MKTX

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. MKTX reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $1.95, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.7%. However, the bottom line decreased 2.5% year over year. Total revenues were $218.4 million, which fell 0.5% year over year. However, the top line beat the consensus mark by 0.5%. The quarterly results were aided by solid growth in emerging markets and Eurobonds trading volumes. Increased information services, technology services and post-trade services revenues also contributed to the upside. The gains were partly offset by higher expenses and lower commission revenues, along with weaker high-grade and high-yield trading volumes. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | MarketAxess Holdings Inc. Quote Commission revenues declined 3% year over year to $186.9 million. The metric missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $188.9 million and our estimate of $196.2 million. Information services revenues of $16.1 million grew 23% year over year. The metric beat the consensus mark of $14.1 million and our estimate of $13.2 million. Post-trade services revenues increased 5% year over year to $11.6 million, while technology services revenues rose 8% to $3.8 million. Total expenses were $128.5 million, which rose 1% year over year in the quarter due to higher technology and communications costs, professional and consulting fees, and marketing and advertising. The metric was lower than our estimate of $138.3 million. MarketAxess’ net income fell 4% year over year to $68.3 million but came in higher than our estimate of $67.1 million. The net income margin of 31.3% deteriorated 110 basis points year over year. The high-grade trading volume of MarketAxess was $461.1 billion in the second quarter, which declined 4% year over year and lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $473.4 billion. The ADV of the same product category totaled $7.4 million, which fell 4% year over year and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.6 million. High-yield trading volume of $96.7 billion fell 8% year over year, while ADV declined 8% to $1.6 billion. Other credit trading volume rose 2% year over year to $40.7 billion, whereas ADV for the same product category increased 2% to $657 million. Trading volume and ADV of emerging markets rose 12% each on a year-over-year basis to $279 billion and $4.5 billion, respectively. The Eurobonds’ trading volume rose 2% and ADV improved 1% on a year-over-year basis. The total credit trading volume of $1 trillion rose 1% year over year. Total credit ADV inched up 0.3% to $16.9 billion. Total rates’ trading volume and ADV of this product category each declined 19% on a year-over-year basis. MarketAxess exited the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $245.8 million, which fell from the 2025-end level of $519.7 million. Total assets of $2.4 billion rose 25.2% from the figure at 2025-end. The company had $112 million in outstanding borrowings under its credit facility at the end of the second quarter. Total stockholders’ equity of $1.2 billion rose 8.1% from the 2025-end level. Net cash provided by operating activities was $26.8 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared with $103.7 million in the prior-year quarter. The free cash flow declined 21.3% year over year to $88.9 million in the second quarter of 2026. As of July 29, 2026, $205 million remained available under the board-authorized share repurchase program. The board declared a quarterly cash dividend of 78 cents per share, which will be paid out on Sept. 2, 2026, to its shareholders of record as of Aug. 19. MKTX has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. MKTX currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Here are some stocks from the broader finance space that have also reported their quarterly results: RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. RNR, Aon plc AON and The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. HIG. Here's how they have performed: RenaissanceRe reported second-quarter 2026 operating income of $12.92 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 12.9%.  The bottom line also improved 5.1% year over year. Total operating revenues declined 6.7% year over year to $2.64 billion. The quarterly earnings benefited from lower expenses, higher net investment income and an improved total combined ratio. However, RNR’s upside was partly offset by lower net premiums earned, weaker underwriting results in the Casualty & Specialty segment and lower fee income. Aon reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $3.81 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.1%. The bottom line advanced 9% year over year. Total revenues of $4.2 billion grew 2% year over year. AON’s quarterly results were supported by strong organic revenue growth, healthy client retention, operating margin expansion and disciplined execution. Solid performance across the Commercial Risk, Reinsurance and Health Solutions businesses was partly offset by weakness in Wealth Solutions. Hartford delivered second-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings per share of $3.42, up 6% year over year and above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.12 by 9.6%. Revenues came in at $5.23 billion, which improved 6.8% year over year. HIG’s quarterly results benefited from higher investment income, premium growth in Business Insurance and improving Personal Insurance profitability. Strong new business expansion in Small Business and favorable pricing trends supported results. However, the upside was partly offset by an increased expense level, higher catastrophe losses and weaker Employee Benefits profitability. 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 MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX) : Free Stock Analysis Report The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. (HIG) : Free Stock Analysis Report RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (RNR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Aon plc (AON) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

For the quarter ended June 2026, MarketAxess (MKTX) reported revenue of $218.42 million, down 0.5% over the same period last year. EPS came in at $1.95, compared to $2.00 in the year-ago quarter. The reported revenue represents a surprise of +0.49% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $217.34 million. With the consensus EPS estimate being $1.88, the EPS surprise was +3.72%. While investors scrutinize revenue and earnings changes year-over-year and how they compare with Wall Street expectations to determine their next move, some key metrics always offer a more accurate picture of a company's financial health. As these metrics influence top- and bottom-line performance, comparing them to the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated helps investors project a stock's price performance more accurately. Here is how MarketAxess performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts: Average Variable Transaction Fee Per Million - Credit: $129.00 versus $129.43 estimated by five analysts on average. Average Daily Volume - Total: $43.07 billion versus the five-analyst average estimate of $45.87 billion. Average Daily Volume - Total credit trading: $16.85 billion versus $17.05 billion estimated by five analysts on average. Average Daily Volume - Total rates trading: $26.22 billion versus the five-analyst average estimate of $28.82 billion. Revenues- Information services: $16.09 million versus the five-analyst average estimate of $14.07 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +23%. Revenues- Post-trade services: $11.6 million versus $11.55 million estimated by five analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +4.7% change. Revenues- Technology services: $3.83 million versus the five-analyst average estimate of $3.71 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +8.5%. Revenues- Commissions: $186.9 million versus the five-analyst average estimate of $188.92 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of -2.5%. Revenues- Commissions- Total variable transaction fees- Other: $10.31 million versus $10.17 million estimated by four analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +46% change. Revenues- Commissions- Total variable transaction fees: $152.7 million versus $155.19 million estimated by four analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -3.4% change. Revenues- Commissions- Total variable transaction fees- Credit: $134.34 million compared to the $136.63 million average estimate based on four analysts. The reported number represents a change of -6% year over year. Revenues- Commissions- Total fixed distribution fees: $34.2 million compared to the $33.91 million average estimate based on four analysts. The reported number represents a change of +1.5% year over year. View all Key Company Metrics for MarketAxess here>>> Shares of MarketAxess have returned +9.8% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's -1.5% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term. 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 MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

