NEW YORK and CHICAGO, June 8, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ), the world's largest exchange company, and Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq:MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, have entered into an exclusive agreement for Morningstar to provide equity research profile reports on more than 3,600 NASDAQ OMX-listed companies.
With the Morningstar Profile Report, NASDAQ OMX will now be able to provide all NASDAQ OMX companies with basic research coverage at no cost to the issuer. This is particularly important for many small- and mid-cap companies that have seen their research coverage shrink or disappear altogether. There are currently approximately 1,400 public companies in the United States that do not have any research coverage.
The Morningstar Profile Report will include a lengthy company profile, comprehensive data about the company and its industry, and industry context written by a Morningstar analyst. It does not include Morningstar's more detailed analyst research report, a Morningstar Rating, or a buy/sell/hold recommendation.
"As public companies seek to tell their story to investors, it is an imperative to have accurate, reliable information out in the marketplace. At the same time, investors need to be able to access insightful and trusted data and research to make investing decisions. Together, NASDAQ OMX and Morningstar are filling a void that has existed for some time, particularly among small- to mid-cap companies," said Bruce Aust, Executive Vice President of NASDAQ OMX. "Our collaboration with Morningstar, which is one of the largest independent sources for stock analysis in the world, exemplifies NASDAQ OMX's ongoing commitment to provide its issuers with global visibility, valuable services and access to important market information," he added.
"We see a strong need in the market for this type of research," said Catherine Odelbo, President of equity research for Morningstar, Inc. "Our profile reports will give investors, advisors, and institutions important data and industry context for more than 3,600 companies worldwide. The depth and breadth of our data, and our analysts' industry knowledge, enables us to offer comprehensive information about publicly held companies. The landscape for equity research is shifting, and we're exploring new ways to get our research to investors."
NASDAQ OMX and Morningstar expect to begin publishing the Morningstar Profile Reports by the third quarter for both NASDAQ-and Nordic-listed companies. The Morningstar Profile Reports will be updated daily and be available on NASDAQ OMX's Web sites, Nasdaq Online and through Nasdaq.com as well as in most of Morningstar's key platforms, including Morningstar.com, its Web site for individual investors; Morningstar Advisor Workstation, its Web-based investment research platform for financial advisors; and Morningstar Direct, its Web-based investment research platform for institutions.
About NASDAQ OMX Corporate Services
NASDAQ-listed companies have access to innovative products and services through a group of wholly owned subsidiaries including Carpenter Moore Insurance Services, Shareholder.com, GlobeNewswire Service and Pinpoint Market Intelligence. These services help NASDAQ-listed companies by facilitating transparency, mitigating risk and inspiring better corporate governance. The NASDAQ Market Intelligence Desk(r) gives senior executives an immediate, integrated and insightful source of real-time market information customized to their companies and needs.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of Internet, software, and print-based products and services for individuals, financial advisors, and institutions. Morningstar provides data on more than 300,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 4 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. The company has operations in 19 countries and minority ownership positions in companies based in three other countries.
About NASDAQ OMX
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with over 3,800 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market, NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about NASDAQ OMX's products and offerings. We caution that these statements are not guarantees of future performance.
Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond NASDAQ OMX's control. These factors include, but are not limited to factors detailed in NASDAQ OMX's annual report on Form 10-K, and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that the FSA will give the NASDAQ OMX applicant the authorization and permissions which it seeks.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," or "continue." These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discussed not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expected. For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among others, general industry conditions and competition, including the global financial crisis that began in 2007; the impact of market volatility on revenue from asset-based fees; damage to our reputation resulting from claims made about possible conflicts of interest; liability for any losses that result from an actual or claimed breach of our fiduciary duties; financial services industry consolidation; a prolonged outage of our database and network facilities; challenges faced by our non-U.S. operations; and the availability of free or low-cost investment information. A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results may vary significantly from what we expected. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events.
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