Morgan Stanley Strategist Says AI Adoption Key to Profit Outlook

FactSet Research Systems reported the largest quarterly jump in contract value in its history, with annual subscription value rising 7% organically to $2.568 billion in fiscal 2026, beating the top of management's own guidance. The fourth quarter alone added $86 million, retention held above 95%, and every region grew faster than a year earlier, led by Asia Pacific at 10.6%. AI-related products accounted for at least 10% of new subscription value in the fourth quarter, more than all of fiscal 2025 combined, with over 650 clients already accessing FactSet data through its MCP servers. Full-year adjusted operating margin slipped 1.8 percentage points to 34.5% on heavy infrastructure and cybersecurity spending, and management guided fiscal 2027 organic subscription growth to 5% to 6.5% with earnings per share of $19.25 to $19.65. The stock trades at a forward P/E of 13.95 as of October 2, with short sellers holding 12.43% of the float ahead of the November 10 Investor Day.

Corpay has expanded its Corpay Complete platform with several new AI agents that automate expense analysis, voice driven expense creation, virtual card issuance, and transaction coding across corporate, fleet, and vendor payments. The new tools are being rolled out to eligible Corpay Complete customers this month and are designed to centralize spend data, strengthen finance grade controls, and streamline workflows for finance teams. The rollout lands on top of earlier product updates in April and July, and comes as Corpay has raised its 2026 cash EPS guidance to $27.35 and plans to use divestiture proceeds for repurchases, alongside roughly $15b of available capital for buybacks and targeted corporate payments deals. Corpay closed at $394.60, while the most followed narrative pegs fair value at $461.00, implying 14.4% undervaluation, though on a P/E lens CPAY trades at 22.9x versus a US Diversified Financial industry average of 16.6x, a peer average of 16.9x, and a fair ratio of 16.8x. The company also faces pressure if the proposed US$100m U.S. Vehicle Payments settlement reshapes fuel card pricing or if organic growth underperforms current analyst assumptions.

Truepic announced in September 2026 that its image and video authentication tools are now integrated into Verisk's ClaimSearch platform, allowing claims professionals to trigger authenticated visual evidence requests directly after a fraud alert and automate parts of the investigation workflow. The integration brings tamper-resistant, fraud-checked images and video into insurers' existing systems, potentially making Verisk's claims and fraud solutions more useful in day-to-day claims handling. The tie-up slots into Verisk's broader AI automation narrative alongside its ongoing rollout of tools such as XactAI and Premium Audit AI, which the company hopes will support subscription pricing power and offset pressure from softer transaction-based revenue tied to catastrophe activity. Verisk's narrative projects $3.8 billion in revenue and $1.3 billion in earnings by 2029, requiring 6.6% yearly revenue growth and a roughly $0.4 billion earnings increase from $885.5 million today, with a $234.76 fair value implying 43% upside. The key risk remains that insurers cutting data and analytics budgets could slow adoption of Verisk's expanding AI tools.