Revenue growth from Morningstar Direct, a web-based institutional research platform, was one of the fastest growing lines as the financial services company The company pumped its profits by holding the growth of expenses to a 12.9-percent increase. That made operating margins pop - they jumped to 24 percent from 20.3 percent for the compared periods.
In a prepared statement, CEO Joe Mansueto said there was an 11-percent increase in revenue growth. Besides Morningstar Direct, the other strong growth occurred in Investment Consulting.
Morningstar Direct and Advisor Workstation are both reported as part of the Investment Information segment. The business had quarterly revenue of $128.1 million, a 17.5 percent increase over last year's corresponding period.
The company said Advisor Workstation licenses rose slightly to 156,258. There are two segments of that product line with Morningstar Office aimed at independent financial advisors and the enterprise edition designed for financial advisors affiliated with larger firms.
