Glossary term
Capital IQ
Capital IQ is a financial data and analytics platform from S&P Global Market Intelligence used for research, valuation, and market analysis.
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What Is Capital IQ?
Capital IQ usually refers to S&P Capital IQ Pro, a financial data, research, screening, and analytics platform from S&P Global Market Intelligence. It is used by investment banks, asset managers, corporate finance teams, private equity firms, researchers, and other finance professionals.
The platform brings together company fundamentals, transaction data, market data, industry information, news, estimates, ownership, screening tools, and workflow features that support financial analysis.
Key Takeaways
- Capital IQ is a professional financial intelligence platform.
- It is commonly used for company research, valuation, comparables, screening, and market analysis.
- The platform is associated with S&P Global Market Intelligence.
- Its value depends on data coverage, workflow fit, licensing, and analyst judgment.
- Capital IQ is a tool, not a substitute for due diligence or investment reasoning.
How Capital IQ Works
Users typically search for companies, industries, securities, transactions, or financial metrics. They may pull historical financials, build comparable-company sets, review merger and acquisition data, screen private or public companies, export data, or support valuation work.
In corporate finance and investment banking, Capital IQ is often used to build market comps, transaction comps, company profiles, and pitch materials. In investing, it can support research, monitoring, and portfolio analysis.
Common Capital IQ Uses
Use case | Typical workflow | Important caveat |
|---|---|---|
Company research | Review financials, ownership, filings, and news | Verify material facts against primary filings |
Valuation | Build comparable company or transaction sets | Peer selection drives the output |
Screening | Filter companies by size, sector, geography, or metrics | Data definitions must be understood |
Deal analysis | Review M&A transactions and multiples | Deal terms may not be fully comparable |
Market monitoring | Track sectors, companies, and events | Coverage varies by market and asset type |
Why It Matters
Capital IQ matters because financial professionals often need clean, comparable data quickly. A good platform can reduce manual work and make research workflows more consistent.
It also affects how analysts form views. If a model, screen, or valuation depends on platform data, the analyst needs to understand the source, adjustments, definitions, and limitations.
Limits and Misunderstandings
Capital IQ is not an investment strategy. It provides data and tools, but users still need to interpret financial statements, assess business quality, check assumptions, and understand risk.
It is also not the only financial terminal or data platform. Bloomberg, FactSet, Refinitiv/LSEG, PitchBook, Morningstar, and specialized databases may be better suited for certain workflows.
The Bottom Line
Capital IQ is a professional financial data and analytics platform. It can make research faster and more structured, but the quality of the conclusion still depends on the user's judgment and verification.