Morningstar Inc. (MORN:NASDAQ)

Morningstar Inc. announced unaudited consolidated earnings results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2009. For the quarter, the company reported revenue of $120.1 million a 4.3% decrease from $125.5 million in the third quarter of 2008. Operating income was $33.7 million a decrease of 1.4% compared with $34.2 million in the same period a year ago. Net income was $22.5 million or 45 cents diluted per share compared with $22.2 million, or 45 cents diluted per share in the third quarter of 2008. Income before income taxes and equity in net income of unconsolidated entities was $34.4 million compared to $35.5 million for the same period last year. Cash provided by operating activities were $36.0 million compared to $49.2 million for the same period last year. Capital expenditures were $3.5 million compared to $11.9 million for the same period last year. For the nine months, the company reported revenue of $356.4 million a decline of 7.0% compared with $383.2 million in the same period in 2008. Revenue for the first nine months of the year included $22.0 million from acquisitions, which was partially offset by an unfavorable foreign currency impact of $12.7 million. Operating income declined 8.5% to $101.0 million compared with $110.4 million in the first nine months of 2008. Net income was $68.0 million or $1.37 diluted per share down from $73.3 million or $1.49 diluted per share in the same period in 2008. Income before income taxes and equity in net income of unconsolidated entities was $104.2 million compared to $114.7 million for the same period last year. Cash provided by operating activities were $67.3 million compared to $98.3 million for the same period last year. Capital expenditures were $10.2 million compared to $29.2 million for the same period last year.

On October 14, 2009, Morningstar received a Staff Deficiency Letter from the NASDAQ Stock Market Listing Qualifications Department indicating that Morningstar did not comply with Marketplace Rule 5605(c)(2)(A) as the result of Morningstar’s employment of Cheryl Francis, Chair of Morningstar’s Audit Committee sons. The letter from NASDAQ also indicated that Morningstar has regained compliance with Marketplace Rule 5605(b) (2), and that, subject to the public disclosure requirements of Marketplace Rule 5810(a), this matter is now closed.

Morningstar Inc. has launched Morningstar QuoteSpeed 2.0, a new Web-based application that provides instant, real-time market data on up to 4 million investments from more than 160 sources, including all major global equity exchanges and indexes; foreign exchange and treasury markets; futures, derivatives, options, commodities, and precious metals. QuoteSpeed packages real-time market data information with desktop-like interactivity in a pure Web application, providing a complete solution for broker-dealers, brokerage firms, banks, and other institutions that require accurate and timely market data to help make investment and trading decisions. Using the latest in real-time data streaming technology, QuoteSpeed can handle up to 500,000 concurrent users and 1 million messages per second on a single entry-level server. It eliminates the need for installing bulky thick-client terminals, software, or plug-ins to operate, instead requiring only HTML, JavaScript, and a Web browser. Morningstar's equity and fund data, fundamental research, news, and analysis can be accessed through links in QuoteSpeed. QuoteSpeed is an affordable, low-cost solution that is available as a stand-alone application as well as a module through a variety of Morningstar platforms, including Morningstar Direct, a Web-based institutional research platform; Morningstar Advisor Workstation, a Web-based software platform for financial advisors that integrates client and portfolio data with other desktop systems; and Site Builder, a suite of Web components that can be configured to help investment companies create or enhance their Web properties. In addition, a limited version of QuoteSpeed is available to Morningstar.com Premium subscribers.