MSCI Inc.'s MSCI third-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings of $2.53 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.9% and increased 15% from the year-ago quarter.Shares were up 1.1% in pre-market trading following the announcement.Operating revenues improved 21.6% year over year to $517.1 million and beat the consensus mark by 2.4%. This year-over-year growth was driven by 14.2% and 41.2% rise in recurring subscriptions (69.2% of revenues) and asset-based fees (27.4% of revenues), respectively.Non-recurring revenues (3.4% of revenues) increased 50.5% year over year to $17.7 million. MSCI Inc Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise MSCI Inc price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | MSCI Inc Quote At the end of the quarter, average assets under management were $1.36 trillion in ETFs linked to MSCI indexes. Total retention rate was 94.5% in the quarter under review.Quarter DetailsIn the third quarter, Index operating revenues improved 25.7% year over year to $321.6 million, primarily driven by growth in recurring subscriptions (12.9%) and asset-based fees (41.2%).Analytics operating revenues improved 6.2% year over year to $136.3 million. While recurring subscription revenues increased 6.4%, non-recurring revenues declined 5.2%.ESG and Climate segment’s operating revenues increased 53% from the year-ago quarter to $43.7 million, primarily driven by strong growth from Ratings products, including Climate products.All Other revenues, which primarily comprise of the Real Estate operating segment, were $15.6 million, up 22.4% year over year.Adjusted EBITDA increased 22.9% year over year to $306.6 million in the reported quarter. Moreover, adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 70 basis points (bps) on a year-over-year basis to 59.3%.Total operating expenses increased 19.8% on a year-over-year basis to $236.9 million. Adjusted EBITDA expenses were $210.5 million, up 19.7%, primarily reflecting higher compensation and benefits costs.Operating income improved 23.1% from the year-ago quarter to $280.2 million. However, operating margin expanded 70 bps to 54.2%.Balance Sheet & Cash FlowTotal cash and cash equivalents, as of Sep 30, 2021, were $1.3 billion compared with $2 billion as of Jun 30, 2021.Total debt was $4.2 billion as of Sep 30. Total-debt-to-adjusted-EBITDA ratio (based on trailing twelve-month-adjusted EBITDA) was 3.7 times, higher than management’s target range of 3-3.5 times.Net cash provided by operating activities was $215.9 million in the third quarter, up 8.1% year over year. Free cash flow was $201.1 million, up 6.9% year over year.Notably, $1.6 billion is outstanding under MSCI’s share-repurchase authorization as of Oct 22, 2021. The company paid out dividends worth $85.8 million in the third quarter.GuidanceFor 2021, MSCI expects total operating expenses of $955-$975 million, up from the previous guidance range of $920-$940 million. Adjusted EBITDA expenses are expected between $840 million and $860 million, up from the previous guidance of $820-$840 million.Capex is expected to be $50-$60 million.Net cash provided by operating activities and free cash flow is expected to be $800-$840 million and $740-$790 million, respectively.Zacks Rank & Stocks to ConsiderCurrently, MSCI has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).Better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector are Advanced Micro Devices AMD, Microsoft MSFT and Perficient PRFT. All the three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Both Advanced Micro Devices and Microsoft are set to report earnings results on Oct 26. Perficient is set to report the same on Oct 28. More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 77 billion devices by 2025, creating a $1.3 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 4 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2022.Click here for the 4 trades >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD): Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report MSCI Inc (MSCI): Free Stock Analysis Report Perficient, Inc. (PRFT): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research