Capital IQ

What it does

S&P Global Capital IQ Pro is a financial intelligence platform used by investment bankers, private equity professionals, corporate development teams, and research analysts for company financial data, M&A deal analytics, valuation comps, credit ratings, and market research. AI capabilities include AI-powered document search that surfaces relevant information from SEC filings, earnings transcripts, and research reports, NLP-based sentiment analysis on corporate communications, AI-generated financial summaries, automated screening tools that identify acquisition targets or comparable companies based on financial and operational criteria, and machine learning credit models. Capital IQ is the standard financial data platform for investment banks and PE firms alongside Bloomberg Terminal - with deeper M&A transaction data and private company coverage than Bloomberg.

Strengths

• Corporate development teams and mid-market investment banks use Capital IQ for deal sourcing, comparable analysis, and market research - AI screening identifying acquisition targets and automated financial data pulling accelerating analytical workflows.
• Large investment banks, private equity firms, and Fortune 500 corporate development teams use Capital IQ as core financial intelligence infrastructure - AI-enhanced search across millions of financial documents and deep private company and M&A transaction data.
• S&P Global Capital IQ Pro is a financial intelligence platform used by investment bankers, private equity professionals, corporate development teams, and research analysts for company financial data, M&A deal analytics, valuation comps, credit ratings, and market research.

Watch-outs

• Very expensive subscription: Capital IQ Pro subscriptions are priced for institutional financial users — typically $15,000 to $30,000+ per user annually, making it inaccessible for small teams and individuals outside institutional finance.
• Learning curve for full utilization: Capital IQ has enormous depth across financial data, screening, and analytics — users who do not invest in training use a fraction of the platform's capability, limiting ROI on the significant subscription investment.
• Private company data quality varies: Capital IQ's private company database relies on self-reported data, filings, and third-party sources — private company financials and operational metrics are often incomplete or outdated compared to public company data.

Pricing

Capital IQ Pro pricing not published. Individual professional licenses typically $15,000 to $30,000/year. Enterprise team licenses negotiated based on user count and data modules. Annual contracts.