MarketAxess (MKTX) came out with quarterly earnings of $1.95 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.88 per share. This compares to earnings of $2 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +3.72%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this operator of bond trading platforms would post earnings of $2.15 per share when it actually produced earnings of $2.25, delivering a surprise of +4.65%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times. MarketAxess, which belongs to the Zacks Financial - Investment Bank industry, posted revenues of $218.42 million for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.49%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $219.46 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates three times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. MarketAxess shares have lost about 30.6% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 6.9%. While MarketAxess has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for MarketAxess was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $1.95 on $221.04 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $8.01 on $897.45 million in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Financial - Investment Bank is currently in the top 9% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. Another stock from the broader Zacks Finance sector, Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT), has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on July 31. This real estate investment trust is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.85 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -3.1%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.2% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. Federal Realty Investment Trust's revenues are expected to be $333.5 million, up 7.1% from the year-ago quarter. 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 MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Tradeweb Markets (TW) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.97 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.96 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.87 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +1.04%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this electronic marketplaces operator would post earnings of $1.06 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.08, delivering a surprise of +1.89%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times. Tradeweb, which belongs to the Zacks Financial - Investment Bank industry, posted revenues of $558.95 million for the quarter ended June 2026, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.9%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $512.97 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates three times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Tradeweb shares have added about 0.6% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 6.9%. While Tradeweb has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Tradeweb was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.99 on $568.97 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $4.00 on $2.34 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Financial - Investment Bank is currently in the top 9% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. Another stock from the same industry, MarketAxess (MKTX), has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on August 7. This operator of bond trading platforms is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.88 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -6%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.3% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. MarketAxess' revenues are expected to be $217.34 million, down 1% from the year-ago quarter. 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 Tradeweb Markets Inc. (TW) : Free Stock Analysis Report MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

NEW YORK, July 07, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: MKTX), the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, today announced trading volume and preliminary variable transaction fees per million ("FPM") for June 2026 and second quarter 2026 ended June 30, 2026.1 Trading Records for Second Quarter 2026 Select June 2026 Highlights* (See tables 1-1C and table 2) Total credit trading volumes showed continued strength in June relative to May levels, and U.S. high-grade estimated market share increased approximately 10 basis points to 17.9%, driven by improvement in the client-initiated channel. U.S. high-yield estimated market share increased to 14.9%, up 190 basis points from the prior year and up 100 basis points sequentially. The Company estimates that duplicate trade reports inflated U.S. high-grade TRACE volumes by up to 8% in June 2026. Adjusting for these duplicates, consistent with FINRA’s recent proposal to suppress duplicate reporting, we believe our estimated U.S. high-grade market share would have been approximately 150 basis points higher, or approximately 19.4%, in June 2026. We also continued to make progress with block trading, portfolio trading, and dealer-initiated protocols across the platform. Client-Initiated Channel 33% increase in block trading ADV to $6.6 billion, with U.S. credit block ADV of $3.8 billion, up 40%, compared to a 28% increase in TRACE U.S. credit block ADV. Emerging markets block ADV of $2.3 billion increased 25% and eurobonds block ADV of $578 million increased 25%. Portfolio Trading Channel 71% increase in total portfolio trading ADV to $2.0 billion, including U.S. high-grade ADV of $1.3 billion up 105% and U.S. high-yield ADV of $461 million, up 98%. 19.7% estimated market share of U.S. credit portfolio trading, compared to 15.5% in the prior year. Dealer-Initiated Channel Dealer-initiated ADV of $1.8 billion was up 4% from the prior year. Record levels of municipal bonds ADV (+98%), eurobonds ADV (+71%), and emerging markets ADV (+40%) were partially offset by a decline in U.S. high-grade ADV. Total Mid-X trading volume was a record $9.8 billion, representing an increase of 192%. June 2026 Variable Transaction Fees Per Million1 (See table 1D) The year-over-year decline in total credit FPM was driven by protocol mix and the impact of an increase in block trading, which is generally a lower FPM activity. The month-over-month decline in total credit FPM was largely driven by the lower duration of bonds traded in U.S. high-grade and protocol mix. The year-over-year and month-over-month increases in total rates FPM were driven by the impact of protocol mix. *All comparisons versus June 2025 unless noted. Client-initiated block trading ADV may include some portfolio trading activity. Select Second Quarter 2026 Highlights* (See tables 1-1C and table 2) U.S. high-yield, portfolio trading and international credit products remained key contributors to performance during the quarter given relatively lower industry activity and reduced market volatility. Client-Initiated Channel 11% increase in block trading ADV to $5.9 billion, with U.S. credit block ADV of $3.4 billion, up 8%, compared to a 12% increase in TRACE U.S. credit block ADV. Emerging markets block ADV of $2.0 billion increased 24% and eurobonds block ADV of $503 million decreased 5%. Portfolio Trading Channel 33% increase in total portfolio trading ADV to a record $2.0 billion, including record U.S. high-grade ADV of $1.2 billion up 41%, record U.S. high-yield ADV of $459 million, up 93% and emerging markets ADV of $118 million, up 44%. 20.6% estimated market share of U.S. credit portfolio trading, compared to 17.5% in the prior year. Dealer-Initiated Channel Dealer-initiated ADV of $1.7 billion was down 3% from the prior year. Record levels of eurobonds ADV (+43%), municipal bonds ADV (+36%), and emerging markets ADV (+29%) were offset by declines in U.S. high-grade and U.S. high-yield ADVs. Total Mid-X trading volume was a record $23.6 billion, representing an increase of 156%. Second Quarter 2026 Variable Transaction Fees Per Million1 (See table 1D) The year-over-year decline in total credit FPM was driven by protocol and product mix, as well as lower duration of bonds traded in U.S. high-grade. The quarter-over-quarter decline in total credit FPM was largely driven by lower duration. The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter increases in total rates FPM were driven by the impact of protocol mix. *All comparisons versus second quarter 2025 unless noted. Client-initiated block trading ADV may include some portfolio trading activity. Table 1: MarketAxess ADV Table 1A: Market ADV Table 1B: Estimated Market Share Table 1C: Strategic Priorities ADV Table 1D: Variable Transaction Fees Per Million (FPM)1 General Notes Regarding the Data Presented Reported MarketAxess volume in all product categories includes only fully electronic trading volume. MarketAxess trading volumes and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine ("TRACE") reported volumes are available on the Company’s website at investor.marketaxess.com/volume. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements about the outlook and prospects for MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (the "Company" or "MarketAxess"), market conditions and industry growth, as well as statements about the Company’s future financial and operating performance. These and other statements that relate to future results and events are based on MarketAxess’ current expectations. The Company’s actual results in future periods may differ materially from those currently expected or desired because of a number of risks and uncertainties, including: global economic, political and market factors; the level of trading volume transacted on the MarketAxess platform; the rapidly evolving nature of the electronic financial services industry; the level and intensity of competition in the fixed-income electronic trading industry and the pricing pressures that may result; the variability of our growth rate; our ability to introduce new fee plans and our clients’ response; our ability to attract clients or adapt our technology and marketing strategy to new markets; risks related to our growing international operations; our dependence on our broker-dealer clients; the loss of any of our significant institutional investor clients; our exposure to risks resulting from non-performance by counterparties to transactions executed between our clients in which we act as an intermediary in matched principal trades; risks related to self-clearing; our dependence on third-party suppliers for key products and services; our ability to enter into strategic alliances and to acquire other businesses and successfully integrate them with our business; our dependence on our management team and our ability to attract and retain talent; risks related to sanctions levied against states or individuals that could expose us to operational or regulatory risks; the effects of climate change or other sustainability risks that could affect our operations or reputation; the effect of rapid market or technological changes on us and the users of our technology; issues related to the development and use of artificial intelligence; our ability to successfully maintain the integrity of our trading platform and our response to system failures, capacity constraints and business interruptions; the occurrence of design defects, errors, failures or delays with our platforms, products or services; our vulnerability to malicious cyber-attacks and attempted cybersecurity breaches; our actual or perceived failure to comply with privacy and data protection laws; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights or technology and defend against intellectual property infringement or other claims; our use of open-source software; limitations on our flexibility because we operate in a highly regulated industry; the increasing government regulation of us and our clients; our exposure to costs and penalties related to our extensive regulation; our risks of litigation and securities laws liability; our tax filing positions; our future capital needs and our ability to obtain capital when needed; limitations on our operating flexibility contained in our credit agreement; our exposure to financial institutions by holding cash in excess of federally insured limits; and other factors. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More information about these and other factors affecting MarketAxess’ business and prospects is contained in MarketAxess’ periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and can be accessed at www.marketaxess.com. About MarketAxess MarketAxess (Nasdaq: MKTX) operates a leading electronic trading platform that delivers greater trading efficiency, a diversified pool of liquidity and significant cost savings to institutional investors and broker-dealers across the global fixed-income and other markets. Approximately 2,100 firms leverage MarketAxess’ patented technology to efficiently trade fixed-income securities. Our automated and algorithmic trading solutions, combined with our integrated and actionable data offerings, help our clients make faster, better-informed decisions on when and how to trade on our platform. MarketAxess’ award-winning Open Trading® marketplace is widely regarded as the preferred all-to-all trading solution in the global credit markets. Founded in 2000, MarketAxess connects a robust network of market participants through an advanced full trading lifecycle solution that includes automated trading solutions, intelligent data and index products and a range of post-trade services. Learn more at www.marketaxess.com and on X @MarketAxess. Table 2: Trading Volume Detail View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260706031156/en/ Contacts INVESTOR RELATIONS Stephen Davidson MarketAxess Holdings Inc.+1 212 813 [email protected] MEDIA RELATIONS Marisha Mistry MarketAxess Holdings Inc.+1 917 267 [email protected]

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. MKTX recently announced that in the second quarter of 2026, it recorded a total trading average daily volume (ADV) of $43.6 billion, an 11% year-over-year decrease. Nevertheless, its electronic trading platform facilitated more than $1.04 trillion in total credit trading volume in the quarter, increasing 1% year over year. Growth in Emerging markets (+12%) and Agencies and Other Government Bond Rates (+84%) supported the total volume, offset by declines in U.S. Government Bond Rates (-22%), High-grade (-4%) and High-yield (-8%). Eurobonds markets saw a 1% increase in ADV from the year-ago period. Total credit average variable transaction fees per million (“FPM”) declined 7% year over year in the quarter due to product and protocol mix and lower duration in U.S. high-grade, while the same for total rates jumped 24% year over year due to protocol mix. The number of trading days in the United States and the U.K. were 62 and 61, respectively, in the second quarter. Its estimated market share of U.S. credit portfolio trading came at 20.6%, rising from 17.5% a year ago. The second quarter figures indicate 33% rise in total portfolio trading ADV to $2 billion, but Dealer-initiated ADV of $1.7 billion fell 3% year over year. It also announced that total Mid-X trading volume surged 156% to a record $23.6 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MarketAxess’ second-quarter earnings is pegged at $1.90 per share, which indicates a 5% year-over-year decrease. The consensus mark for revenues stands at $220.43 million, suggesting a 0.4% year-over-year increase. Notably, the company has surpassed earnings estimates in each of the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 4.5%. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | MarketAxess Holdings Inc. Quote MarketAxess currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Finance space are Cboe Global Markets, Inc. CBOE, Nasdaq, Inc. NDAQ and Chime Financial, Inc. CHYM, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Cboe Global’s current-year earnings is pegged at $13.36 per share, signaling 25.2% year-over-year increase. CBOE beat earnings estimates in each of the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 5.4%. The consensus mark for its current-year revenues is pegged at $2.75 billion, a 13.1% jump from a year ago. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Nasdaq’s 2026 earnings indicates 11.2% year-over-year growth. During the past month, NDAQ has witnessed one upward estimate revision against none in the opposite direction. It beat earnings estimates in each of the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 4.9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Chime Financial’s current-year earnings suggests a 107% year-over-year improvement. During the past 60 days, CHYM has witnessed two upward estimate revisions against none in the opposite direction. The consensus mark for current-year revenues suggests a 22.6% jump from a year ago. 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 MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Nasdaq, Inc. (NDAQ) : Free Stock Analysis Report Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (CBOE) : Free Stock Analysis Report Chime Financial, Inc. (CHYM) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Quarterly earnings results are a good time to check in on a company’s progress, especially compared to its peers in the same sector. Today we are looking at MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) and the best and worst performers in the financial exchanges & data industry. Financial exchanges and data providers operate trading platforms and sell market information. They enjoy relatively stable revenue from trading fees and subscriptions, increasing demand for data analytics, and expansion opportunities in emerging markets. Challenges include regulatory oversight of market structure, competition from alternative trading venues, and substantial technology investments needed to maintain low-latency trading infrastructure and data security. The 10 financial exchanges & data stocks we track reported a satisfactory Q1. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.1%. Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 7.4% since the latest earnings results. Pioneering the shift from phone-based to electronic bond trading since 2000, MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) operates electronic trading platforms that enable institutional investors and broker-dealers to efficiently trade fixed-income securities like corporate and government bonds. MarketAxess reported revenues of $233.4 million, up 11.9% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 0.6%. Overall, it was a satisfactory quarter for the company with a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates. Even though it had a relatively good quarter, the market seems discontent with the results. The stock is down 19.2% since reporting and currently trades at $120.33. Is now the time to buy MarketAxess? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free. Founded in 1984 by Joe Mansueto with just $80,000 in personal savings, Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) provides independent investment data, research, and analysis tools that help investors, advisors, and institutions make informed financial decisions. Morningstar reported revenues of $644.8 million, up 10.8% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.9%. The business had a very strong quarter with an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA and EPS estimates. Morningstar scored the biggest analyst estimate beat among its peers. Although it had a fine quarter compared to its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 16.3% since reporting. It currently trades at $156.98. Is now the time to buy Morningstar? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free. Born from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange founded in 1898 as a butter and egg trading venue, CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) operates the world's largest derivatives marketplace where traders can buy and sell futures and options contracts across interest rates, equities, currencies, commodities, and more. CME Group reported revenues of $1.88 billion, up 14.5% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 1.4%. It was a slower quarter as it posted a miss of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and EPS in line with analysts’ estimates. CME Group delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. As expected, the stock is down 12.7% since the results and currently trades at $248.33. Read our full analysis of CME Group’s results here. Originally founded in 1971 as the world's first electronic stock market, Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) operates global exchanges and provides technology, data, and corporate services that help companies, investors, and financial institutions navigate capital markets. Nasdaq reported revenues of $1.41 billion, up 13.7% year on year. This print topped analysts’ expectations by 2.2%. It was a strong quarter as it also recorded an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA and EPS estimates. The stock is down 4.5% since reporting and currently trades at $82.52. Read our full, actionable report on Nasdaq here, it’s free. Starting as an energy trading platform in 2000 before acquiring the iconic New York Stock Exchange in 2013, Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) operates global financial exchanges, clearing houses, and provides data services and mortgage technology solutions to financial institutions and corporations. Intercontinental Exchange reported revenues of $2.98 billion, up 20.4% year on year. This result surpassed analysts’ expectations by 1.2%. It was a satisfactory quarter as it also produced a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates. The stock is down 13.6% since reporting and currently trades at $134.93. Read our full, actionable report on Intercontinental Exchange here, it’s free. Late in 2025 into early 2026, there was hand-wringing around artificial intelligence. For software companies, the fear was that AI would erode pricing power and compress margins as new tools made it easier to replicate what once required expensive enterprise platforms. Crypto investors had their own version of the same anxiety: if AI agents could trade, allocate capital, and manage wallets autonomously, what exactly was the long-term value of today’s crypto infrastructure? These concerns triggered a noticeable rotation away from these sectors and into safer havens. But markets rarely dwell on one narrative for long. 