million in 2023, driven mainly by depreciation expense from higher levels of capitalized software development over the past several years. Higher leasehold improvements and additions of computer equipment also drove higher depreciation expense in 2023.

Intangible amortization expense increased $3.8 million in 2023, primarily from additional amortization related to intangibles from the acquisitions of Leveraged Commentary & Data (LCD) and Praemium Portfolio Services Limited (Praemium).

Consolidated Operating Income and Operating Margin

Consolidated operating income increased $62.8 million in 2023, or a 37.4% increase from 2022, reflecting an increase in revenue of $168.0 million, which was partially offset by an increase in operating expense of $105.2 million. Operating margin was 11.3% in 2023, an increase of 2.3 percentage points compared with 2022. Severance costs of $9.0 million related to certain reorganizations excluding our China activities negatively impacted operating margin and adjusted operating margin by 0.4 percentage points during 2023. In addition, the DBRS SEC settlements negatively impacted operating margin and adjusted operating margin by an additional 0.4 percentage points.

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Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We reported adjusted operating income of $326.5 million in 2023 compared with $298.9 million in 2022, which excludes intangible amortization expense, M&A-related expenses (including M&A-related earn-outs), and expenses related to the significant reduction and shift of the company's operations in China. Adjusted operating income is a non-GAAP financial measure; the table below shows a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

We reported adjusted operating margin of 16.0% in 2023 and 2022, which excludes intangible amortization expense, M&A-related expenses (including M&A-related earn-outs), and expenses related to the significant reduction and shift of the company's operations in China. Adjusted operating margin is a non-GAAP financial measure; the table below shows a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

(1) Excludes finance lease amortization expense of $1.2 million in 2023 and $2.1 million in 2022.

(2) Reflects non-recurring expenses related to M&A activity including pre-deal due diligence, transaction costs, and post-close integration costs.

(3) Reflects the impact of M&A-related earn-outs included in operating expense.

(4) Reflects costs associated with the significant reduction of the company's operations in Shenzhen, China and the shift of work related to its global business functions to other Morningstar locations.

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Severance and personnel expenses include severance charges, incentive payments related to early signing of severance agreements, transition bonuses, and stock-based compensation related to the accelerated vesting of restricted stock unit (RSU) and market stock unit (MSU) awards. In addition, the reversal of accrued sabbatical liabilities is included in this category.

Transformation costs include professional fees and the temporary duplication of headcount. As the company hired replacement roles in other markets and shifted capabilities, it employed certain Shenzhen-based staff through the transition period, which resulted in elevated compensation costs on a temporary basis.

Asset impairment costs include the write-off or accelerated depreciation of fixed assets in the Shenzhen, China office that were not redeployed, in addition to lease abandonment costs as the company downsized its office space prior to the lease termination date.

(5) Corporate and All Other includes unallocated corporate expenses of $153.5 million in 2023 and $135.8 million in 2022, as well as adjusted operating income/loss from Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes. Unallocated corporate expenses include finance, human resources, legal, and other management-related costs that are not considered when segment performance is evaluated.

Segment Results

Segment adjusted operating income reflects the impact of direct segment expenses as well as certain allocated centralized costs, such as information technology, sales and marketing, and research and data.

Morningstar Data and Analytics

The following table presents the results for Morningstar Data and Analytics:

Morningstar Data and Analytics depreciation expense was $31.0 million, $23.4 million, and $29.5 million for 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.

2023 versus 2022

Morningstar Data and Analytics total revenue increased $50.6 million, or 7.3%, in 2023. Revenue grew 7.4% on an organic basis, driven primarily by increases in Morningstar Data and Morningstar Direct.

Morningstar Data contributed $26.2 million to Morningstar Data and Analytics revenue growth, with revenue increasing 10.3% on a reported and organic basis, supported by growth across all major geographies. At the product level, managed investment data, including fund data, continued to be a key driver of higher revenue, followed by growth in Morningstar Essentials and equity data. In 2023, Morningstar Data's coverage continued to evolve to meet client needs, with the addition of structured products and notes data and the continued expansion of coverage on other vehicle types.

Morningstar Direct contributed $17.1 million to Morningstar Data and Analytics revenue growth, with revenue increasing 9.3%, or 9.2%, on an organic basis, reflecting growth across all major geographies. Morningstar Direct licenses increased 0.8%. In 2023, Morningstar Direct introduced Direct Lens, which unifies the platform's portfolio capabilities in a clear and intuitive interface; self-service data feeds; and the Morningstar Data Python package, which gives data scientists, data strategists, and quantitative analysts seamless access to data in their favorite coding environments.

