CME Group Inc. Reports Record Revenue, Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings Per Share for Q1 2026
Rhea-AI Summary
CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) reported record Q1 2026 results: revenue of $1.9 billion (+14%), operating income $1.31 billion, net income $1.15 billion and diluted EPS $3.18. Adjusted diluted EPS was $3.36, up 20% year-over-year. Q1 average daily volume hit a record 36.2 million contracts, up 22%.
The company recorded record clearing and transaction fees of $1.54 billion and record market data revenue of $224 million. Cash was $2.6 billion, debt $3.4 billion; the company returned capital via ~$2.7 billion in dividends and $536 million share repurchases.
Positive
- Revenue $1.88B, up 14% year-over-year
- Adjusted diluted EPS $3.36, up 20%
- ADV 36.2M contracts, up 22% (quarterly record)
- Clearing and transaction fees $1.543B (record)
- Market data revenue $224M (record)
- Returned ~$3.2B via dividends and buybacks
Negative
- Cash declined to $2.6B from $4.4B quarter-end
- Total shareholders' equity decreased to $26.62B
- Other non-operating expense was $(1,246.9)M
News Market Reaction – CME
On the day this news was published, CME declined 1.34%, reflecting a mild negative market reaction.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
CME fell 1.06% into record Q1 results, while key peers like ICE (-1.41%), NDAQ (-0.83%) and MCO (-0.50%) also traded lower, suggesting broader pressure on exchanges and data peers rather than a CME-specific move.
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 16 | Cross-margining approval | Positive | -0.2% | Regulators approved expanded U.S. Treasury cross-margining for end-user clients. |
| Apr 16 | ESMA recognition | Positive | -0.2% | ESMA recognized CME as a third-country benchmark administrator for EU use. |
| Apr 15 | Dividend suite expansion | Positive | -0.0% | Announced new mid-curve options and quarterly dividend futures pending review. |
| Apr 14 | New SOFR options | Positive | -1.2% | Planned launch of options on Eris SOFR swap futures to broaden rates tools. |
| Apr 08 | Record ADV update | Positive | -2.5% | Reported record global and international ADV growth across regions and assets. |
Recent positive operational and regulatory headlines have often coincided with modest negative next-day price moves, indicating a pattern of selling or de-risking into good news.
Over the past weeks, CME has reported multiple positive developments, including record international ADV of 11.4 million contracts, global ADV of 36.2 million, new Eris SOFR swap options, an expanded equity index dividend suite, and key regulatory recognitions and approvals. Despite these constructive updates, next-day price reactions ranged from roughly flat to notably negative, suggesting investors have frequently faded good news ahead of today’s strong Q1 2026 earnings.
Market Pulse Summary
This announcement highlights a record quarter for CME, with revenue of $1.9 billion, adjusted net income of $1.2201 billion, and global ADV reaching 36.2 million contracts. Recent history shows multiple positive product and regulatory milestones as well. Investors may focus on sustainability of volume growth, expense control, capital returns such as $2.7 billion in dividends, and how these metrics evolve across future quarters.
Key Terms
non-GAAP financial
average daily volume financial
performance bonds financial
guaranty fund contributions financial
deferred income tax liabilities financial
central counterparty clearing technical
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
- Record revenue of
$1.9 billion 14% - Net income and diluted earnings per share both up
20%
The company reported revenue of
"In a world in which risk has become the new normal, 2026 is off to a record-breaking start as clients around the world turn to CME Group's trusted, regulated markets to hedge across asset classes and in all trading environments," said CME Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Duffy. "Robust demand for our products drove Q1 average daily volume up
1. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial results mentioned to the respective GAAP figures can be found within the Reconciliation of Adjusted Operating Income and Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Common Share charts at the end of the financial statements. |
First-quarter 2026 average daily volume (ADV) reached a quarterly all-time high of 36.2 million contracts, up
Clearing and transaction fees revenue for first-quarter 2026 totaled a record
As of March 31, 2026, the company had
CME Group will hold a Q&A conference call to discuss first-quarter 2026 results at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time today. A live audio webcast of the Q&A call will be available on the Investor Relations section of CME Group's website at investor.cmegroup.com under Events & Presentations. An archived recording will be available for up to two months after the call.
