VIRT

PRA Group, Inc. PRAA delivered second-quarter 2026 earnings per share of $1.51, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 52 cents. The bottom line increased 39.8% year over year. Total revenues were $372.2 million, beating the consensus mark of $313 million and rising 29.4% year over year. The strong quarterly results benefited from stronger cash generation across geographies, aided by continued strength in the U.S. legal and digital collections channel and solid performance in Europe. Strong portfolio income also contributed to the upside, partly offset by an elevated expense level. PRA Group, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | PRA Group, Inc. Quote PRAA’s net income of $58.9 million increased 28.9% year over year. Other revenues came in at $7.5 million, which soared 115.2% year over year. PRAA’s cash collections increased to $558.5 million, up 14% from the prior-year quarter, supported by continued momentum in U.S. legal and digital collections as well as strength in Europe. The metric came in lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $561.9 million. The cash efficiency ratio was 61%. By region, U.S. Core cash collections totaled $269.7 million, while Europe Core collections were $200.4 million. The company also generated $49.4 million of collections from other markets, reflecting its diversified footprint. PRA Group’s portfolio income increased 7% year over year to $267.8 million, which management attributed to strong recent purchases at improved returns. Changes in expected recoveries contributed meaningfully as well, totaling $96.9 million in the quarter. Total portfolio revenues rose to $364.7 million compared with $284.2 million a year ago. PRAA’s operating expenses rose $16.3 million year over year to $218.9 million. The largest driver was a rise in legal collection costs, which management tied to investments intended to support future cash collections growth. Offsetting some pressure, compensation and benefits declined $5 million, driven by reductions in workforce and implementation of other cost actions. Communication expense also decreased $2 million as the company used more cost-efficient collection strategies. PRA Group purchased $296.6 million of nonperforming loan portfolios in the quarter, down 14.4% year over year, with purchases spanning the United States, Europe and other markets. Management emphasized an approach focused on higher net returns while balancing investments and leverage. Estimated remaining collections were $8.9 billion at quarter-end, up 7% year over year. The company also disclosed forward flow commitments of $219 million over the next 12 months, led by Europe and the United States. PRA Group exited the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $132.4 million, which rose 26.8% from the figure at 2025-end. Total assets of $5.2 billion increased 2.7% from the 2025-end level. Borrowings were $3.8 billion, up 1.7% from the figure as of Dec. 31, 2025. Total equity of $1.1 billion grew 7% from the figure at the end of 2025. PRAA ended the quarter with total availability under its credit facilities of $998 million, including $733 million tied to current ERC (and subject to covenants) plus $265 million of additional availability subject to borrowing base and debt covenants. Management reiterated its intent to keep investing with discipline while targeting net leverage in the mid-2x EBITDA range over the next few years. The company also repurchased $10 million of shares during the quarter as part of its capital allocation toolkit. PRAA currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). 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: Synchrony Financial SYF, Virtu Financial, Inc. VIRT and American Express Company AXP. Here's how they have performed: Synchrony reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.59, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 24.5%. The bottom line increased 3.6% year over year. Net interest income increased 1.9% year over year to $4.6 billion. SYF’s quarterly results were driven by record purchase volume, accelerated growth in ending loan receivables despite elevated payment behavior, continued credit strength and an expansion in net interest margin. However, higher operating expenses and an increase in the provision for credit losses partly offset these positives. Virtu Financial reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.82, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8.3%. The bottom line increased 19% year over year. Adjusted Net Trading Income rose 26.4% year over year to $717.9 million. VIRT’s quarterly results were driven by higher commissions and technology services revenues, increased interest and dividend income, and solid Market Making performance. However, higher operating expenses partially offset these gains. American Express reported second-quarter 2026 earnings per share (EPS) of $4.53, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.7%. The bottom line advanced 11% year over year. Total revenues, net of interest expense, improved 10% year over year to $19.6 billion. AXP’s quarterly results were driven by increased Card Member spending, higher net interest income and improved card fee growth. However, the upside was partly offset by elevated operating expenses. 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 PRA Group, Inc. (PRAA) : Free Stock Analysis Report American Express Company (AXP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Synchrony Financial (SYF) : Free Stock Analysis Report Virtu Financial, Inc. (VIRT) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, July 30, 2026 at 4:00 a.m. ET Chief Executive Officer - Aaron Simons Chief Financial Officer - Cindy Lee Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer - Joe Molluso Head of IR - Matthew Sandberg Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [email protected] Operator: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Virtu Financial Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. I will now hand the conference over to Matthew Sandberg, Head of IR. Matthew, please go ahead. Matthew Sandberg: Thank you. Good morning. Our second quarter 2026 results were released this morning and are available on our website. With us today on this morning's call, we have Aaron Simons, our Chief Executive Officer; Cindy Lee, our Chief Financial Officer; and Joe Molluso, our Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer. We will begin with brief prepared remarks and then take your questions. First, a few reminders. Today's call may include forward-looking statements, which represent Virtu's current belief regarding future events and are, therefore, subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties, which may be outside the company's control. Please note that our actual results and financial conditions may differ materially from what is indicated