Morningstar Data and Analytics adjusted operating income increased $26.5 million, or 8.5%, and adjusted operating margin increased 0.5 percentage points in 2023, as revenue growth outpaced expense growth. Expense growth was primarily driven by higher compensation costs.

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2022 versus 2021

Morningstar Data and Analytics total revenue increased $29.1 million, or 4.4%, in 2022. Revenue grew 8.0% on an organic basis, driven primarily by demand for Morningstar Data and Morningstar Direct.

Morningstar Data contributed $11.5 million to Morningstar Data and Analytics revenue growth, with revenue increasing 4.7% or 9.4%, on an organic basis, driven by growth across geographies and strong demand for fund data. In 2022, Morningstar Data expanded the reach of its data sets to better cover the client portfolio with enhancements to fixed-income data and analytics and expanded coverage of 529 plan portfolios, public equities, collective investment trusts, and model portfolios. We also introduced new regulatory data solutions in response to global investor protection, capital adequacy, and sustainability regulations.

Morningstar Direct contributed $11.6 million to Morningstar Data and Analytics revenue growth, with revenue increasing 6.7%, or 10.7%, on an organic basis, driven by growth across geographies. Morningstar Direct licenses increased 5.7%, reflecting gains from both new and existing clients. In 2022, Morningstar Direct enriched and expanded Analytics Lab, which combines access to Morningstar's data and research with Jupyter Notebook, an open-source data-science tool, to allow clients to explore and analyze Morningstar data more efficiently in a flexible environment. Performance was also positively impacted by the release of the Sustainability and Portfolio Hubs, which act as a central repository of research and tools for related workflows, and broadened data coverage in fixed-income, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), ESG, model portfolios, and alternatives to better cover investor portfolios.

Morningstar Data and Analytics adjusted operating income increased $19.8 million, or 6.7%, and adjusted operating margin increased 1.0 percentage points in 2022, as revenue growth outpaced expense growth. Expense growth was primarily driven by higher compensation costs, as well as increased professional fees.

PitchBook

The following table presents the results for PitchBook:

PitchBook depreciation expense was $26.8 million, $23.8 million, and $20.4 million for 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.

2023 versus 2022

PitchBook total revenue increased $101.2 million, or 22.5%, in 2023, which included positive contributions from the acquisition of LCD which closed June 1, 2022. Revenue grew 17.6% on an organic basis.

The PitchBook product area, which includes the PitchBook Platform as well as direct data, contributed $85.7 million to PitchBook revenue growth, with revenue increasing 21.0% on a reported and organic basis, as licenses grew 14.0%. Growth was primarily driven by strength in its core investor and advisor clients, which offset some continued softness with its company (corporate) market segment. During 2023, PitchBook substantially completed the integration of LCD core data offering and news onto the PitchBook Platform. At the same time, PitchBook introduced new capabilities to inform investor strategies, including the VC Exit Predictor, a proprietary tool and scoring methodology to predict exit outcomes for VC-backed companies, and the Manager Scoring tool, a new methodology that helps limited partners discover and evaluate top-performing private fund managers. Results exclude stand-alone LCD revenues.

PitchBook adjusted operating income increased $76.6 million, or 107.1%, and adjusted operating margin increased 10.9 percentage points in 2023, as revenue growth outpaced expense growth. Expense growth was primarily driven by higher compensation costs partially offset by a decrease in stock-based compensation expense in 2023 compared to 2022 when higher stock-based compensation costs reflected the overachievement of targets under the PitchBook management bonus plan.

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2022 versus 2021

PitchBook total revenue increased $149.1 million, or 49.4%, in 2022, which included positive contributions from the acquisition of LCD which closed June 1, 2022. Revenue grew 39.1% on an organic basis.

The PitchBook product area contributed $117.5 million to PitchBook revenue growth, with revenue increasing 40.5% on a reported and organic basis, as PitchBook continued to enhance core data sets and improve the user experience. Reported and organic results for the product area exclude contributions from the LCD acquisition. Licenses grew 28.0%. In 2022, PitchBook added new companies and funds to coverage in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific regions, while enhancing alternative data sets including real assets and hedge funds. Notable product releases included Portfolio Forecasting, a tool that allows Limited Partners to efficiently manage cash flow, pace commitments, and hit allocation targets directly within the PitchBook Platform.

PitchBook adjusted operating income increased $16.1 million, or 29.1%, and adjusted operating margin decreased 2.5 percentage points in 2022, as expense growth outpaced revenue growth. Expense growth was primarily driven by higher compensation costs and increases in stock-based compensation expense due to the overachievement of targets under the PitchBook management bonus plan. Higher compensation costs reflected increased investment in the business, which also drove higher professional fees, and costs for the LCD business beginning on June 1, 2022.

Morningstar Wealth

The following table presents the results for Morningstar Wealth: