Goldman Calls S&P Global Strategic Buy, Citing AI, Private Markets and DeFi Expansion

Introduction: Goldman singles out S&P Global for strategic strength amid market turbulence

Goldman Sachs names a slate of "extremely compelling" buy-rated stocks and highlights S&P Global for its strategic positioning in data and analytics, even after a recent share pullback. Analyst George Tong tells clients the company’s investments in AI-ready products, enterprise solutions and new addressable markets give it durable earnings power. Goldman sees conservative guidance that still leaves room for upside as S&P Global shifts from market-data provider to a broader, enterprise-focused information services firm.

S&P Global expands into private markets and decentralized finance

S&P Global is accelerating moves into private markets and decentralized finance, leveraging its core data, indices and analytics capabilities to serve institutional clients preparing for a more fragmented capital markets landscape. Goldman expects these initiatives to broaden addressable markets — from traditional public-market benchmarking to private-asset pricing, valuations and on-chain data services — and to deepen client engagement through recurring enterprise contracts. The firm views these initiatives as complementary to S&P Global’s AI efforts, using proprietary datasets and model-ready inputs to win mandates for analytics and workflow integrations.

The company’s enterprise-strengthening strategy also targets margin expansion through cross-selling and higher-value products, as S&P Global converts historical fee-for-data models into integrated platform offerings. Goldman projects mid-to-high single-digit organic revenue growth and ongoing EBITDA margin improvement as these products scale. While the analyst trims his near-term valuation target, he emphasizes the structural nature of demand for reliable, auditable data in AI applications and the utility of S&P Global’s long-standing relationships with index and credit-market participants.

Other relevant notes on the buy list

Goldman also highlights Teva Pharmaceuticals and Philip Morris as buy-rated names. Matt Dellatorre says concerns that Teva has "come too far, too fast" are overdone given its ascending earnings trajectory and pipeline strength, while Bonnie Herzog describes Philip Morris as transforming into a faster-growing, more profitable "earnings compounder" with an aggressive 2026 outlook.

Nvidia and Apollo also appear on Goldman’s list. The firm cautions investors to watch Nvidia’s 2027 visibility, non-traditional customer pockets, competitive dynamics and China exposure despite expecting a beat-and-raise quarter; Apollo is listed among the other screened buy-rated names.