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CFO Michael Eastwood explained that the pricing for new commercial packages will involve a premium at the initial sale combined with higher price increases in subsequent years, giving them confidence in sustained acceleration. He declined to disclose specific revenue figures for CoCounsel but stated that the company is 'very, very pleased' with its progress across the total business.

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CFO Mike Eastwood attributed the expected acceleration to strong Q1 net sales and bookings, the scaling of recent acquisitions, and a robust product roadmap. Regarding Reuters, Eastwood stated that while additional GenAI licensing deals are possible, none are currently included in the company's forecast or guidance, and updates will be provided if any materialize.

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CEO & Chairman Eugene Hall explained that many clients don't use the full suite of high-value services they are entitled to, such as peer networking, simply due to a lack of awareness, which a new training initiative aims to fix. He stated definitively that the number of cancellations citing public LLMs as a reason is 'not material' and 'essentially unmeasurable.'

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CFO Craig Safian attributed the headcount adjustment to the impact on the GBS federal business and the broader macro environment, aligning costs with growth expectations. CEO Gene Hall confirmed they are using an internal AI tool and plan a client release only after ensuring it is 'bulletproof' and free of issues like hallucinations.

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Executive Eugene Hall attributed the productivity gains to fundamental execution improvements in recruiting, training, and sales tools. CFO Craig Safian clarified that while the CV growth rate may not increase in a perfectly straight line, the expectation is that the company will exit 2025 with a CV growth rate higher than the 7.8% reported in Q4, with a goal of returning to double-digit growth.

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CFO Craig Safian confirmed the full-year non-subscription revenue forecast remains about $305 million, acknowledging the math implies a significant Q4 decline. CEO Gene Hall stated that it takes three years for a new salesperson to reach full productivity, positioning current hiring as a long-term investment for 2025 through 2027.

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CFO Eric Aboaf clarified that the second-half margin profile is a direct result of planned investment patterning. The division is making strategic investments in its technology and operating infrastructure, as well as launching new products. This spending is front-loaded to plant seeds for future growth, which will drive inflows and revenue in subsequent years.

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CFO Eric Abouaf explained that the margin outlook reflects the planned patterning of investment spending. The company is reinvesting in the division's technology and operating infrastructure, which is a necessary periodic refresh. Additionally, they are funding the launch of new products, which requires upfront workload intensity for benefits that accrue over multiple years.

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CEO Martina Cheung stated that while they are watching the situation closely and anticipate potential budget pressures on OEM clients, the business is largely insulated. She noted that over 70% of Mobility revenue is tied to the more resilient used car market, which could even benefit. Furthermore, demand for their critical data sets often increases in such uncertain environments.

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President and CEO Martina Cheung explained the 1% decline in the three-year refi wall is context reflecting the issuance pull-forward seen in Q4 2024 and is factored into guidance. For Mobility, she noted the guidance considers minor headwinds like vehicle affordability, which can pressure OEMs, even as it creates opportunities for other S&P Global solutions.

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Incoming President and CEO Martina Cheung emphasized that S&P Global's high-quality data is a key differentiator for AI. She noted strong client engagement, with customers seeking insights from S&P's own AI journey. Internally, she highlighted the success of the 'Spark AI Academy' and 'Spark Assist' tool in driving productivity and creating use cases that can be shared with clients.

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CEO Will Lansing stated FICO is unaware of any lenders moving to VantageScore, citing significant technological and modeling challenges for such a switch. He added that while no pricing decisions have been made, FICO still believes a significant value gap exists and will continue its predictable approach to closing it.

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CEO Will Lansing and CFO Steve Weber confirmed a price increase was a component of the revenue growth but declined to specify the exact percentage split versus volume. Weber explained the moderation in personnel expense was not headcount-related but due to timing on fringe costs and a supplemental retirement plan true-up, which created a temporary benefit.

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CEO Will Lansing and CFO Steve Weber confirmed a price increase was implemented but declined to quantify it or provide a price/volume breakdown. Weber explained that the moderation in personnel expense was not due to headcount but to temporary factors like fringe benefit costs and a retirement plan true-up.