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Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, May 7, 2026 at 10 a.m. ET Chief Executive Officer — Christopher Concannon Chief Financial Officer — Ilene Bieler Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [email protected] Christopher Concannon: Good morning, and thank you for joining us to review our very strong financial results for the first quarter 2026. 2026 is all about the execution of our long-term strategy, and that is exactly what we did in the quarter. Turning to Slide 3. We grew total revenue by 12% to a record $233 million including very strong 20% growth in product areas outside U.S. credit. Record total revenue was underpinned by record total trading ADV, driving record commission revenue. Momentum continued to build with our new initiatives and generated approximately 50% of total incremental revenue in the quarter. Strength on the trading side was complemented by 10% growth in services revenue, helping to drive trailing 12-month free cash flow generation of $316 million. We continue to be disciplined with our expenses with 8% growth in non-GAAP expenses. And underlying these strong results was the strong progress we made in innovating and growing our franchise. First, we significantly enhanced the MarketAxess advantage by expanding our global network enhancing our differentiated liquidity and fortifying our high-value proprietary data and analytics by expanding the use of AI. Next, we continued the rollout of our new enhanced X-Pro front end that is changing the client experience. And last, we are continuing to invest in our technology modernization, which includes our recent strategic hire, Will Quan, who joined us as our Chief Technology Officer. Slide 4 highlights the market access advantage where we are increasingly using AI to leverage our sizable proprietary data set to deliver unique data and analytics to clients to enhance their trading outcomes. Our global network of the largest fixed income investors and the most active fixed income liquidity providers generates deep vertical IP that gives us a significant competitive advantage in generating critical analytics and insights for our clients. In 2025, our global network generated over $5 trillion in notional inquiry information and over $34 trillion in notional response information, all of which is proprietary to MarketAxess. This unique data set across U.S. credit, emerging markets in Europe gives us a special AI opportunity to interpret the markets in real time to assist in clients' portfolio construction and to deliver a unique and enhanced execution experience. We have already delivered AI-driven data solutions like the award-winning CP+, CP+ for blocks, depth of book, sense AI and AI Dealer Select. We are now exploring the next level of AI-enhanced data products. What is critical to remember is that AI solutions are only as good as the data they are trained on. We have a unique advantage given our global proprietary data set. Slide 5 provides an update on the macro backdrop of the first quarter and April. Recent geopolitical events drove higher levels of volatility and wider credit spreads in the quarter. The initial jump in volatility and widening of credit spreads was short-lived and credit spreads moved back to historically low levels in April. Open Trading penetration in U.S. high yield increased to 47% in the quarter, the highest level since 2023, reflecting increased demand for differentiated liquidity. Despite these shocks, the market has remained very healthy, with historic levels of new issuance in the first quarter continuing into April. New issue pricing concessions are up modestly from lows, and deals continue to be approximately 4x oversubscribed, reflecting the very strong focus on new issues. All of these factors generated record results in the quarter but the return to lower volatility, tighter credit spreads and strong new issuance in April, combined with tougher year-over-year comparisons were key drivers of the decline in trading volumes in April. Slide 6 highlights the shift in segmentation of U.S. high-grade trace market ADV in April, including the strong focus on the new issue calendar, which reduced our estimated market share. We believe there were several factors that reduced our estimated market share in April. First, duplicate reports in TRACE have been increasing over the past some quarters and we estimate that they inflated U.S. high-grade TRACE volumes by up to 8% in April. Adjusting for these duplicates, consistent with FINRA's recent proposal to suppress duplicate reporting, we believe our estimated U.S. high-grade market share would have been approximately 160 basis points higher in April. Next, April's historically high new issuance further reduced our estimated U.S. high-grade market share in April. We generally have lower levels of market share and new issues during the first 2 weeks of trading. When our clients are very focused on new issues, we believe it can crowd out some of their secondary trading activity on our platform. In summary, while there was considerable noise in the denominator used to calculate our estimated market share in April, we are now addressing the challenges of the new issue calendar with our new issue trading solution. Slide 7 summarizes the record levels of trading volume across our credit products and the strong growth in U.S. treasuries. We delivered double-digit growth in ADD across most credit products and U.S. treasuries and double-digit growth in variable transaction revenue. U.S. high-yield liquidity provision by our long-only clients increased almost 80% compared to last year. This increase in unique liquidity is delivering a greatly improved execution experience for our high-yield clients. Slide 8 highlights the record levels of trading volume and revenue we generated in our emerging markets franchise. Over the trailing 12 months, our EM franchise has generated $20 million in incremental revenue, representing 68% of total credit incremental variable commission revenue. This reflects the success we have had with our investments in the EM business. In the quarter, we expanded our EM global client network to a record 1,547 active client firms and 3,410 international active client traders. Total trading volumes were up 30% in the first quarter to record levels with record levels across both hard currency and local currency markets and across all regions. We grew our hard currency revenue with high fee per million by 15% and we grew our local markets revenue with lower fee per million by 56%. Total EM fee per million is down only 4% in part because of the mixed impact of the local markets fee per million which is over 40% lower than the hard currency business. Fee per million is simply an output that reflects the mix of business being executed while we are still focused on maximizing revenue. Slide 9 and 10 highlight how well we are executing our new initiatives across our three strategic channels, including record levels of credit automation trading model. On Slide 10, in the client-initiated channel, we continue to make strong progress with block trading globally. We generated 35% growth in ADD to a record $7 billion of block activity across U.S. credit, emerging markets and Eurobonds, with record block trading ADVs across all three products. Importantly, in U.S. high grade in March, dealer algos won 30% of block trades on the platform. In the portfolio trading channel, we generated a 51% increase in total global portfolio trading ADV to a record $1.9 billion. U.S. credit portfolio trading market share increased by 100 basis points year-over-year. In the dealer-initiated channel, we generated record levels of ADV with record Mid-X ADV as well. And in April, we delivered volumes of $6.7 billion, the second highest level of monthly activity. passed in our automation suite, we had another record quarter as clients continue to leverage automation even in more volatile periods. We saw $144 billion in automation volume helped with a sizable increase in adoption of our [ Adaptive ] Algo solution. Slide 11 shows the strong growth we have generated in U.S. credit blocks as well as the new protocols and workflow tools we are developing to attack this important segment of the market. We are starting to crack the block market, and now we have expanded the toolkit for clients to trade blocks. We are continuing to invest in block automation and targeted RFQ solutions, but we also recently launched targeted access, and we expect to launch our new issue block trading solution in the second half of 2026. Now let me turn the call over to Ilene to review our financial performance. Ilene Bieler: Thank you, Chris. Turning to our results. On Slide 13, we provide a summary of our first quarter financials. We delivered 12% revenue growth to a record $230 million, which included $5 million from our RFQ hub acquisition and a $3 million benefit from foreign currency translation. Growth in revenue outside U.S. credit was 20% in the quarter, reflecting strong contributions from our international product areas. We reported diluted earnings per share of $2.20 or $2.25 per share, excluding notable items, representing an increase of 20%. The benefit of our enhanced capital return program with the completed $300 million ASR flowed through in the quarter and was the key driver of the $0.12 benefit to EPS on a 6% reduction in share count. The $0.05 per share impact of notable items in the quarter consisted of approximately $1.5 million or $0.03 per share in repositioning charges in our expenses in the employee compensation and benefits line. And approximately $700,000 or $0.02 per share in other legal related notable items in the professional and consulting line. My comments on our results from this point forward will