in these forward-looking statements. It is important to note that any forward-looking statements made on this call are based on information presently available to the company, and we do not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements as new information becomes available. We refer you to disclaimers in our press release and encourage you to review the description of risk factors contained in our annual report, Form 10-K and other public filings. During today's call, in addition to GAAP measures, we may refer to certain non-GAAP measures, including adjusted net trading income, adjusted net income, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin. These non-GAAP measures should be considered as supplemental to and not as superior to financial measures as reported in accordance with GAAP. We direct listeners to consult the Investor portion of our website, where you'll find additional supplemental information referred to on this call as well as a reconciliation to non-GAAP measure -- of non-GAAP measures to the equivalent GAAP term in the earnings materials with an explanation of why we deem this information to be meaningful as well as how management uses these measures. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Aaron. Aaron Simons: Thank you, and good morning. A year ago, we announced our plans to pivot towards growth, including investing in infrastructure, acquiring talent and growing our capital base. I'm happy to report substantial progress in that direction. We have made investments in power and compute and have begun to establish select partnerships via investment. Our talent acquisition efforts are proceeding as planned. We are reestablishing our reputation as a firm run by technologists and traders. And as a result, attrition rates are at multiyear lows. Following our recent opportunistic term loan increase as well as 12 months of retained earnings, our total trading capital stands at $3.4 billion, up from $2 billion a year ago. We continue to find new ways to leverage our technology to productively deploy our growing pool of capital across all markets, and we'll continue accumulating trading capital for future growth through free cash flow. We have provided additional perspective on the quarter in our detailed financial supplement, and we'll be answering your questions shortly. First, Cindy Lee, our Chief Financial Officer, will review the financial results for the quarter. Cindy Lee: Thanks, Aaron, and good morning, everyone. For the second quarter of 2026, we generated adjusted net trading income or ANT of $11.6 million per day or a total of $718 million per day. Market Making reported ANT of $9.4 million per day, while Execution Services reported an ANT of $2.2 million per day. Both of our operating segments continue to benefit from favorable market conditions and strong execution by our teams. Our profitability this quarter was robust. We generated $437 million in adjusted EBITDA, representing a 61% margin. Adjusted EPS was $1.82. Over the last 12 months, we have recorded ANT per day of $10.4 million, adjusted EBITDA of $1.7 billion and adjusted EPS of $6.96. All of these numbers represent all-time highs for Virtu from a trailing 12-month perspective. On Slide 6 of our supplemental materials, we provided a summary of our operating expenses. Through June 30, our cash compensation ratio is 23% of our total -- and our total compensation ratio is 28%. Again, these are the levels that we have stated would be appropriate in the near term. Turning to capital. Our invested capital stands at $2.9 billion as of June 30, while generating an average return of 106% over the past year. As Aaron mentioned, we upsized term loan in early July, raising an incremental of $500 million in debt. Our trailing debt-to-EBITDA ratio is 1.5x. So we remain modestly leveraged. We will continue to grow our capital base organically and deploy capital where we see the greatest opportunities, all while maintaining our quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share. We will now take your questions. Thank you. Operator: Your first question comes from the line of Patrick Moley with Piper Sandler. Patrick Moley: So I just had one on the trading capital build, invested capital up $270 million this quarter. You added the $500 million term loan. Just curious, how aggressive could you be from here with the trading capital build? Is this a onetime step up? Or should we expect the growth to kind of continue at this pace? And then if you could just maybe speak to how quickly you could look to deploy the proceeds from the term loan and when we should expect that to show up in the financials? Joseph Molluso: Sure. Patrick, it's Joe. I'll take that question, and then Aaron and Cindy will add anything I leave out. But I think the answer is we've guided previously that we've got a long-term goal of net trading income, and we need to sort of fit capital within that. And that will come from 2 sources in the long term. One is the appropriate amount of leverage and the other is organically through free cash flow generation. And in the debt markets and the leveraged loan markets and the high-yield markets, you raise money when you can, right, not when you have to, and we did that. We had a terrific opportunity to add on to our term loan at the current spread levels. The pricing was very tight. It was a great execution. We were able to do it with a minimum of effort and at an attractive price, and our deal was very oversubscribed. So we're happy with it. But the overall leverage level, I think in the near term here, maybe near to midterm, we're set. And I think further accumulation will come from free cash flow generation, as Aaron mentioned in his opening remarks, right? And that will be the primary means. In terms of deploying the capital, I think the returns speak for themselves. There's active deployment and active opportunities given the markets and the continued levels of volumes and volatility and just opportunity that we're seeing. And in fact, we have been making use of our -- some of our short-term liquidity to capture these opportunities, and now we sort of go back to normal with this level of capital. So it is deployed. We do have opportunities and long term -- sorry, near to medium term, this level of debt is sustainable, and we're happy where we are. Patrick Moley: Okay. Great. And then as a follow-up, just on the cash compensation ratio came in around 25%. It's up a little bit on a year-over-year basis from closer to the 20% level. I know Cindy said that, that 25%, I think, was what we should expect in the near term. But just as we think longer term and as we model the business out over the next couple of years, is there anything more episodic in the near term that's going to keep it around that 25% level? Or is that just sort of the new norm and that's how we should think about the level of comp going forward? And then maybe as a second part to that, just if we do get a down quarter, can you give us any sense of how much we should think about that comp ratio kind of flexing in a weaker environment? Joseph Molluso: Well. I think we've hired lots of real talent. Again, as Aaron mentioned, we're a little more tolerant of an investment period. Saying all that, we've guided to low to mid-20s compensation ratio on a cash basis, which I think for a business like ours is market and very reasonable. And sure, notionally, given the size of the P&L this year, the notional numbers look big. And it's always been our practice to take a top-down approach early in the year and then sharpen our pencil later in the year. But I think that guidance remains around -- and I'm looking more at the year-to-date ratio than the second quarter ratio because we do try to true up our accruals and get them right heading towards year-end. So I look at the 23%. We guided mid -- low to mid-20s and 23% is pretty -- low to mid-20s. So... Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Dan Fannon with Jefferies. Daniel Fannon: So I was hoping to just expand a bit upon just kind of the current environment. Obviously, you've talked about the capital that's being deployed in the business, but maybe discuss the opportunity set as 2Q kind of progressed and as you sit here in July, maybe some of the asset classes or markets that are generating higher levels of return or more interest or attractive in this current environment? Joseph Molluso: Sure. Thanks, Dan. It's Joe again. I think the growth markets that we used to refer to and call out have continued to grow. So crypto and options and block ETF. But I think the emphasis, again, through hiring, through accessing markets, through the growth of capital has been pretty global and pretty widespread. And that is what we wanted and what Aaron's referred to for the past year. So global equities, retail and prop were standouts this quarter, right? Of course, the operating environment is one of the primary determinants of how we do, but it's also notable, I think that we've improved qualitatively. I think if you repeated this environment 2 years ago or more, then we wouldn't have done as well. So -- and I'd mentioned VES as well. VES kind of reaching a level that's been consistently above $2 million a day for 3 quarters in a row is something we don't talk about a lot, but that consistency has been a contributing factor, and that's a very good business that's coming into its own. Daniel Fannon: Okay. And then just as a follow-up, you mentioned the hiring. And can you just talk to where you think you are in that process? Is that -- is there a time frame to think about in terms of getting to where you want to be in terms of the talent? And then you also mentioned low attrition. I don't remember you guys ever referring to attrition. So any numbers or things you could put around maybe what's happening today versus a year ago or any context would be helpful. Aaron Simons: This is Aaron. I'll answer that. We don't have like a headcount target in mind. And at this point, it's really more just we're kind of hiring as fast as we can in all key areas like quants, researchers, traders and especially engineers, developers. And I think we're just going to kind of continue on that pace until we feel like we don't have too much work for the number of people that we have. And I mean, it's very hard for me to say because we always discover new things that we want to do. But I would say, at least for the next couple of years, you can expect us to be hiring pretty aggressively. I think in terms of the attrition, it's not that we were like targeting again certain numbers, but it's more just kind of trying to highlight that there's been an overall culture shift, and I think it's been recognized by the employee base and also just by the available talent pool and reflected in the interest that we're seeing. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Ken Worthington with JPMorgan. Kenneth Worthington: So you're building capital, you're hiring more trading talent. Can you maybe help us understand which of the asset classes and the products that you're focusing these incremental resources towards? Is it completely broad-based? Or are you really focusing it on some particular areas, geographies or products or asset classes? Aaron Simons: Sure. I'll answer. I mean I think Joe sort of said this in the previous question, but it's really broad-based. I mean, of course, it's not going to be dollar for dollar equal everywhere. There are some that in any given quarter, take more capital or less capital. And as we've kind of highlighted on other calls, the structure of the company, the flat structure, the way we make decisions, capital can move around opportunistically extremely quickly. So even if I had a plan, it would change tomorrow. But there's really a number of areas across the firm over the last year have seen sustained increases in deployable trading capital. Kenneth Worthington: Okay. And then can you talk about the jump in the brokerage and transaction costs? Maybe how did the mix change versus the last maybe 2 quarters to drive the bigger jump in the brokerage and transaction cost this quarter? Joseph Molluso: That's going to really depend on business mix. It could depend on geographic mix. It could depend on timing of expenses. So I wouldn't really read too much into it. I'd look long term. I don't know, Cindy, is there anything to add? Cindy Lee: Yes. No. I mean it's just -- as Joe was saying, right, it kind of really depends on the type of instrument. So that's why in kind of our disclosure, we try to guide people to not focus on just one line item on the income statement. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Michael Cyprys with Morgan Stanley. Michael Cyprys: Just wanted to ask on perpetual futures. There's obviously been a lot of discussion around scope for regulated perpetual futures of late. Just curious as you think about that market potentially developing in the U.S., is that ultimately a new revenue opportunity for firms like Virtu? Or is it simply shifting volume from existing products? Just curious how you think about that. Aaron Simons: Sure. Thanks for the question. So I mean, I don't think we think we can predict where volumes are going to go. It does seem historically that when there's been new ways to trade things and new sources of fragmentation that generally volumes go up. And certainly, in the short term, it seems like that has happened and exactly where it shakes out, we don't know. But our attitude is always just be connected to everything that trades electronically everywhere we can and stand ready to be able to price and shift liquidity around in the market. And it's been great for us so far, and we're going to continue to be there as it grows. Michael Cyprys: And also just curious to get your