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CEO William Lansing explained that pricing decisions are not formulaic but are based on a variety of factors, including market conditions, volumes, and a commitment to fair value. Regarding the non-platform business, Mr. Lansing stated the fluctuation was simply due to customer usage volumes and reiterated FICO's strategy of supporting these legacy products for the long term rather than forcing migration, leading to stable but not high-growth performance.

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Co-President of Underwriting Solutions, Saurabh Khemka, explained that while premium growth is a factor, many long-term contracts are structured to smooth out these cycles. He stressed that pricing is increasingly tied to the value delivered through investments like the Core Lines Reimagined program. CEO Lee Shavel added that Verisk has a history of delivering consistent growth through various market cycles.

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CEO Lee Shavel stated there has been no fundamental change, though clients are more focused on the impact of tariffs on claims costs. CFO Elizabeth Mann identified non-carrier segments, like federal government and marketing, as more economically sensitive. However, Lee Shavel reiterated that the vast majority of revenue comes from insurance clients and is relatively insensitive to these factors.

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CFO Elizabeth Mann reported that the insurance customer segment of the marketing business saw strong growth with positive tailwinds expected for next year. However, she noted that performance in the rest of the customer base was more muted, reflecting broader advertising market trends.

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Chief Financial Officer Elizabeth Mann reiterated that guidance is for the full year and quarterly fluctuations are relatively minor. She confirmed the 60 basis point Q3 FX benefit was not forecasted and is not projected for Q4. For interest expense, she suggested the Q3 level of $32 million is a 'reasonable run rate.' Mann concluded by stating that the underlying business outlook remains unchanged from previous guidance.

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Scott Kirkland, CFO, reported that the One Ecolab program is driving significant SG&A leverage (50 bps in Q2) and is ahead of schedule on its $140M savings target. Key efficiency drivers include leveraging five global centers of excellence, creating scalable processes, and using 'hygienic AI' to automate tasks. These savings are enabling reinvestment while positioning the company for above-average SG&A leverage in the future.

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Christophe Beck, Chairman and CEO, confirmed that the Life Sciences business is now turning up in a very nice way after years of investment in innovation, expertise, and manufacturing capacity. He noted that while the market is improving, Ecolab's business is doing even better. Despite near-term margin impact from ongoing investments, the underlying margin is in the mid-20s, giving him confidence that the business will continue to accelerate its top line and eventually reach its target of nearly 30% operating income margin.

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Christophe Beck, Chairman and CEO, outlined that growth acceleration depends on two key factors: the 'One Ecolab' initiative to increase penetration within the existing $55 billion customer opportunity, and momentum from new growth engines like Global High-Tech and Life Sciences. He emphasized that this pursuit of higher volume will be balanced with maintaining strong value pricing, stating he would not sacrifice price for volume.

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CEO Christophe Beck confirmed that the modest slowdown in the Water segment was entirely due to the mining business, which he described as their smallest and most 'lumpy' business within the segment. He assured that the other water businesses are performing well and trending upwards.

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EVP & CFO Kenneth Krause focused on the goal of delivering double-digit earnings growth and strong cash flow compounding, which is the primary focus over a specific incremental margin number, but affirmed they feel good about driving margin improvement in H2. Regarding ancillary services, President & CEO Jerry Gahlhoff said the business remains strong, and Krause added that its 10.3% organic growth, with June being even higher, shows no signs of a consumer slowdown.

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CFO Ken Krause described a pragmatic integration approach, focusing on areas like fleet and materials, with future opportunities in back-office modernization. CEO Jerry Gahlhoff added that synergies are also about enabling growth, such as deploying Rollins' sales technology, not just cutting costs. Regarding margins, management explained that excluding the pull-forward of selling and marketing expenses, the incremental margin profile would have been within their 25-30% target range and is expected to improve throughout the year.

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CEO Jerry Gahlhoff dismissed weather concerns, noting pests are highly adaptive and that business started 2025 strong. CFO Ken Krause added that January 2024 also had tough weather, making for a fair comparison. To bridge the margins, Krause identified ~$12-15M in Q4 headwinds from claims and investments. He expressed confidence in hitting 30%+ margins, pointing to stronger performance in H1 2024 and explaining that current investments in customer acquisition will yield long-term value.