largely exclude the impact of notable items, only on a non-GAAP basis where applicable. Looking at each of our revenue lines in turn, record total commissions revenue increased $22 million or 12% to $203 million compared to the prior year, 50% or $11 million of the incremental commission revenue in the quarter was driven by emerging markets and eurobonds on record trading volumes in each area. Other commissions, which include FX, equities, derivatives and ETF activity, increased $5 million or 104% driven by the inclusion of RFQ hub commission revenue and higher trading volumes. Services revenue increased 10% to a record $30 million. Information Services revenue of a record $14 million increased 12%. Post-trade services revenue of $12 million increased 5% versus the prior year. Technology Services revenue of a record $4 million increased 19%, driven by higher connectivity fees from RFQ Hub. Total other income decreased approximately $5 million, driven by lower interest income on lower rates and increased interest expense related to borrowings for the ASR. For modeling purposes, please note that we received a onetime $3 million tax credit in the other net line, which is nonrecurring. The effective tax rate decreased to 25% from 27%, primarily due to higher tax credits, lower state tax accruals and reduced stock-based compensation shortfall. Slide 14 highlights our key performance indicators. As you can see from all the green on this slide, it was a very good quarter for us, and these strong KPIs underscores the strong revenue generation in the quarter. The investments that we have made to enhance our products and provide clients with new workflow tools and protocols gain traction and helped drive tangible outcomes in the quarter. While we are pleased with these results, U.S. credit market share continue to require attention and focus. On Slide 15, we provide more detail on our commission revenue and our fee capture. Record total credit commission revenue of $184 million increased 9% compared to the prior year. These record results were driven by 4% growth in both U.S. high-yield and U.S. high grade. 24% growth in emerging markets and 14% growth in Eurobond's total commission revenue. We are very pleased with the improvements in U.S. credit revenue generation in the quarter relative to recent historical trends. The reduction in total credit fee capture year-over-year was due to protocol and product mix shifts. Partially offset by the higher duration of bonds traded in U.S. high grade. The quarter-over-quarter reduction was due principally to product mix. On Slide 16, we provide a summary of our operating expenses. Excluding notable items, total expenses increased 8%, which included a headwind of $2 million due to the impact of foreign currency translation. The increase was driven principally by higher employee compensation costs and higher technology and communication costs as we continue to upgrade talent and invest in our technology modernization to drive future growth. We are continuing to invest while maintaining focus on cost discipline and operating efficiency. With our strong revenue generation, combined with our continued cost discipline, operating margin of 44% in the quarter increased almost 200 basis points, reflecting the inherent operating leverage in our model. Head count was 859, down 1% from both 870 in the prior year period and a 869 in the fourth quarter of 2025. On Slide 17, we provide an update on our capital management and cash flow. Our balance sheet and cash generation continues to be strong with cash, cash equivalents and corporate bond and U.S. treasury investments totaling $537 million as of March 31, 2026, compared to $679 million at the end of 2025. In the quarter, we paid out $52 million in annual incentive compensation. We paid down $63 million in borrowings on the credit facility related to the ASR and we paid out $27 million in dividends. After the quarter, we paid down an additional $20 million on the credit facility. So the drawn balance was $137 million at the end of April. And while it is not reflected in our cash flow in the quarter, we returned $60 million to investors through share repurchases with the completion of our $300 million ASR in early February. We generated $316 million in free cash flow in the first quarter on a trailing 12-month basis. As of April 30, 2026, $205 million remains on the Board's share repurchase authorization. Now let me turn the call back to Chris for his closing remarks. Christopher Concannon: Thanks, Ilene. In summary, on Slide 18, we are continuing to execute our long-term strategy. We significantly enhanced the MarketAxess advantage in the quarter. The growth profile of the company outside U.S. credit is strong, and we are pleased that we delivered higher levels of revenue growth in U.S. credit in the quarter. We continue to make strong progress with our new initiatives across our three strategic channels, including our new issue trading solution. We are increasingly leveraging AI to unlock more value from our proprietary data and analytics for our clients. And we are continuing to focus on expense discipline and optimizing capital deployment to maximize long-term shareholder value creation. Now we'd be happy to open the line for your questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Chris Allen of KBW. Your next question comes from the line of Dan Fannon of Jefferies. Daniel Fannon: Another really strong quarter out of your non-U.S. business. I wanted to talk about competition there and what you're doing to kind of maintain your moats or defend your -- defend that as competition picks up and kind of -- and also just talk more broadly about the momentum in that business as you think about your bonds as well as the app. Christopher Concannon: Obviously, we're quite excited about the progress in our international business and just to clarify our international business really are driven through our emerging market business as well as our Eurobond business. And so that's quite a strong quarter, not just in our U.S. credit business, but obviously, in our international business, emerging markets had record ADV, record volume in Q1, up 30%. And really records across our key initiatives, the block initiative is where we've seen a lot of progress across EM and Eurobond business. Our block business -- block volume in the euro markets in the EM markets was up 46%, and we also saw block volume up in the Eurobond business as well a record up 45%. So we're really driving those two international businesses both with traditional RFQ, where we're seeing a record volume in Q1, but also our key initiatives. Portfolio trading we saw in Eurobond market, up 90% and the dealer business as well, we had a record dealer business in the Eurobond business up 73%. So when you think about our key initiatives, block trading, the dealer initiative and our PT or portfolio trading initiative, they all experienced growth across our international businesses. And really, that's been the strategy for just over a year and attacking the key, what I call, flank of the key RFQ businesses using the new products and new protocols that give us extended growth. With regard to the EM business, we obviously have very little competition on the electronic trading side other than we see Bloomberg. Bloomberg is probably the only one in that space that we see as a competitor. In Eurobond business, it's obviously a Bloomberg and Tradeweb that we see as competition in the space. But largely, in the dealer-to-client business, our key franchise, we only see Bloomberg in that space really making a difference at all. So altogether, the international business saw a record quarter, record volumes, and it was really driven by the growth of our key initiatives. Again, block trading. We've launched all the block trading tools across EM and Eurobonds. Our portfolio trading tools have been rolled out across EM and Eurobonds. And then our dealer initiated, that's where we've seen the biggest pickup using our Mid-X trading solution across Europe and recently launched in emerging markets as well. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Chris Allen with KBW. Christopher Allen: Sorry about the tech issues. I wanted to dig a little bit deeper on the April commentary. I recognize the year-over-year headwinds were pretty material. But when you look at April relative to the first quarter months, we saw lower issuance and block activity that we can kind of track. So say, expectations, especially in U.S. investment grade or for stable to up share. Anything you could point to when you comp it versus the 1Q months besides tighter spreads, lower volatility that impacted share -- and more importantly, anything -- any catalysts ahead that could allow you to outperform the environment over the next few months or quarters? Christopher Concannon: Great. I'm glad we have you back, Chris. First, let me start. Just to put April in perspective, I really want to -- the set up is Q1, just as we step into April. I think it's important to take a quick look at Q1 because Q1 was really indicative of the progress we were making as we rounded out the end of 2025. Again, our key initiatives, the trends are quite consistent going through Q1. We grew block trading, as I mentioned, on the international business, but really in U.S., we saw block trading growing. We saw growing portfolio trading as well and then growing our dealer business as well. So those key initiatives across the quarter continued on trends that we were seeing as we ended 2025. We also obviously not only had a record quarter but we really -- we closed out the month of March with smashing records. And these -- we broke records across all products from U.S. credit to the international products even to equities and FX. And then at the end of March, we smashed our single-day trading record on the last day of March as we went into April. So all signs of phenomenal activity on the platform across all of our key channels and all of our key protocols throughout the quarter and as well as the month of March. As April started, we walked in right into a holiday week, if you recall, both religious holidays and the European holiday fell in that first week. And then right around April 8 was when we saw the seats fire announced given the geopolitical activity that we were experiencing in the month of March. We saw the VIX drop from plus 25 down to around 17 quite rapidly. So obviously, a quick slowdown