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2 Stocks to Watch From the Booming Business Information Industry

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The increased adoption and success of the work-from-home trend are enabling the Zacks Business – Information Services industry to address the rising demand for services that ensure risk mitigation, cost reduction and productivity improvement.

The heightening technology adoption is benefiting companies like Experian plc (EXPGY - Free Report) and Intertek Group plc (IKTSY - Free Report) , supporting them to offer digitally transformed, personalized and value-added services.

About the Industry

The Zacks Business – Information Services industry comprises companies that offer a range of services, including software, data, risk, research, information and analytics solutions. These companies operate in a dynamic business environment characterized by evolving customer behavior, preferences, and demographics. The key focus within the industry is currently on channeling money and efforts toward more effective operational components, such as technology, digital transformation and data-driven decision-making, to identify demand sources and target end markets.

3 Trends Shaping the Future of the Information Industry

Healthy Demand Environment: The industry is mature and has witnessed a progressively growing business environment in the past few years. Revenues, income, and operating cash should continue to grow during the post-pandemic economic improvement.

Demand for Customer-Centric Solutions: The pandemic stoked a many-fold increase in demand for specific solutions that ensure risk mitigation, cost reduction and productivity improvement. These, in turn, have opened up more business opportunities for industry players. These companies are now modifying their business strategies to offer more customer-centric solutions.

Increased Adoption of Technologies: Digital transformation, automation in assembling and the use of big data in enhancing business information will likely fuel the industry’s growth in the days to come. Companies are shifting from conventional data solutions to technical and domain-specific expertise, data analytics solutions, financial consultancy and operational consultancy services.

Zacks Industry Rank Indicates Encouraging Near-Term Prospects

The Business – Information Services industry is housed within the broader Zacks Business Services sector. It carries a Zacks Industry Rank #109, which places it in the top 45% of 244 Zacks industries.

The group’s Industry Rank, which is the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates underperformance in the near term. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than two to one.

Before we present a few stocks that you may want to consider for your portfolio, let’s take a look at the industry’s recent stock-market performance and current valuation.

Industry's Price Performance

Over the past year, the Zacks Business – Information Services industry has underperformed the Zacks Business Services sector and the S&P 500 Composite.

The industry has declined 22% compared with the S&P 500 Composite rally of 19.5% and the broader sector’s decline of 7.5%, in the said time frame.

One-Year Price Performance

Industry's Current Valuation

Based on the forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E), which is commonly used for valuing business information services stocks, the industry is currently trading at 19.8X compared with the S&P 500’s 23.36X and the sector’s 20.97X.

Over the past five years, the industry has traded at a high of 32.54X and a low of 19.8X, with a median of 26.12X.

Price to Forward 12 Months P/E Ratio

2 Business Information Service Stocks in Focus

We are presenting three stocks that are well-positioned to grow in the near term.

Experian: This data and technology company delivered an impressive first half of the fiscal year, reflecting strong execution of its strategic priorities and consistent momentum across its business segments.

The company achieved 12% total revenue growth at constant currency, including 8% organic revenue growth, underscoring its ability to sustain robust underlying performance even amid a dynamic macro environment. This expansion highlights Experian’s resilience, diversified growth drivers, and increasing global demand for its data, analytics and credit solutions.

With its financial outlook for the year remaining unchanged, Experian continues to demonstrate operational strength and strategic clarity.

EXPGY currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 EPS has increased 0.6% over the past 60 days. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. 

Intertek: This quality assurance solutions provider is scaling up its portfolio in high-growth and high-margin sectors on the back of the JLA, CEA, PlayerLync, and Base Met Labs acquisitions. The company is benefiting from its revenue mix, pricing, fixed cost leverage linked to growth, productivity enhancements, and restructuring program, while investing in its assurance, testing, inspection, and certification (AITC) service capabilities for growth.

IKTSY’s global footprint and capital-light business model make it agile and allow it to move swiftly to build additional AITC capability for its clients in the existing or new markets.

Intertek currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 EPS has been revised 1.4% upward in the past 60 days.



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