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President and CEO Jerry Gahlhoff described the commercial strategy as being in its "first 2 or 3 innings," with a long runway for growth and margin opportunities from a sticky customer base. He noted no significant competitive shifts but confirmed a concerted marketing effort toward the commercial space. EVP and CFO Kenneth Krause highlighted strong performance in both U.S. and Canadian commercial businesses.

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EVP and CFO Todd Cello confirmed that the one-time transformation investments are on track to conclude in 2025. He clarified that the primary focus for 2026 is achieving a $200 million free cash flow benefit. A significant portion of OpEx savings was realized in 2024, with the remainder coming in 2026. He also reiterated that CapEx will drop to 6% of revenue in 2026, driving free cash flow conversion to 90% or more.

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EVP and CFO Todd Cello explained that the significant outperformance in Q1 (27% revenue growth vs. -10% inquiries) was driven by strong pricing and the inclusion of non-origination revenue like prequalification and batch marketing. He stated the full-year guidance for 20% revenue growth against modestly down volumes reflects a more normalized, though still positive, gap between revenue and inquiry trends, with no assumption of interest rate benefits.

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CEO Christopher Cartwright acknowledged the new administration's 'radically different views' on regulation, noting the CFPB has been asked to pause activities pending new leadership. He described the current environment as being in 'limbo' and stated that TransUnion's operational focus remains on serving customers correctly while awaiting clarity on the future regulatory landscape.

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President and CEO Christopher Cartwright acknowledged the segment is an area of intense focus. He outlined a strategy to return the business to growth by broadening the value proposition beyond credit to include identity protection and, in the near future, financial and insurance offers. He stated the company is fine-tuning its go-to-market strategy to better monetize its audience and expects to share more progress on an upcoming call.

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President Shiv Iyer attributed the consumer and industrial strength to demand in materials and utilities for cloud, data, and AI solutions, as well as successful partnerships with firms like Databricks. CEO Ted Hanson added that ASGN is an 'AI-led organization,' actively using AI to enhance productivity in its own front and back-office systems, recruiting processes, and cybersecurity operations, leveraging expertise first developed in its federal business.

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President & CEO Todd Schneider stated that Cintas's pricing is back to historical levels, which is reflected in the guidance. He emphasized a focus on internal efficiencies over simply passing on costs. Regarding competition, he noted no real change in the landscape and reiterated that Cintas's primary focus is on the large, untapped market of businesses that currently self-provide services.

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President & CEO Todd Schneider stated that Cintas's pricing is at historical levels, which is what is reflected in the guidance. He emphasized a focus on internal efficiencies to offset costs rather than relying solely on price increases. Regarding competition, he noted no real change in the landscape and reiterated that Cintas's primary focus is on the large market of 'no-programmers' who currently self-source, not just on direct competitors.

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President and CEO Todd Schneider reiterated that pricing is unchanged from last quarter. He and CFO Mike Hansen explained that incremental margins will moderate due to ongoing investments in technology and infrastructure, the non-recurring nature of the Q3 land sale, and tougher year-over-year margin comparisons.

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CEO Todd Schneider confirmed that price increases are now back within the historical 0-2% range across the board, without singling out any specific vertical. Regarding margins, he and CFO Mike Hansen cited the non-linear nature of the business, tough year-over-year comps, the timing of investments, and a return to the long-term target of 25-35% as reasons for the expected moderation.

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President and CEO Todd Schneider stated that price adjustments are now much closer to historical levels after peaking with inflation and that customer conversations are always challenging. Regarding hiring, he described the market as having eased from the 'pandemic craziness' but noted that finding great people remains a constant challenge, for which the company continues to invest.

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Chief Revenue Officer Goran Skoko projected a reacceleration in EMEA for Q4, citing improved retention and a strong, diverse pipeline. CFO Helen Shan added that the year-over-year comparison in Q4 will be more favorable as the headwind from a lower annual price increase diminishes.

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Chief Revenue Officer Goran Skoko attributed the trend to success in adding new private equity clients, which typically have a smaller number of users per firm. CEO Phil Snow and CFO Helen Shan added that the inclusion of clients from the recent Irwin acquisition without their corresponding users in this quarter's count also contributed to the decline in the average.