in volatility. No, it's not unusual to see a month following what I'll call, excessive volatility, high turnover to have a material slowdown. And that's really what we saw in April, somewhat influenced by holidays, really, the slowdown that we saw in April was largely across all products. So it wasn't just U.S. credit that we saw the slowdown. Markets saw a slowdown across international products as well as treasuries or rates globally. So it was a consistent theme across the market. The other thing we noticed in April was a return to near historic spread tightening. Again, we saw this in -- certainly in January and February. So that was broken in March with the volatility. The other thing we saw was near record-breaking new issuance return, while March was record-breaking, April was the new issuance market in April was the second highest new issuance market for any April if you had April in 2025, it would have been the second highest new issue in all of 2025. So quite a robust new issue market. And really, that's what we really tried to show on the slides in our opening remarks was the market was largely turned its attention to that new issue market. Our clients, the client dealer side of the business certainly moved its attention to new issue particularly new issue blocks. We saw the new issue block market grow by 34% year-over-year in quite a heightened April market environment. It grew as high as 13% of the total block market. So it was a sizable percentage of the overall block market in April. And really, what we saw with clients moving all of their training attention coming off of the high volatility and high turnover of March, they moved all their attention to that new issue market. We saw a lot of what we call switches or swaps, where clients were trading the seasoned -- exchanging seasoned bonds of the same issuer for that new issue bonds. You typically would do that in block form directly with the dealer. So when we look at April, really not at all surprised or concerned with that 1-month slowdown. We've always said 1 month does not make the year, but we were also faced with what we call fairly robust new issue market. Now here's some good news and so some of the trends that you were asking about. We did see on month end, April 30, it was our fourth largest single-day trading record in history. So we did see a return of high activity at the month end. We also broke some high-yield PTs during the month of April. So we saw it was a high-yield PT record month for us. And then as you mentioned, it was obviously a very difficult comparison to April 2025 where we had -- we were dealing with the tariff tantrum and volatility and quite high turnover during April of 2025. The good news is also in May, while we're certainly early in May, we have seen a return to higher levels of activity, which is quite exciting across all channels. And then my most exciting piece, and we put it in the opening remarks is that we are addressing that new issue market. We have historically saw challenges during around new issue. We are addressing that new issue market with the launch of our direct books partnership, which we announced recently. And we are excitingly launching our new issue solution in -- as a pilot form in the month of May, near the end of May. So we're excited that we are finally addressing the new issue market head on. And we have a new product coming to market that we're quite excited about. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Michael Cyprys, Morgan Stanley. Michael Cyprys: I was hoping to dig in on the new issue trading solution that you're going to be bringing to the marketplace. I was hoping you could elaborate on how that is going to work. Key milestones that you're looking for, how you anticipate that contributing? And then maybe you could also touch upon the closing auction, just an update there in terms of traction and milestones as you look ahead, how you see that progressing and contributing. Christopher Concannon: Great. Thanks. Well, we're quite excited about our partnership with DirectBooks and what that brings to the market. If you look at the new issue market in 2026, it's over $800 billion has been run through the new issue market year-to-date. Current forecasts are close to $2 billion -- or sorry, $2 trillion of new issue in 2026. So we're expecting a pretty vibrant new issue market in 2026. For quite a long time, clients have been asking us to assist in the new issue market, particularly streamlining an integrated solution in that new shoe market. What we've really partnered with DirectBooks on is what's a great new issue solution. It's a brand-new offering that we'll be rolling out again in pilot form at the end of May. We've ring-fenced the solution. So it's a separate solution to traditional MarketAxess, all new UI, new technology. What's clear is that we're not part of the offering, just to be clear, we are really just providing clients with a streamlined access to DirectBooks services. All clients have access to this seamless kind of access to this integrated offering and clients have to opt into the offering. So it's not just available to anyone. Clients actually have to opt in and dealers have to approve each client for each offering. So it's well integrated into how the new issue market operates today. It does provide first part of the partnership with DirectBooks is largely around data sharing. So we are able to present to our clients have real-time access to the DirectBooks new issue calendar, status updates on new issue pricing information around that new issue and then ultimately, final pricing and final allocations. Our clients -- what's exciting for clients is within their current credit application, MarketAxess UI Clients can submit indications of interest to each deal being operated by the syndicate banks. Those indications of interest go direct to DirectBooks and really made available for the syndicate banks to run their normal deal process. We are able to receive confirmation of final allocations and coming in August, those allocations will be subject to really a seamless booking and straight-through processing to the client's back office, something clients have long complained about and asked for assistance in. So we can really be involved in the new issue process from start to finish. It also allows us to present a great deal of information around of the new issue market prior to the new issue pricing but more importantly, at pricing and after pricing. What's really exciting is what comes later in August and the second half of 2026, where we will be presenting clients with really after the break of a new issue, a streamlined single 2-way pricing a single click to trade solution for new issue trading. And this is an area that we have spent a lot of time on looking at what is the right protocol to attack the new issue market, but that where we see challenges around market share, it's right after the break of the new issue, and now we'll be able to have an offering in the second half rolled out. That allows us to trade directly on the break using access from dealers, streaming price and a click-to-trade solution. So super focused on that new issue trading. And again, it's piloting the partnership with DirectBooks pilots starts to pilot with one or one clients at the end of the day and we'll roll out during the month of May, June and the rest of the summer. The demand and the feedback from clients that have seen the solution and looked through the steps of the solution have been overwhelmingly positive. And obviously, the dealer community was quite supportive given their partnership and direct ownership of DirectBooks. So a very important partnership, a very exciting partnership and obviously, a very big step for MarketAxess to crack that new issue market, but also presenting clients with a solution that is quite seamless and quite simple for them to use in an aggregate way. Michael Cyprys: And on the closing auction, any update there? Christopher Concannon: Right. Sorry about that. On closing auction, again, we launched this late in the quarter -- about fourth quarter of 2025, really around December. Quite a great deal of excitement from some very large investor clients around bringing to market a new protocol where we can organize and aggregate liquidity at a single moment in time. As you look at the fixed income market, it's unlike most markets, liquidity in most markets, equities, futures options is what we call use shaped. Liquidity start of day is quite strong and you get increased liquidity at the end of day as well, a natural U-shaped curve of liquidity. Fixed income, we tend to see high levels of liquidity in the morning. And as the day progresses, levels of liquidity start to decrease near and around the end of the day, just given the risk of holding positions. This is designed to allow both clients and dealers to participate in a single auction where they can -- dealers can provide a sizable liquidity at different price points and clients can find liquidity in and around the close of the trading day. While we launched it at the end of the year, Unfortunately, during the quarter, with all the volatility, we made progress with clients in how to use the close, how to use the auction. We rolled out new order types. We've seen staged in our platform over $11 billion in auction orders. And then we saw submitted over $7 billion in notional orders into the auction. While the trading volume is still light, we've seen -- we continue to see about 12 active very large buy-side clients and then four active dealers participating in the auction as well. So more to come on the auction is a novel protocol that we've delivered into the market. But there's a huge and overwhelming application for an end-of-day liquidity solution, and that's really from the client feedback that we've heard that have engaged in the auction. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Simon Clinch of Rothchild & Co Redburn. Simon Alistair Clinch: I was wondering if you could expand on the success of your new initiatives in European and international markets. And just how to think about I guess the application of those in U.S. markets and what the differences are? It looks like the speed of the uptake there has been hugely positive in the international markets. But we just don't see the same level of penetration, at least initially in the U.S. So I was wondering if you could talk to that, please. Christopher Concannon: Sure. Number one, I think you have to look at where those markets, the international markets sit with regard to electronification. EM, in particular, still, we see, again, the notional volume of the total market is not clear. It's hard to estimate. But we do estimate we're still in early innings of electronification of the EM market. So much of our penetration in the market is organic growth of penetrating new clients, adopting electronic trading. The good news is we're using multiple protocols to engage those clients because each market -- each local market, in particular, is quite different in terms of the protocols that they gravitate to. But overall, the international market still has a great deal of growth given low levels of penetration. The good news about the different protocols that we're seeing expand on portfolio trading in EM, it's still early days relative to what we see in U.S. credit. So we think there's a lot more runway in portfolio trading. And we would expect to see more and more what we call global portfolio trades coming to market where you are trading not just the EM bond but across U.S. and European bonds as well. And we're set up and designed to allow for global portfolio trading. Where we're most excited, and we've seen a great deal of growth is our block trading solutions. We first launched our targeted RFQ into the EM markets. We thought it had great application given some of the local markets are truly rates markets. Our block trading in Q1 in EM smash records, it was up 46% year-over-year. It was up 11% quarter-over-quarter. So we're seeing organic -- a true organic growth of the block market really starting in the EM market. And that's, again, where we launched it first. The dealer business as well, remember, there's quite a sizable interdealer business or a dealer-to-dealer business in not only the Eurobond market and the U.S. credit market, but also in the interdealer market for emerging markets. That market for us was up 15%, largely driven by our dealer RFQ offering. So again, early innings on electronification of the EM market we're using, as I mentioned, the different key protocols that we've launched across all our markets. They're just -- I think the block market is most reflective of the success we're having in that EM market. And then there's one other protocol that we've had a great deal of success and it's been driving some of that block market share, and that's instead of request -- for request for market where you're really able to show more size from the client you don't reveal your direction. So clients are much more comfortable trading blocks in a request for market. And that protocol has been growing consistently year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter. So a number of different protocols, but really, we're just seeing some of the early launch protocols like our box solution growing really outpacing some of the growth in EM than we see in other products. Simon Alistair Clinch: And just -- when I think about the U.S. application of these initiatives then. I mean if I look at the share gains you had sort of last year on a trading 4-quarter basis, it really sort of accelerated across all the initiatives. And then it's really started to segment income down. I just wondered what's the color around that? I mean is this -- do we just need to wait for these new products to be launched to gain more traction again? Or has there been something else at play here? Christopher Concannon: Sure. Well, one, I think if you look at the first quarter, and our record volume across U.S. credit. It was driven by some of these new initiatives. So our block trading activity high grade. We saw a record up 31%. And then our PT volume was also up 35%. So some of the protocols that we've seen success in our international markets, and we've launched here in the U.S. While it's still early days in that protocol and the breadth of that protocol being adopted by clients, we're still seeing heightened growth across those protocols. I think the one protocol that was newly launched in the U.S. is Mid-X. Mid-X is our dealer solution. It was launched earlier in Europe and EM. But we have been seeing growth in Mid-X and U.S. credit. Year-to-date, it's traded over $16 billion in volume, and we're seeing high participations from dealers. We have over unique dealers participating on a regular basis and a number of traders as well. And certainly, that's the one protocol that's still, I'd say, early days in U.S. credit. Ilene Bieler: Just one other thing I would add is, you'll recall that in the fourth quarter, we talked about the significant amount of activity we were seeing in portfolio trading in high-yield. In the first quarter, that also continued with our PP high-yield ADV up about 78%. So we are seeing, as Chris said, some of these same protocols that are doing quite well in the international markets, taking hold here as well. And there's -- obviously, we're looking to see more to come. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Alex Blostein of Golden Sachs. Aditya Sharma: This is actually Aditya filling in for Alex this morning. So Chris, we heard you in the prepared remarks on how you look to leverage AI to deliver unique data and analytics. Could you just help expand that a bit more on the opportunities that you see? What's reachable, the next steps from your -- and I guess, importantly, how would this create a structural advantage for market access that competitors cannot replicate. Christopher Concannon: Great. Great question. And obviously, an area that we've been spending a lot of time on. I think everybody has been spending a lot of time on. This is one that I'm super excited really for our position in the market when it comes to data. And there's really three reasons why I'm so excited about the data opportunity. One, we have the best source data in fixed income. When you think about the breadth of our product the protocols that we use, RFQ is a phenomenal source of data because you have both the inquiry from clients around the planet as well as the response from both dealers, alternative dealers, hedge funds and clients now. So the data source that we have is the raw data and very important. The other key ingredient is we have not sold what I call the good data. We have sold things like CP+. We have sold Access All. There's really good data underlying the platform. And we've been for now several years on these calls saying we will not sell all our data. It's too important to the execution solutions that we are building. The other reason why I'm excited is because we also protect the data that we sold. We have very tight restrictions, derived right restrictions as well as AI use restrictions on the data sources that we are selling. So we feel like we're in a very good position to take advantage of the footprint of data we have. So also the other opportunity that we have is we've been investing heavily in AI when it comes to our date for a number of years. It's not a new topic for us when it comes to data and data products. So within the use of AI to produce data or produce product, I'll be more clear. We have AI-derived real-time data called CP+. We've had it for quite a number of years. It is now across all products. and certainly well regarded in the market, certainly viewed as real-time benchmark for trading U.S. credit, and we've been getting awards with that product as well. We are now able to predict using AI real-time block pricing based on your direction, sell or buy. We are predicting using AI liquidity levels in the market. We were also using AI, leveraging AI to predict what we call counterparty selection or dealer selection as well. And then obviously, one of my favorite use of AI is being able to predict when it is advantageous to provide liquidity. This is a very important component. It's one of the drivers behind our algo solution, which is the theory that clients who have historically crossed spread for most of their fixed income experience may present with the opportunity to avoid crossing spread. And we are now leveraging AI to actually help with predicting when is that beneficial for you to have patience and wait. So again, AI from a product and execution solution is really what's the most exciting part of our day. We are also, just to be clear, piloting a new AI solution with some of our clients. And the areas of exploration that's super exciting for us is, first, AI-derived real-time market intelligence. As I mentioned, our market footprint is quite broad. So we see the markets from the start of APAC through the trading hours of Europe into the U.S. hours, and we were able to leverage AI to look at the market intelligence know what kind of direction certain sectors are experiencing volumes, volatility, spread volatility, all of the market intelligence can be derived leveraging AI sitting on top of our -- quite broad source data. The second area of exploration where we have dabbled already is what we call portfolio optimization. Given the market intelligence that we have, given the levels of liquidity that we see in the market, AI is a wonderful tool in interpreting selection of underlying bonds when building a portfolio. And then the last area of exploration is really -- and one that we hear from our clients the most is leveraging AI to help us suggest protocols. There are times when a portfolio trade is an optimal way to trade a list of bonds. There's times when going direct to a single dealer for a large block is the right protocol for that bond. So using AI to actually suggest protocol selection is a key ingredient to some of the areas of exploration. Now the other area of AI, I think, which is store exciting for us, it's certainly in the way we're leveraging AI in our technology footprint. If you look at MarketAxess for the first 20 years of our history, there's probably a large underinvestment in modern tech. We have been, over the last number of years, making sizable tech modernization investment and we've been doing that both organically and inorganically. If you recall, our acquisition of Pragma was really a tech modernization acquisition. We are now leveraging that technology and things like auctions and our automation suite. What AI is doing for us today is what's most exciting. We're now accelerating that tech modernization, including our core trading stack. We're currently actively engaged in AI solutions that can look at refactoring our legacy code. This is an exciting component that a number of people have deployed in the market space that we're in, where they can refactor legacy code. We're also seeing AI can increase our time to market on new capabilities and new functionality. So we're expanding our use of AI across our engineering footprint. All our developers have access to all the latest and top models and that is slowly having an impact on how fast we move. