MeritValue

FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS INC

FDSdata completeness 100%17 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS INC earns about 15% on invested capital, comfortably above its ~9% cost of capital, with a roughly flat share count — a real edge showing up in the numbers. The estimate methods put fair value between $126.39 and $326.28 a share.Whether it’s worth owning at today’s price is the last question — and yours to answer, below.

i. The business — what you’d actually own
FigureFY 2021FY 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025
Revenue$1.59B1$1.84B2$2.09B3$2.2B3$2.32B3
Net income$399.6M4$396.9M5$468.2M6$537.1M6$597M6
Operating cash flow$555.2M7$538.3M8$645.6M9$700.3M9$726.3M9
Capital expenditure$61.3M10$51.2M10$60.8M10$85.7M11$108.8M11
Free cash flow (derived)$493.9M7$487.1M8$584.8M9$614.7M9$617.5M9
Total debt$1.15B12$3.96B13$3.23B14$2.73B15$2.74B15
Cash & equivalents$681.9M16$503.3M17$425.4M18$423M18$337.7M18
Diluted shares38.6M38.7M38.9M38.6M38.4M

Superscripts are receipts. Each links to the SEC filing the number came from (full list at the bottom).

ii. Your slice — ownership made literal
If you owned
shares
Net assets behind them
$569.6
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$155.54
Free cash flow it threw off
$160.86
Debt you’d be carrying
$712.91

10 shares is a claim on $569.6 of net worth that earned you $155.54 and generated $160.86 of cash last year, against $712.91 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
15% avg · 5y
FY21 27%FY22 9%FY23 12%FY24 14%FY25 14%

It earned about 15% on invested capital against a ~9% cost of capital — comfortably above the cost of funding, a moderate advantage.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
−0% shares · 5y

Share count is roughly flat over 5 years — little dilution, little buyback. Total debt has risen 138% over the same window.

reading capital allocation →

Signals, not verdicts — read from the filings above. Numbers don’t prove a moat; they show its footprint. You decide.

iv. What it’s worth — engine v0.1.0

The 3 estimate methods that apply put fair value between $126.39 and $326.28 a share. They rest on different assumptions, so where they diverge is the story; the Graham Number is a stricter floor, not a target.

DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
$326.28
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth8.1%
  • fcfBase$614.7M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$260.84
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth8.1%
  • fcfBase$614.7M
Earnings Power Value
$126.39
assumptions (8)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • normalizedEarnings$468.2M
  • growthAssumed0.0%
Graham Number
$141.17
assumptions (1)
  • grahamMultiplier2250.0%

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

v. The price question — last, on purpose
Is today’s price fair?
See live price ↗
Type a price. The ledger answers.
Or set your own belief
FCF growth, next 5 years8.1%
Discount rate (WACC)8.93%
Terminal growth2.5%
At your growth, a share is worth $260.84
The three cases
Bear0.0%$166.29
Base8.1%$260.84
Bull13.1%$334.53

Bear/base/bull growth = 0% / filed history / history + 5pp. Type a price to see the return each case implies.

Default growth 8.1%= this company’s own filed history (median-to-median FCF CAGR, clamped 0–20%). Your adjustments are recorded anonymously. They become the “what do owners actually believe” dataset.

Sources — the receipts
  1. 10-K · period ending 2021-08-31 · accession 0001013237-23-000128 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-08-31 · accession 0001013237-24-000141 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-08-31 · accession 0001628280-25-045769 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-08-31 · accession 0001013237-23-000128 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-08-31 · accession 0001013237-24-000141 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-08-31 · accession 0001628280-25-045769 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-08-31 · accession 0001013237-23-000128 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-08-31 · accession 0001013237-24-000141 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-08-31 · accession 0001628280-25-045769 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-08-31 · accession 0001013237-23-000128 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2024-08-31 · accession 0001628280-25-045769 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2021-08-31 · accession 0001013237-22-000159 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2022-08-31 · accession 0001013237-23-000128 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2023-08-31 · accession 0001013237-24-000141 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2024-08-31 · accession 0001628280-25-045769 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2021-08-31 · accession 0001013237-22-000159 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2022-08-31 · accession 0001013237-23-000128 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2023-08-31 · accession 0001628280-25-045769 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)