perspective on the appeal that you see for customers with perpetual futures. Just curious how much interest appetite you see from customers for that sort of product. What is it that appeals in your view that you think is most compelling? I mean, overseas, it seems like it's the high leverage and the 24/7 access as that comes to the U.S. Curious what you think might appeal? What might be the appetite from institutions? And what might be the scope for the perpetual product to evolve over time, maybe to address some of the perceived shortcomings in some pockets? Joseph Molluso: When you say a customer appeal, are you talking retail? I wasn't following. Michael Cyprys: All of the above. Joseph Molluso: All of the above. Look [indiscernible] Sure. Virtu Execution Services has institutional customers. There's not a big demand right now. And I think as you know, we don't have direct retail customers. We're a wholesaler for a number of hundreds of retail brokers. And Mike, I think I'd refer to Aaron's previous answer, right? We will be there to trade these products as they evolve. I don't actually recognize them. We don't think of them as a new asset class. It is the evolution of lots of existing asset classes. So if there are novel ways that customers want to trade and hedge and use these products, we will be there, as Aaron said, to price them and to trade them, right? So and we generally don't take a view as to if something is a better product or a worse product or something that we'd like to see more or less of. We try to be agnostic and just trade it as it becomes tradable and liquid and something that we can offer our services around. Operator: There are no further questions at this time. This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect. 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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. Virtu Financial (VIRT) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Virtu Financial, Inc. VIRT reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.82, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8.3%. The bottom line increased 19% year over year. Adjusted Net Trading Income rose 26.4% year over year to $717.9 million, surpassing the consensus estimate by 8.4%. The strong quarterly results were driven by higher commissions and technology services revenues, increased interest and dividend income, and solid Market Making performance. However, higher operating expenses partially offset these gains. Virtu Financial, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Virtu Financial, Inc. Quote Revenues from commissions, net and technology services rose 16.7% year over year to $179.5 million. The metric beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate and our model estimate of $177.9 million. Interest and dividend income increased 13.6% year over year to $145.9 million, beating both the Zacks Consensus Estimate and our estimate of $134.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased 18.2% year over year to $436.8 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased year over year to 60.8% from 65.1% a year ago. Total operating expenses rose 29.9% year over year to $847.4 million, exceeding our estimate of $633.7 million. The increase was due to higher costs related to brokerage, exchange, clearance fees and payments for order flow, net, communication and data processing, interest and dividends expense and employee compensation and payroll taxes. Market Making: Adjusted net trading income totaled $579.9 million in the second quarter, climbing 28.4% year over year. The metric surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $517 million. The unit’s revenues increased 28.3% year over year to $1 billion, beating both the Zacks Consensus Estimate and our estimate of $708.2 million. Execution Services: The unit recorded adjusted net trading income of $138 million in the quarter under review, representing an increase of 18.7% year over year. The metric missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $145 million and our estimate of $139.8 million. The unit’s total revenues declined 19.1% year over year to $173.5 million, missing both the consensus estimate and our estimate of $177.2 million. Virtu Financial ended the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $1.1 billion, up 0.7% from the 2025-end level. Total assets of $27.5 billion increased 36.4% from the 2025-end level. Long-term borrowings, net, amounted to $2 billion, down 0.7% from the figure as of Dec. 31, 2025. Short-term borrowings totaled $353.9 million. Total equity of $2.3 billion was up from the 2025-end level of $2 billion. Virtu Financial did not buy back shares in the second quarter of 2026. It announced a quarterly cash dividend of 24 cents per share, payable on Sept. 15, 2026, to its shareholders of record as of Sept. 1, 2026. Virtu Financial currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Several companies in the Finance space, including Aon plc AON, RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. RNR and AMERISAFE, Inc. AMSF, have already reported their financial results for the June quarter of 2026. Here’s how they have performed: 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. Aon’s total revenues of $4.2 billion grew 2% year over year.  The top line missed the consensus mark by 0.4%. Organic revenue growth was 5%. The 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. 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.  RNR’s total operating revenues declined 6.7% year over year to $2.64 billion. The top line missed the consensus mark by 1%. The quarterly earnings benefited from lower expenses, higher net investment income and an improved total combined ratio. However, the upside was partly offset by lower net premiums earned, weaker underwriting results in the Casualty & Specialty segment and lower fee income. AMERISAFE reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 44 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 17%. The bottom line declined 17% year over year.  Operating revenues increased 10.3% year over year to $83.95 million and topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1%. AMERISAFE’s quarterly results were affected by higher expenses and weaker underwriting margins, with additional pressure from lower investment income. Strong premium growth partly offset these headwinds. 