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, we brought in our CTO, Will Quan, he has both cloud and AI experience. So that alone has accelerated our deployment of AI, and it's quite exciting. UI design is another area where we see AI development accelerating what clients can have in front of their desktop and how quickly we can turn around those UI designs. The last point on AI, I'll make, and it's really around the M&A space that I foresee. I think AI is going to change the M&A landscape. Most of my career was -- I was involved in M&A that was -- you typically would see sizable tax synergies in M&A and some M&A was really designed either. I either had acquisitions that we were doing that were tech accretive, where technology synergies were one of the drivers of the M&A or I had companies that were acquired because of tax synergies where, again, technology synergies were a big component in the synergy analysis of the acquisition. AI is effectively reducing the value of tech synergies when it comes to M&A. AI has the ability to, in a faster way, refactor, older technology. So it's really changing the math of deals when you actually look at what AI is capable of making some deals less attractive because they're less synergy accretive. And that's an important thing. The other important thing is really to recognize and think about the MarketAxess over 25 years of sales effort and network effect. AI does not sell and distribute services. AI can't build client networks, it can't do KYC onboarding, but they can do KYC work, but it does not onboard thousands of clients. It doesn't take clients to dinner, and it doesn't make source data. So what really becomes valuable in this world of AI when it comes to M&A is companies that have golden source data and companies that have broad networks. And I do think AI, not only is it changing our product set, but it's also changing how fast we can deliver product. And ultimately, it changes the value of the data that we sit on and are mining today. So sorry for the long-winded answer, but it's really reflective of the excitement that we have and the advantages that AI give us. Operator: There are no further questions at this time. With that, I will now turn the call back over to Chris Concannon for final closing remarks. Please go ahead. Christopher Concannon: Great. Thanks a lot. Thanks for joining us today, and thanks for listening to my long-winded answer on AI. We're excited to talk to you in the next quarter to give you an update on the progress we're making. Thank you. Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's call. We thank you for participating. You may now disconnect your lines. Before you buy stock in MarketAxess, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and MarketAxess wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $463,900!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,294,401!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 978% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 1, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. MarketAxess (MKTX) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Make better investment decisions with Simply Wall St's easy, visual tools that give you a competitive edge. MarketAxess Holdings (MKTX) is back on investors’ radar after first quarter 2026 earnings, with management pointing to stronger activity in non U.S. credit products, supported by expanded client networks and AI driven trading tools. See our latest analysis for MarketAxess Holdings. Despite the earnings beat and fresh buyback activity, MarketAxess’s 30 day share price return is down 16.05% and the year to date share price return is down 20.54%, while the 1 year total shareholder return is down 35.25%. This points to pressure that contrasts with the recent operational updates and shareholder friendly actions. If you are weighing MarketAxess against other opportunities in electronic trading, this could be a good moment to see what else is moving and uncover 19 top founder-led companies With earnings ahead of expectations, active buybacks and a share price that has fallen sharply over 1, 3 and 5 years, the key question now is whether MarketAxess is trading at a discount or whether markets already expect stronger growth. Compared with the last close at $141.87, the most followed narrative anchors fair value at $195.45, framing today’s pullback against a higher long term earnings path. Read the complete narrative. Curious what kind of revenue profile and profit margins would justify that higher fair value, especially with competition and fees under pressure? The narrative leans heavily on specific growth rates, fatter margins, and a future earnings multiple that has to line up for the math to work. Result: Fair Value of $195.45 (UNDERVALUED) Have a read of the narrative in full and understand what's behind the forecasts. However, the narrative could be challenged if fee pressure from competitors intensifies, or if large bond trades continue to stay off electronic platforms longer than expected. Find out about the key risks to this MarketAxess Holdings narrative. With sentiment clearly mixed, this is a moment to move quickly and test the assumptions yourself. Start with a closer look at the 5 key rewards. If you are serious about sharpening your portfolio, do not stop at one stock. Use the Simply Wall Street screener to quickly spot other opportunities that fit your style. Zero in on quality at a discount by checking stocks that screen as strong candidates on value and fundamentals through the 54 high quality undervalued stocks. Strengthen your income stream by reviewing companies that meet the yield and stability filters in the 12 dividend fortresses. Protect your downside by scanning companies that stand out for resilience and lower risk using the 66 resilient stocks with low risk scores. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include MKTX. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected]

MarketAxess delivered first quarter results that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations, with management attributing the outperformance to strong execution of its long-term strategy and continued momentum in non-U.S. product areas. CEO Christopher Concannon highlighted that product areas outside U.S. credit grew by 20%, while emerging markets and Eurobonds benefited from record trading volumes and expanded client networks. Concannon pointed to the rollout of enhanced front-end solutions and advancements in AI-driven analytics as key factors supporting improved execution and client engagement, noting, “Momentum continued to build with our new initiatives and generated approximately 50% of total incremental revenue in the quarter.” Is now the time to buy MKTX? Find out in our full research report (it’s free). Revenue: $233.4 million vs analyst estimates of $231.9 million (11.9% year-on-year growth, 0.6% beat) Adjusted EPS: $2.25 vs analyst estimates of $2.15 (4.4% beat) Adjusted EBITDA: $123.8 million vs analyst estimates of $119.8 million (53.1% margin, 3.3% beat) Operating Margin: 43.9%, up from 42.4% in the same quarter last year Market Capitalization: $4.95 billion While we enjoy listening to the management's commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls are the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention. Daniel Fannon (Jefferies) asked about sustaining momentum in international markets amid rising competition. CEO Christopher Concannon said emerging markets and Eurobonds are benefiting from early-stage electronification and diverse protocol offerings, with Bloomberg as the main competitor in the electronic space. Chris Allen (KBW) pressed for details on April’s trading slowdown and catalysts for future outperformance. Concannon attributed the dip to holiday timing, reduced volatility, and a surge in new issuance but highlighted a return to high activity by month-end and the upcoming new issue trading product as a future catalyst. Michael Cyprys (Morgan Stanley) probed the mechanics and milestones of the new issue trading solution and its integration with DirectBooks. Concannon described a phased rollout beginning in May, emphasizing client opt-in, dealer approvals, and straight-through processing improvements. Simon Clinch (Rothchild & Co Redburn) questioned why new protocols have higher penetration in international markets than in the U.S. Concannon and CFO Ilene Bieler explained that international markets are less electronically mature, offering more organic growth, while U.S. adoption is progressing but remains in early phases for some protocols. Aditya Sharma (Goldman Sachs) asked about the structural AI advantage and its impact on the business. Concannon highlighted MarketAxess’s proprietary data, investment in AI-driven features, and data protection policies as providing a unique competitive edge. In the coming quarters, the StockStory team will be monitoring (1) the effectiveness and client adoption of the new issue trading solution with DirectBooks, (2) ongoing expansion of automation and portfolio trading protocols across U.S. and international markets, and (3) the measurable impact of AI-powered analytics on client trading outcomes. Progress in technology modernization and further penetration in emerging markets will also be important signposts. MarketAxess currently trades at $139.95, down from $148.84 just before the earnings. Is there an opportunity in the stock?See for yourself in our full research report (it’s free for active Edge members). ONE MORE THING: Top 6 Stocks for This Week. This market is separating quality stocks from expensive ones fast. AI taking down whole sectors with no warning. In a rotation this fast, you need more than a list of good companies. Our AI system flagged Palantir before it ran 1,662%. AppLovin before it ran 753%. Nvidia before it ran 1,178%. Each week it produces 6 new names that pass the same tests. Get Our Top 6 Stocks for Free HERE. Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+782% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.