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Chief Revenue Officer Goran Skoko clarified that improved M&A activity should lead to some upward movement in sell-side budgets. Chief Financial Officer Helen Shan added that even with flat overall budgets, there is a spending shift toward technology, and the strong pipeline reflects an opportunity to gain market share as clients re-evaluate providers.

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Chief Revenue Officer Goran Skoko clarified his budget comments might have been too pessimistic, acknowledging that improved M&A activity should help sell-side budgets. CFO Helen Shan added that even with flat budgets, there is a shift in spending towards technology, and FactSet is well-positioned to gain market share, as evidenced by higher RFP and trial activity.

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Executive Goran Skoko stated that the competitive environment has not significantly changed from the past, with pricing aggressiveness remaining at similar levels. CFO Helen Shan added that FactSet is being strategic with its own pricing, sometimes using it competitively in new business situations to displace incumbents and lock in longer-term contracts, particularly in wealth, banking, and corporates.

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CEO Robert Fauber described the MA portfolio as 'acyclical' rather than countercyclical, citing its 68 consecutive quarters of growth. He explained that core use cases in banking (stress testing, CECL), research (demand rises with uncertainty), and insurance (driven by uncorrelated weather events) are very sticky. He added that KYC is also acyclical, as banks must maintain compliance while also seeking efficiency, which drives demand for new AI-powered tools.

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CEO Robert Fauber explained that the difference was almost entirely due to the mix of issuance. A very high volume of bank loan repricings, which have much lower economics for Moody's, made up 55% of bank loan volume in the quarter. He clarified that if bank loans were excluded, transaction revenue growth would have been approximately 30%, more closely aligned with the underlying issuance growth.

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CFO Noemie Heuland reaffirmed the full-year guidance, explaining that the year is more back-end loaded, with the pipeline entering Q4 being 50% larger than a year ago. She pointed to a large book of December renewals and a healthy new business pipeline, particularly in KYC and Data & Information, as key factors underpinning the Q4 outlook.

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CEO Mark Begor described the reception for the TWIN indicator as 'super positive' in its first 60 days, enhancing the mortgage shopping process without cannibalizing full verifications. Regarding EWS margins, CFO John Gamble stated that while impacted by the weak mortgage market, they are expected to remain strong at over 50% and are strengthening sequentially, which they are happy with given market conditions.

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CFO John Gamble stated talent outperformance was 8 points in Q4, impacted by pricing cadence. He explained the lower 2025 mortgage outperformance is due to lapping a year of massive growth in newer pre-qual products. He also noted the dollar impact from the supplier price increase is expected to be similar to 2024.

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CEO Mark Begor and CFO John Gamble clarified the hiring slowdown was concentrated in white-collar roles rather than specific industries and affirmed they have not seen any change in competitive share. Regarding the mortgage inquiry gap, they explained that it is not expected to converge. This is due to the fundamental nature of the mortgage process, where consumers shop for rates, leading to multiple credit pulls (USIS) for every one or two income and employment verifications (EWS) per closed loan.

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Chief Financial Officer Andrew Wiechmann attributed the result to the timing and magnitude of lumpy expenses typical in Q1, primarily related to compensation and benefits. He reiterated that the full-year expense guidance remains unchanged and that Q1 expenses were on the expected trajectory to meet that guidance.

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CFO Andrew Wiechmann confirmed that expenses are likely to be at the higher end of the current range, reflecting increased investment in key growth areas like private markets and AI. He explained that the company is constantly balancing long-term investment with profitability growth, and that there can be a lag in deploying new investments, making a guidance raise premature.

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CEO Jennifer Scanlon attributed the software growth to the ULTRUS platform and strength in retail product compliance and ESG data solutions, noting that key metrics like renewal churn and bookings are improving. She explained that the CapEx plan follows a disciplined process to evaluate durable demand and ensure great returns before committing capital.

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President and CEO Jennifer Scanlon confirmed a strong focus on value-based pricing, enabled by new Oracle CPQ and Salesforce tools. EVP and CFO Ryan Robinson explained that while CapEx is currently elevated to capture opportunities in areas like energy transition, it remains discretionary, and he did not commit to the 8-8.5% level as a permanent new normal.

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