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 Virtu Financial, Inc. (VIRT) : Free Stock Analysis Report RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (RNR) : Free Stock Analysis Report AMERISAFE, Inc. (AMSF) : Free Stock Analysis Report Aon plc (AON) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Find your next quality investment with Simply Wall St's easy and powerful screener, trusted by over 7 million individual investors worldwide. Virtu Financial (VIRT) is back in the spotlight after its board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.24 per share, alongside record highs in several key profitability measures. The dividend is scheduled for payment on September 15, 2026 to shareholders of record as of September 1, 2026. This affirmation follows Virtu Financial reporting all time highs in trailing 12 month adjusted net trading income, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted earnings per share, while also exceeding Wall Street estimates for both revenue and earnings. See our latest analysis for Virtu Financial. At a share price of US$58.73, Virtu Financial has seen short term momentum cool, with the 30 day share price return down 4.86%. However, the 90 day share price return of 22.05% and 3 year total shareholder return of 243.37% indicate that investors who stayed invested have seen strong compounding over time. If strong recent results have you looking beyond Virtu Financial, this is a useful moment to see what other opportunities are emerging through 18 top founder-led companies After record profitability, a higher share price and a fresh term loan on the balance sheet, Virtu Financial now sits at a very different starting point. Does the current valuation still leave enough upside to justify the risk? At a last close of $58.73 against a narrative fair value of $64.00, Virtu Financial is framed as modestly undervalued, with analysts anchoring that view on specific trading and market structure trends. Read the complete narrative. Want to see what sits behind that fair value for Virtu Financial? The narrative leans heavily on how revenues, margins and trading activity intersect over the next few years. The core question is how much profit power those trends can support and what multiple the market might be willing to pay. Result: Fair Value of $64 (UNDERVALUED) Have a read of the narrative in full and understand what's behind the forecasts. However, the Virtu Financial narrative also depends on how competition and rising technology costs play out. These factors could squeeze trading economics and future margins. Find out about the key risks to this Virtu Financial narrative. With both risks and rewards on the table for Virtu Financial, it makes sense to review the data now and decide where you stand. To weigh those cross currents for yourself, start with the 5 key rewards and 1 important warning sign Do not stop with one stock. Use this moment to scan wider opportunities and let data driven tools help you spot what others might miss. Target potential mispricings by reviewing companies that look attractively valued on quality metrics through the 55 high quality undervalued stocks. Strengthen the income side of your portfolio by checking companies with sizeable yields and resilient payout profiles via the 9 dividend fortresses. Protect your capital by focusing on companies that score well on financial resilience and risk factors using the 81 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 VIRT. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected]

Interested in Virtu Financial, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. Record profitability: Virtu generated $718 million in second-quarter adjusted net trading income, $437 million in adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS of $1.82. Trailing 12-month ANTI, EBITDA and EPS reached company records. Expanded trading capital: Total trading capital rose to $3.4 billion from $2 billion a year earlier, supported by retained earnings and a $500 million term-loan increase. Management said leverage remains modest and reaffirmed its $0.24 quarterly dividend. Continued investment in growth: Virtu is hiring in quantitative research, trading, engineering and software while investing broadly in technology, infrastructure and talent. Management cited lower attrition and ongoing opportunities in crypto, options, block ETFs and other markets. MarketBeat Week in Review – 04/27 - 05/01 Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) said its second-quarter 2026 performance reflected favorable market conditions, continued growth in its trading-capital base and investments in technology and talent, with management pointing to all-time highs in several trailing 12-month profitability measures. Chief Executive Officer Aaron Simons said the company has made progress on a growth plan announced a year earlier, which included investments in infrastructure, talent and capital. He said Virtu has invested in power and computing capacity, begun establishing select partnerships through investments, and continued recruiting in key technical and trading roles. → Microsoft Just Flipped the AI Spending Narrative Overnight The Volatility Harvester That Thrives in Market Chaos “We are reestablishing our reputation as a firm run by technologists and traders,” Simons said, adding that attrition has declined to multiyear lows. Chief Financial Officer Cindy Lee said Virtu generated adjusted net trading income, or ANTI, of $11.6 million per day during the second quarter, with a quarterly total of $718 million. Market Making contributed $9.4 million of ANTI per day, while Execution Services generated $2.2 million per day. → 2 Unique Space ETFs That Could Upend the Industry The company reported adjusted EBITDA of $437 million, representing a 61% margin, and adjusted earnings per share of $1.82. Over the past 12 months, Virtu recorded ANTI per day of $10.4 million, adjusted EBITDA of $1.7 billion and adjusted EPS of $6.96, all of which Lee described as company records on a trailing 12-month basis. Management said both operating segments benefited from market conditions and execution by Virtu’s teams. Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer Joseph Molluso cited continued growth in crypto, options and block exchange-traded fund markets. He also identified global equities, retail and proprietary trading activity as standouts during the quarter. → MarketBeat Week in Review – 07/27- 07/31 Molluso said the Execution Services business, or VES, has generated more than $2 million in daily ANTI for three consecutive quarters. He described the consistency of that performance as a meaningful contributor to results. Virtu’s total trading capital reached $3.4 billion, up from $2 billion a year earlier, Simons said. The increase followed 12 months of retained earnings and an opportunistic increase in the company’s term loan. Lee said invested capital stood at $2.9 billion as of June 30 and produced an average return of 106% over the past year. In early July, the company increased its term loan by $500 million. Its trailing debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 1.5 times, which Lee characterized as modest leverage. Molluso said the debt financing was completed because market conditions provided an attractive opportunity, rather than because the company needed to raise funds immediately. He said the offering was oversubscribed