As the world's leading derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) enables clients to trade futures, options, cash and OTC markets, optimize portfolios, and analyze data – empowering market participants worldwide to efficiently manage risk and capture opportunities. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, cryptocurrencies, energy, agricultural products and metals. The company offers futures and options on futures trading through the CME Globex platform, fixed income trading via BrokerTec and foreign exchange trading on the EBS platform. In addition, it operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers, CME Clearing.
CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Globex, and E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. CBOT and
Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. We want to caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Among the factors that might affect our performance are increasing competition by foreign and domestic entities, including increased competition from new entrants into our markets and consolidation of existing entities; our ability to keep pace with rapid technological developments, including our ability to complete the development, implementation and maintenance of the enhanced functionality required by our customers while maintaining reliability and ensuring that such technology is not vulnerable to security risks; our ability to continue introducing innovative and competitive new products and services on a timely, cost-effective basis, including through our electronic trading capabilities, and derive revenues that are commensurate with our efforts and expectations, and our ability to maintain the competitiveness of our existing products and services; our ability to adjust our fixed costs and expenses if our revenues decline; our ability to manage variable costs associated with CME Group's transition to the Google Cloud, and minimize duplicative costs of maintaining both on-premise and Google Cloud environments during the transition; the resilience of our electronic platforms and the soundness of our business continuity and disaster recovery plans, including in the event of cyberattacks and cyberterrorism or as impacted by a failure of or disruption at one of our suppliers; our ability to maintain existing customers at substantially similar trading levels, develop strategic relationships and attract new customers; our ability to expand and globally offer our products and services; changes in regulations, including the impact of any changes in laws or government policies with respect to our products or services or our industry, such as any changes to regulations and policies that require increased financial and operational resources from us or our customers, as well as the impact of tariffs and tax policy changes, restrictions on our ability to offer CME Group products and services in specific geographies or to specific customers or limitations or changes in underlying/physical product flows across geographies; the costs associated with protecting our intellectual property rights and our ability to operate our business without violating the intellectual property rights of others; decreases in revenue from our market data as a result of decreased demand or changes to regulations in various jurisdictions; changes in our rate per contract due to shifts in the mix of the products traded, the trading venue and the mix of customers (whether the customer receives member or non-member fees or participates in one of our various incentive programs) and the impact of our tiered pricing structure; the ability of our credit and liquidity risk management practices to adequately protect us from the credit risks of clearing firms and other counterparties, and to satisfy the margin and liquidity requirements associated with the BrokerTec matched principal business; the ability of our compliance and risk management programs to effectively monitor and manage our risks, including our ability to prevent errors and misconduct and protect our infrastructure against security breaches and misappropriation of our intellectual property assets; our dependence on third-party providers and exposure to risk from third parties, including risks related to the performance, reliability and security of technology used by, or facilities provided by, our third-party providers and third-party providers that our clients and third-parties rely on; our reliance on third-party distribution partners, including independent software vendors, futures commission merchants, introducing brokers, broker-dealers, regulatory reporting and data distributors and platform operators, and other partners, for facilitating trading and for market data information, and potential impacts from changes in their business models and priorities; volatility in commodity, equity and fixed income prices, and price volatility of financial benchmarks and instruments such as interest rates, equity indices, fixed income instruments and foreign exchange rates; economic, social, political and market conditions, including new and existing geopolitical tensions or conflicts, the volatility of the capital and credit markets and the impact of economic conditions on the trading activity of our current and potential customers; our ability to accommodate increases in contract volume and market data and order transaction traffic across the entire trade cycle and the ability to implement enhancements meeting our regulatory obligations and customer needs without failure or degradation of the performance of our trading and clearing systems; our ability to execute our growth strategy and maintain our growth effectively; our ability to manage the risks, control the costs and achieve the synergies associated with our strategy for acquisitions, investments, alliances, strategic partnerships and joint ventures; variances in earnings on cash accounts and collateral that our clearing house holds; impact of CME Group pricing/fee level and structure and incentive changes; impact of aggregation services and internalization on trade flow and volumes; any negative financial impacts from changes to the terms of intellectual property and index rights; our ability to continue to generate funds and/or manage our indebtedness to allow us to continue to invest in our business; industry, channel partner and customer consolidation and/or concentration; decreases in trading and clearing activity; the imposition of a transaction tax or user fee on futures and options transactions and/or repeal of the 60/40 tax treatment of such transactions; increases in effective tax rates, borrowing costs, or changes in tax policy; our ability to maintain our brand and reputation; and the unfavorable resolution of material legal proceedings. For a detailed discussion and additional information concerning these and other factors that might affect our performance, see our other recent periodic filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on February 26, 2026, under the caption "Risk Factors".
