CME Group Inc. (CME) Earnings

CME Group Inc.

CME · Nasdaq

Symbol: CME
Type: Stock
Sector: Finance
Industry: Investment Bankers/Brokers/Service
Country: North America
Exchange: Nasdaq

As the world's leading derivatives marketplace, CME Group ( www.cmegroup.com ) enables clients to trade futures, options, cash and OTC markets, optimize portfolios, and analyze data - empowering market participants worldwide to efficiently manage risk and capture opportunities. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based on interest rates , equity indexes , foreign exchange , cryptocurrencies , energy , agricultural products and metals . The company offers futures and options on futures trading through the CME Globex platform, fixed income trading via BrokerTec and foreign exchange trading on the EBS platform. In addition, it operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers, CME Clearing.

Key Issues

Bullish view

CME leads Coinbase on valuation, price gains, and near-term growth, while rising market activity can support its transaction-driven model and the company delivered strong fiscal 2025 growth.

Bearish view

Simply Wall St. cites potential multiple compression as a concern, and the available target revisions include substantial cuts from Barclays and Goldman Sachs, suggesting growth may not justify the current valuation.

Analyst Consensus

See all

Hold

16 analysts

1 Bearish1 Neutral1 Bullish

$302

Current

$245

Low

$325

Average

$270

High

Average target implies +7.61% versus the current price.

Earnings History

BeatMissNo estimate

Dec 2026upcoming

Next quarter

Expected to report Feb 3, 2027 — estimated from last year’s reporting date.

Consensus is $3.01 EPS for Dec 2026 across 8 estimates, ranging $2.97 to $3.07.

CME Sep 2026

Reported Oct 21, 2026 · before the open

: 1.34%

: $2.98
: $3.02
: —
: $1.74B

Reported results

: $1.74B; from $1.54B
: $1.14B; from $972.60M
: 65.70%; from 63.25%
: $1.04B; from $908.00M
: $2.89; from $2.49

Highlights

Record Q3 activity: Average daily volume rose 16% year over year to 29.4 million contracts, a third-quarter record, with growth across all six asset classes; non-U.S. ADV reached a Q3 record 9 million.
EPS met the bar: Adjusted diluted EPS was $3.02, in line with the $2.98 consensus supplied as reported EPS expectations; GAAP diluted EPS was $2.89, up from $2.49 a year ago and $2.88 in Q2.
Revenue growth: Revenue increased 13% year over year to $1.737 billion, the highest Q3 on record, and was up from $1.71 billion in Q2. Net income rose 14% to $1.037 billion.
Trading fees: Clearing and transaction fee revenue increased 12% to $1.378 billion as contract volume growth outweighed a 3% decline in average rate per contract to $0.679.
Record market data: Market data and information services revenue reached $243 million, up 20% year over year, supported by usage, new customer segments and price increases.
Higher margins: GAAP operating income rose 17% to $1.141 billion, with operating margin improving to 65.7% from 63.3%; adjusted operating income was $1.206 billion.
Cost and mix pressure: Total expenses increased 5% to $596 million. Lower-rate micro contracts and higher member trading weighed on average rate per contract, while technology expense rose 13% to $81 million.
Shareholder returns: CME returned nearly $1 billion in the quarter through $465 million of regular dividends and $524 million of share repurchases.

Analysis

CME’s third quarter was defined by elevated client activity and broad-based growth in a volatile market. Revenue of $1.737 billion rose 13% year over year and about 2% from Q2’s $1.71 billion, setting a Q3 record. Adjusted diluted EPS of $3.02 matched the $2.98 consensus expectation provided; GAAP diluted EPS was $2.89, versus $2.49 a year ago and $2.88 in Q2. GAAP net income increased 14% year over year to $1.037 billion, while operating income rose 17% to $1.141 billion and the operating margin expanded to 65.7% from 63.3%.

The main driver was record Q3 average daily volume of 29.4 million contracts, up 16% year over year, with all six asset classes growing. That translated into 12% growth in clearing and transaction fees, even as the average rate per contract fell 3% to $0.679, reflecting product and customer mix. Market data provided another strong contribution: revenue rose 20% to a record $243 million. Expenses grew more slowly than revenue, up 5% to $596 million, although technology costs increased 13% to $81 million amid cloud-transition support. CME also returned nearly $1 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.

Trading volumes

Market uncertainty translated into an unusually active quarter across CME’s futures and options markets. Management cited inflation and interest-rate moves, equity-market uncertainty, geopolitical disruption and commodity-market volatility as contributing factors.

Overall ADV: 29.445 million contracts, up 16% year over year and a Q3 record; ADV was 29.843 million in Q3 operating statistics, while Q2 2026 was 36.231 million.
Breadth: Interest-rate ADV increased 13% to 15.121 million; equity indexes rose 23% to 7.714 million; foreign exchange grew 19% to 988,000; energy rose 16% to 2.665 million; agriculture increased 18% to 2.022 million; and metals grew 13% to 935,000.
International and electronic activity: Non-U.S. ADV reached a Q3 record 9 million contracts. CME Globex handled 27.473 million ADV, up 17% year over year, and electronic trading remained 93% of total volume.

Transaction revenue and mix

Higher activity was the principal source of growth in transaction fees, but the incremental volume carried a lower average yield. CME estimated that volume added $179.1 million to futures and options clearing and transaction fees, while the rate decline reduced them by $37.3 million, for a net increase of $141.8 million.

Clearing and transaction fees: Revenue was $1.378 billion, up 12% year over year. Total average rate per contract was $0.679 versus $0.702 a year earlier and $0.678 in Q2.
Yield drivers: The company attributed the lower rate largely to increased micro-contract activity, particularly in equities, energy and metals, and a higher share of member trading. Fee changes effective April 1 and product mix partly offset the pressure.
Cash markets: Transaction fees from the cash markets business were $74.0 million, up from $69.8 million a year earlier. BrokerTec fixed-income fees rose 5% to $41.1 million and EBS FX fees rose 8% to $32.9 million.

Market data

Market data was a notable source of growth beyond trading-linked fees. Revenue rose 20% year over year to a record $243.1 million, compared with $202.5 million in Q3 2025. The filing attributes the increase to higher use of certain products, demand from new customer segments and price increases. For the first nine months, market data revenue was $705.3 million, up 19% from $595.1 million.

Margins and expenses

Revenue growth outpaced expense growth, lifting reported profitability. GAAP operating income increased to $1.141 billion from $972.6 million, and operating margin rose 2.4 percentage points to 65.7%. On an adjusted basis, operating income was $1.206 billion versus $1.051 billion a year earlier; adjusted net income was $1.084 billion versus $978.4 million.

Expense growth: Total expenses increased 5% to $595.9 million. Technology expense rose 13% to $80.9 million, with the company citing third-party support for its Google Cloud transformation; licensing and other fee-agreement costs increased 28% to $104.2 million, largely reflecting higher equity-product volumes.
Offsetting items: Compensation and benefits declined 1% to $234.3 million, while professional fees and outside services fell 15% to $31.1 million, including lower legal fees than in the year-ago quarter.

Capital returns and liquidity

CME returned nearly $1 billion to shareholders in the quarter, comprising $465 million of regular dividends and $524 million of share repurchases. The filing reports repurchases of 2.047 million shares for $533.5 million excluding excise tax, at an average $255.81 per share; $1.0 billion remained under the $3.0 billion authorization at quarter-end. The company reported $2.4 billion of cash and $3.4 billion of debt as of September 30. Management also reported continued progress in its Google Cloud migration and highlighted the option of cloud-managed services alongside co-location.