and was executed at what management viewed as an attractive price and tight spread levels. “You raise money when you can, not when you have to,” Molluso said of conditions in the debt and leveraged-loan markets. Management said the additional capital is already deployed and that it had previously used some short-term liquidity to capture market opportunities. Molluso said Virtu considers its current debt level sustainable in the near to medium term, and expects further capital accumulation to come primarily through free cash flow generation. The company said it intends to maintain its quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share. Virtu said it is continuing to hire aggressively in areas including quantitative research, trading, engineering and software development. Simons said the company does not have a specific headcount target and expects to continue hiring at a strong pace for at least the next several years. He said the company’s hiring efforts are part of a broader cultural shift that has been recognized by current employees and prospective candidates, contributing to lower attrition and increased interest from the talent pool. Through June 30, Virtu’s cash compensation ratio was 23% and its total compensation ratio was 28%, according to Lee. Molluso said management’s guidance remains for a low-to-mid-20% cash compensation ratio, noting that the company has been willing to tolerate an investment period as it recruits talent. He said the company takes a top-down approach to compensation early in the year and refines accruals as it approaches year-end. Management advised investors to focus on the year-to-date compensation ratio rather than a single quarter. Simons said Virtu is directing incremental capital and personnel broadly across the business rather than toward one specific asset class, product or geography. He noted that allocations can shift quickly as opportunities change because of the company’s relatively flat structure and ability to move capital opportunistically. On the potential development of regulated perpetual futures in the United States, Simons said Virtu does not seek to predict where trading volumes will ultimately settle. He said new trading methods and market fragmentation have historically contributed to higher volumes, at least in the short term. Molluso said Virtu does not view perpetual futures as an entirely new asset class, but rather as an evolution of existing asset classes. He said Virtu Execution Services is not currently seeing significant institutional demand for the products, while Virtu itself does not have direct retail customers. Still, management said it intends to provide pricing, liquidity and trading services as products become liquid and tradable. Virtu Financial, Inc is a technology-driven electronic trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity and price discovery across a wide range of financial instruments. Leveraging advanced analytics, high-performance computing and proprietary algorithms, Virtu operates in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and derivative products. Its technology platform is designed to capture bid-ask spreads in real time, manage risk through automated controls and adapt to changing market conditions. The company offers a suite of execution services and market-making solutions to institutional clients such as asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Virtu Financial Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

Coinbase Global, Inc. COIN reported a second-quarter 2026 adjusted operating loss of 39 cents per share, against the Zacks Consensus Estimate of earnings of 14 cents. COIN had reported an operating income of 12 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. The quarter reflected lower transaction and subscription revenues, weaker crypto asset prices and higher restructuring costs, partially offset by growth in institutional transaction revenues. Coinbase Global, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Coinbase Global, Inc. Quote Total Monthly Transacting Users declined to $7.6 million from $8.7 million a year ago, which was lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.1 million. Assets on Platform fell to $245.9 billion from $425 billion, primarily due to lower crypto asset prices. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $295 million. Total revenues of $1.2 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.8%. The top line decreased 18.5% year over year due to lower transaction revenues, subscription and services revenues, and other revenues. Total transaction revenues decreased 21.6% year over year to $599.2 million in the second quarter. The downside was due to a decrease in consumer transaction revenues, offset by an increase in institutional transaction revenues. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $640 million. Total subscription and services revenues decreased 12.2% year over year to $555.1 million in the reported quarter. The downside was due to a decrease in blockchain rewards and reduced stablecoin revenues, offset by higher average USDC balances and growth in interest and finance fee income. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $600.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $207.8 million in the reported quarter, which fell 59.4% from the year-ago quarter. Total operating expenses decreased 12.4% to $1.3 billion in the second quarter due to lower transaction expenses and other operating expenses, partly offset by higher technology and development expenses, restructuring charges and losses on crypto assets held for operations. Coinbase exited the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $8.6 billion as of June 30, 2026, down 23.9% from 2025-end. As of June 30, 2026, long-term debt remained flat from 2025-end at $5.9 billion. Shareholders' equity was $13.1 billion at second-quarter 2026, down 11.6% from 2025-end. Net cash used in operating activities was $380.1 million in the second quarterfirst half of 2026, which decreased 65.2% year over year. Coinbase expects subscription and services revenues to be in the range of $500-$580 million. Coinbase expects third-quarter 2026 transaction expenses to be in the mid-teens as a percentage of net revenues, while adjusted expenses are projected to be in the range of $980-$1,080 million. Coinbase expects stock-based compensation to be approximately $245 million. COIN also expects 2026 adjusted expenses between $4.2 billion-$4.45 billion, revised from $4.25 billion-$4.6 billion. COIN currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Synchrony Financial SYF reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.59, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 24.5%. The bottom line increased 3.6% year over year. Net interest income increased 1.9% year over year to $4.6 billion but missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.1%. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. BFH reported second-quarter 2026 operating income of $3.55 per share, outperforming the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 40.9%. The bottom line rose 20.7% year over year. Revenues increased 7% from the prior-year level to $993 million, exceeding the consensus estimate by 4.2%. Credit sales of $7.5 billion increased 11% year over year, driven by growth in new partnerships and increased general-purpose spending. Average loans increased 3% to $18.2 billion, while end-of-period loans rose 5% to $18.5 billion. Virtu Financial, Inc. VIRT reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.82 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8.3%. The bottom line increased 19% year over year. Adjusted Net Trading Income rose 26.4% year over year to $717.9 million. Revenues from commissions, net and technology services rose 16.7% year over year to $179.5 million. The metric beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate and our model estimate of $177.9 million. Interest and dividend income of $145.9 million increased 13.6% year over year, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $134.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased 18.2% year over year to $436.8 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin declined year over year to 60.8% from 65.1% 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 Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Synchrony Financial (SYF) : Free Stock Analysis Report Virtu Financial, Inc. (VIRT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (BFH) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Adjusted Net Trading Income (ANT): $11.6 million per day, totaling $718 million for the quarter. Market Making ANT: $9.4 million per day. Execution Services ANT: $2.2 million per day. Adjusted EBITDA: $437 million, representing a 61% margin. Adjusted EPS: $1.82. Trailing 12-Month ANT: $10.4 million per day. Trailing 12-Month Adjusted EBITDA: $1.7 billion. Trailing 12-Month Adjusted EPS: $6.96. Cash Compensation Ratio: 23% of total revenue. Total Compensation Ratio: 28% of total revenue. Invested Capital: $2.9 billion as of June 30. Average Return on Invested Capital: 106% over the past year. Total Trading Capital: $3.4 billion, up from $2 billion a year ago. Debt-to-EBITDA Ratio: 1.5 times. Quarterly Dividend: $0.24 per share. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Signs with VIRT. Is VIRT fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: July 30, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Virtu Financial Inc (NYSE:VIRT) reported all-time highs in trailing 12-month adjusted net trading income, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EPS. Total trading capital increased to $3.4 billion, up from $2 billion a year ago, driven by retained earnings and a term loan increase. The company achieved a robust adjusted EBITDA margin of 61% in Q2 2026. Attrition rates are at multi-year lows, reflecting a successful culture shift and improved talent retention. Execution Services segment has consistently generated over $2 million per day for three consecutive quarters, showing strong growth. Cash compensation ratio rose to 23% year-to-date, up from around 20% a year ago, due to aggressive hiring and talent investments. Brokerage and transaction costs increased in Q2, driven by changes in business and geographic mix, which may impact expense predictability. The company faces uncertainty in deploying the additional $500 million term loan proceeds, with returns dependent on market conditions. Hiring is expected to continue aggressively for at least the next couple of years, potentially pressuring near-term margins. The perpetual futures market in the U.S. is still nascent, with unclear demand from institutional customers, limiting immediate revenue opportunities. Here are the key highlights from the Virtu Financial Inc (NYSE:VIRT) Q2 2026 earnings call, focusing on the most significant Q&A exchanges. Q: How aggressive can you be with the trading capital build following the $500 million term loan increase, and how quickly will that capital be deployed? A: (Joseph Molluso, Co-President & Co-COO) The capital build will come from two sources: appropriate leverage and organic free cash flow. The recent debt raise was opportunistic due to favorable market conditions. In the near to mid-term, we are set on leverage, and further accumulation will come from free cash flow. The capital is already being deployed; we had been using short-term liquidity to capture opportunities, and this new capital allows us to return to a normal operating posture. Q: The cash compensation ratio came in around 25%. Is this the new norm, and how should we think about it flexing in a weaker environment? A: (Joseph Molluso, Co-President & Co-COO) We have been investing in talent, which makes us more tolerant of a higher comp ratio in the near term. Our guidance remains for a low-to-mid-20s cash compensation ratio. We look at the year-to-date ratio of 23% more closely than the single quarter, as we true up accruals toward year-end. This is a market-appropriate level for our business. Q: Can you discuss the current opportunity set and which asset classes or markets are generating higher returns as you sit here in July? A: (Joseph Molluso, Co-President & Co-COO) The growth markets we previously highlightedcrypto, options, and block ETFcontinue to grow. However, the opportunity is now more global and widespread due to our hiring and capital growth. Global equities, retail, and prop were standout areas this quarter. Importantly, we have improved qualitatively; repeating this environment two years ago would not have yielded the same results. Also, our Execution Services (VES) business has been consistently above $2 million a day for three quarters. Q: Where are you in the hiring process, and can you provide context on the low attrition rates you mentioned? A: (Aaron Simons, CEO) We don't have a specific headcount target. We are hiring as fast as we can in key areas like quants, researchers, traders, and engineers. We expect to continue hiring aggressively for at least the next couple of years. Regarding attrition, we are highlighting a culture shift that has been recognized by our employees and the available talent pool, reflected in the interest we are seeing. Q: As you build capital and hire talent, which asset classes and products are you focusing these incremental resources on? A: (Aaron Simons, CEO) It is very broad-based. While capital allocation isn't equal everywhere, the company's flat structure allows capital to move around opportunistically and extremely quickly. Over the last year, many areas across the firm have seen sustained increases in deployable trading capital. Q: What drove the jump in brokerage and transaction costs this quarter? A: (Joseph