CME Group Inc. and Subsidiaries | ||||
Consolidated Balance Sheets | ||||
(in millions) | ||||
March 31, 2026 | December 31, 2025 | |||
ASSETS | ||||
Current Assets: | ||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ 2,391.2 | $ 4,416.9 | ||
Marketable securities | 124.2 | 125.0 | ||
Accounts receivable, net of allowance | 935.5 | 639.2 | ||
Other current assets (includes | 515.0 | 522.1 | ||
Performance bonds and guaranty fund contributions | 165,035.3 | 159,656.1 | ||
Total current assets | 169,001.2 | 165,359.3 | ||
Property, net of accumulated depreciation and amortization | 355.4 | 362.7 | ||
Intangible assets—trading products | 17,175.3 | 17,175.3 | ||
Intangible assets—other, net | 2,550.8 | 2,610.7 | ||
Goodwill | 10,506.0 | 10,514.7 | ||
Other assets | 2,404.8 | 2,401.5 | ||
Total Assets | $ 201,993.5 | $ 198,424.2 | ||
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY | ||||
Current Liabilities: | ||||
Accounts payable | $ 75.4 | $ 71.8 | ||
Other current liabilities | 887.1 | 568.8 | ||
Performance bonds and guaranty fund contributions | 165,035.3 | 159,656.1 | ||
Total current liabilities | 165,997.8 | 160,296.7 | ||
Long-term debt | 3,423.2 | 3,422.3 | ||
Deferred income tax liabilities, net | 5,221.1 | 5,242.2 | ||
Other liabilities | 733.2 | 734.8 | ||
Total Liabilities | 175,375.3 | 169,696.0 | ||
Total CME Group Shareholders' Equity | 26,618.2 | 28,728.2 | ||
Total Liabilities and Equity | $ 201,993.5 | $ 198,424.2 | ||
CME Group Inc. and Subsidiaries | ||||||||||
Consolidated Statements of Income | ||||||||||
(dollars in millions, except per share amounts; shares in thousands) | ||||||||||
Quarter Ended March 31, | ||||||||||
2026 | 2025 | |||||||||
Revenues | ||||||||||
Clearing and transaction fees | $ 1,542.6 | $ 1,337.3 | ||||||||
Market data and information services | 224.1 | 194.5 | ||||||||
Other | 113.4 | 110.5 | ||||||||
Total Revenues | 1,880.1 | 1,642.3 | ||||||||
Expenses | ||||||||||
Compensation and benefits | 223.0 | 206.7 | ||||||||
Technology | 76.6 | 65.7 | ||||||||
Professional fees and outside services | 28.2 | 28.5 | ||||||||
Amortization of purchased intangibles | 56.1 | 55.2 | ||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | 27.2 | 27.3 | ||||||||
Licensing and other fee agreements | 106.8 | 96.6 | ||||||||
Other | 52.5 | 54.3 | ||||||||
Total Expenses | 570.4 | 534.3 | ||||||||
Operating Income | 1,309.7 | 1,108.0 | ||||||||
Non-Operating Income (Expense) | ||||||||||
Investment income | 1,389.3 | 892.7 | ||||||||
Interest and other borrowing costs | (43.6) | (41.7) | ||||||||
Equity in net earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries | 102.4 | 88.2 | ||||||||
Other non-operating income (expense) | (1,246.9) | (802.4) | ||||||||
Total Non-Operating Income (Expense) | 201.2 | 136.8 | ||||||||
Income before Income Taxes | 1,510.9 | 1,244.8 | ||||||||
