S&P Global (SPGI): Strong Fundamentals Amid AI Uncertainties?

Middle Coast Investing, an investment advisor firm, released its second-quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Q2 marked the S&P 500's best quarter since Q2 2020, yet underlying market dynamics remained unchanged. The letter highlighted that the market's performance continued to rely on trends and baskets rather than company fundamentals. Significant events happened in Q2, including the theoretical end of the U.S. war with Iran and SpaceX's record IPO. Despite the positive sentiment, mega-cap tech companies performed poorly while semiconductor stocks and other data center buildout-related stocks rallied. The portfolio returned 12.5% in the second quarter compared to 14.9% for the S&P 500 Index, while YTD the fund returned 7.7% compared to 9.6% for the Index. In addition, please check the Strategy's top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.

In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Middle Coast Investing highlighted S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI). S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) is a financial services and analytics company that provides benchmarks, data, analytics, and workflow solutions in the global capital, energy, commodity, and automotive markets. On July 2, 2026, S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) closed at $416.71 per share. One-month return of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) was 9.77%, and its shares lost 12.02% over the past 52 weeks. S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) has a market capitalization of about $124.22 billion.

Middle Coast Investing stated the following regarding S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:

"S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) is the company behind the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Indices. It is also a major ratings agency, responsible for rating the debt of corporations around the world. Together, those are two sterling businesses.

S&P Global also owns three data businesses, and it's here that the market has started doubting the company, leading it to trading for a 'normal' multiple at the price we bought. One of those data businesses is centered on energy, and is based on proprietary data and viewed as fairly safe from AI.." (Click here to read the full text)

S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 122 hedge fund portfolios held S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) at the end of the first quarter, up from 108 in the previous quarter. In Q1 2026, S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) reported 10% revenue growth, 9% organic constant currency revenue growth and 14% growth in adjusted diluted EPS.  While we acknowledge the potential of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.