Molluso, Co-President & Co-COO) This depends on business mix, geographic mix, and the timing of expenses. We wouldn't read too much into a single quarter's figure. (Cindy Lee, CFO) It depends on the type of instrument, which is why we guide people not to focus on just one line item. Q: How do you view the potential for regulated perpetual futures in the US? Is it a new revenue opportunity or just a shift in volume? A: (Aaron Simons, CEO) We don't predict where volumes will go, but historically, new ways to trade and new fragmentation have led to higher overall volumes. Our strategy is to be connected to everything that trades electronically and be ready to provide liquidity. (Joseph Molluso, Co-President & Co-COO) We don't view it as a new asset class but an evolution of existing ones. We are agnostic and will be there to trade these products as they become liquid and tradable. Q: What is the customer appeal for perpetual futures, and what appetite do you see from institutions? A: (Joseph Molluso, Co-President & Co-COO) Our Execution Services has institutional customers, but there is not a big demand for this product from them right now. We are a wholesaler for retail brokers, not a direct retailer. As Aaron noted, we will be there to trade these products as they evolve, but we don't pick a view on whether a product is better or worse. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Virtu Financial (VIRT) came out with quarterly earnings of $1.82 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.68 per share. This compares to earnings of $1.53 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +8.33%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this high-speed trading company would post earnings of $1.66 per share when it actually produced earnings of $2.24, delivering a surprise of +34.94%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times. Virtu Financial, which belongs to the Zacks Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry, posted revenues of $717.87 million for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8.44%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $567.72 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four 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. Virtu Financial shares have added about 73.9% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 6.9%. While Virtu Financial has outperformed 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 Virtu Financial 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 $1.45 on $603.5 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $6.95 on $2.59 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 - Miscellaneous Services is currently in the bottom 28% 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. One other stock from the same industry, Jefferson Capital, Inc. (JCAP), is yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.63 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -22.2%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. Jefferson Capital, Inc.'s revenues are expected to be $173.6 million, up 13.7% 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 Virtu Financial, Inc. (VIRT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Jefferson Capital, Inc. (JCAP) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Management has successfully pivoted the firm toward growth, nearly doubling trading capital to $3.4 billion over the past year through retained earnings and opportunistic debt. The firm is reestablishing its identity as a technologist-led organization, resulting in multiyear low attrition rates and improved cultural alignment. Performance gains are attributed to both favorable market conditions and qualitative improvements in execution that management believes would not have been possible two years ago. The firm is aggressively scaling its human capital, specifically targeting quants, researchers, and engineers to support a growing pipeline of technical projects. Virtu Execution Services (VES) has achieved a new level of operational consistency, maintaining over $2 million in daily adjusted net trading income for three consecutive quarters. Strategic investments in power, compute, and select partnerships are being leveraged to deploy the expanded capital base across global equities, retail, and proprietary channels. Future capital accumulation will primarily be driven by organic free cash flow generation following the recent $500 million term loan upsize. Management expects to continue aggressive hiring for at least the next couple of years to keep pace with the discovery of new market opportunities. The firm intends to maintain a cash compensation ratio in the low to mid-20s range as it balances talent investment with profitability. Virtu remains agnostic toward emerging products like regulated perpetual futures, positioning itself to provide liquidity wherever electronic trading volume migrates. The current level of debt is viewed as sustainable in the near to medium term, with no immediate plans for further leverage increases. The firm achieved all-time highs for trailing 12-month adjusted net trading income, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EPS. A $500 million incremental term loan was raised in July 2026 at tight pricing to capitalize on favorable market conditions and oversubscribed demand. The quarterly dividend remains fixed at $0.24 per share despite the shift toward aggressive capital retention for trading operations. Brokerage and transaction cost fluctuations are attributed to shifting business and geographic mixes rather than structural cost increases. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management clarified that the debt was raised opportunistically due to attractive pricing rather than immediate necessity. The proceeds are already being deployed to capture current market volatility and volume opportunities. Future capital growth will shift back to organic accumulation via free cash flow. The 23% year-to-date ratio is consistent with management's low to mid-20s guidance. Management is currently more tolerant of an investment period in talent to drive long-term growth. The firm uses a top-down approach early in the year and 'sharpens the pencil' on accruals as year-end approaches. Deployment is broad-based across global equities, crypto, options, and block ETFs. The firm's flat organizational structure allows capital to be shifted between asset classes almost instantly based on opportunity. Hiring is focused on technical roles like developers and researchers rather than reaching a specific headcount target. Virtu views these not as a new asset class, but as an evolution of existing products. The firm remains agnostic to the specific product appeal, focusing instead on being connected to all electronic liquidity pools. Management expects fragmentation from new products to generally drive higher overall trading volumes.