Income tax provision | 356.6 | 288.6 | ||||||||
Net Income | $ 1,154.3 | $ 956.2 | ||||||||
Net Income Attributable to Common Shareholders of CME Group - Basic(1) | $ 1,168.0 | $ 944.2 | ||||||||
Net Income Attributable to Common Shareholders of CME Group - Diluted(1) | $ 1,154.3 | $ 944.2 | ||||||||
Earnings per Share Attributable to Common Shareholders of CME Group: | ||||||||||
Basic | $ 3.25 | $ 2.63 | ||||||||
Diluted | 3.18 | 2.62 | ||||||||
Weighted Average Number of Common Shares: | ||||||||||
Basic | 359,318 | 359,613 | ||||||||
Diluted(2) | 363,208 | 360,227 | ||||||||
1. The difference between Net Income and Net Income Attributable to Common Shareholders of CME Group - Basic and Diluted is the result of the distribution of earnings allocated to preferred shares. | |||||||||
2. Preferred shares of 4,584,000 were all converted on March 5, 2026 to Class A Common stock and are included in the Diluted shares for the first quarter of 2026. |
CME Group Inc. and Subsidiaries | ||||||||
Reconciliation of Adjusted Operating Income | ||||||||
(dollars in millions) | ||||||||
Quarter Ended March 31, | ||||||||
2026 | 2025 | |||||||
Total Revenues | $ 1,880.1 | $ 1,642.3 | ||||||
Adjusted Total Revenues | $ 1,880.1 | $ 1,642.3 | ||||||
Total Expenses | $ 570.4 | $ 534.3 | ||||||
Restructuring and severance | (4.0) | (1.1) | ||||||
Deferred compensation(1) | 0.8 | 2.2 | ||||||
Amortization of purchased intangibles | (56.1) | (55.2) | ||||||
Strategic transaction-related (costs) credits | (0.6) | — | ||||||
Real estate-related (costs) credits | (0.7) | — | ||||||
Foreign exchange transaction gains (losses) | 0.9 | (2.3) | ||||||
Litigation matters or settlements | 1.0 | (3.3) | ||||||
Adjusted Total Expenses | $ 511.7 | $ 474.6 | ||||||
Operating Income | $ 1,309.7 | $ 1,108.0 | ||||||
Adjusted Operating Income | $ 1,368.4 | $ 1,167.7 | ||||||
1. Includes |
CME Group Inc. and Subsidiaries | ||||
Reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings per Common Share | ||||
(dollars in millions, except per share amounts; shares in thousands) | ||||
Quarter Ended March 31, | ||||
2026 | 2025 | |||
Net Income | $ 1,154.3 | $ 956.2 | ||
Restructuring and severance | 4.0 | 1.1 | ||
Amortization of purchased intangibles(1) | 60.1 | 68.2 | ||
Strategic transaction-related costs (credits)(2) | 0.1 | — | ||
Real estate-related costs (credits) | 0.7 | — | ||
Foreign exchange transaction (gains) losses | (0.9) | 2.3 | ||
Unrealized and realized (gains) losses on investments | 22.9 | 6.5 | ||
Litigation matters or settlements | (1.0) | 3.3 | ||
Income tax effect related to above | (21.0) | (16.1) | ||
Other income tax items | 0.9 | (1.6) | ||
Adjusted Net Income | $ 1,220.1 | $ 1,019.9 | ||
Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Common Shareholders of CME Group - | $ 1,233.2 | $ 1,007.1 | ||
Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Common Shareholders of CME Group - | $ 1,220.1 | $ 1,007.1 | ||
Earnings per Share Attributable to Common Shareholders of CME Group: | ||||
Basic | $ 3.25 | $ 2.63 | ||
Diluted | 3.18 | 2.62 | ||
Adjusted Earnings per Share Attributable to Common Shareholders of CME Group: | ||||
Basic | $ 3.43 | $ 2.80 | ||
Diluted | 3.36 | 2.80 | ||
Weighted Average Number of Common Shares: | ||||
Basic | 359,318 | 359,613 | ||
Diluted(4) | 363,208 | 360,227 | ||
1. Includes | ||||
2. The values shown above may differ from what is shown in the Reconciliation of Adjusted Operating Income as that schedule does not include adjustment items or portions of items included in non-operating results. | ||||
3. The difference between Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Common Shareholders of CME Group - Basic and Diluted is the result of the distribution of earnings allocated to preferred shares. | ||||
4. Preferred shares of 4,584,000 were all converted on March 5, 2026 to Class A Common stock and are included in the Diluted shares for the first quarter of 2026. |
CME Group Inc. and Subsidiaries | ||||||||||
Quarterly Operating Statistics | ||||||||||
1Q 2025 | 2Q 2025 | 3Q 2025 | 4Q 2025 | 1Q 2026 | ||||||
Trading Days | 61 | 62 | 64 | 64 | 61 | |||||
Quarterly Average Daily Volume (ADV)(1) | ||||||||||
CME Group ADV (in thousands) | ||||||||||
Product Line | 1Q 2025 | 2Q 2025 | 3Q 2025 | 4Q 2025 | 1Q 2026 | |||||
Interest rates | 15,029 | 15,472 | 13,378 | 13,010 | 18,674 | |||||
Equity indexes | 7,997 | 7,661 | 6,278 | 7,738 | 8,655 | |||||
Foreign exchange | 1,149 | 1,096 | 834 | 853 | 1,193 | |||||
Energy | 2,903 | 3,082 | 2,295 | 2,523 | 3,985 | |||||
Agricultural commodities | 1,958 | 1,964 | 1,712 | 1,787 | 2,042 | |||||
Metals | 732 | 943 | 825 | 1,441 | 1,682 | |||||
Total | 29,768 | 30,217 | 25,322 | 27,353 | 36,231 | |||||
Venue | ||||||||||
CME Globex | 27,732 | 28,097 | 23,418 | 25,542 | 33,633 | |||||
Open outcry | 881 | 993 | 989 | 816 | 1,241 | |||||
Privately negotiated | 1,154 | 1,127 | 915 | 995 | 1,357 | |||||
Total | 29,768 | 30,217 | 25,322 | 27,353 | 36,231 | |||||
Quarterly Average Rate Per Contract (RPC)(1) | ||||||||||
CME Group RPC | ||||||||||
Product Line | 1Q 2025 | 2Q 2025 | 3Q 2025 | 4Q 2025 | 1Q 2026 | |||||
Interest rates | $ 0.476 | $ 0.481 | $ 0.487 | $ 0.486 | $ 0.457 | |||||
Equity indexes | 0.624 | 0.635 | 0.652 | 0.611 | 0.597 | |||||
Foreign exchange | 0.762 | 0.772 | 0.841 | 0.847 | 0.780 | |||||
Energy | 1.222 | 1.138 | 1.214 | 1.245 | 1.084 | |||||
Agricultural commodities | 1.376 | 1.435 | 1.423 | 1.427 | 1.344 | |||||
Metals | 1.588 | 1.456 | 1.505 | 1.295 | 1.153 | |||||
Average RPC | $ 0.686 | $ 0.690 | $ 0.702 | $ 0.707 | $ 0.652 | |||||
1. ADV and RPC includes futures and options on futures only. |
CME-G
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SOURCE CME Group