Cboe (CBOE: CBOE) posts strong Q1 2026, raises growth outlook and trims cost guidance
Filing Impact
Filing Sentiment
Form Type
8-K
Rhea-AI Filing Summary
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. reported strong first-quarter 2026 results alongside further strategic realignment actions. Net revenue reached $728.9 million, up 29 percent year over year, while diluted EPS rose 54 percent to $3.66 and adjusted diluted EPS increased 48 percent to $3.70.
Operating income grew to $505.6 million with a 69.4 percent operating margin, and net income allocated to common stockholders rose 54 percent to $384.1 million. Growth was broad-based, with record net revenue in Options, North American Equities, Europe and APAC, and Global FX.
The company announced additional restructuring tied to its ongoing strategic realignment, expecting $36 million to $46 million in pre-tax charges and annualized pre-tax cost savings of $40 million to $50 million, including an anticipated workforce reduction of about 20 percent when combined with earlier actions. Cboe raised its 2026 organic total net revenue growth target to a ‘low double-digit to mid-teens’ range and cut 2026 adjusted operating expense guidance to $838 million to $853 million.
Positive
- Exceptional Q1 earnings growth and margin expansion: Net revenue rose 29 percent to $728.9 million, net income to common stockholders increased 54 percent to $384.1 million, and diluted EPS climbed 54 percent to $3.66, with operating margin improving to 69.4 percent and adjusted operating margin to 72.4 percent.
- Upgraded 2026 growth and cost outlook: Cboe raised its 2026 organic total net revenue growth target to a ‘low double-digit to mid-teens’ range and lowered adjusted operating expense guidance to $838–$853 million, incorporating $20–$25 million of expected 2026 savings from the strategic realignment.
- Broad-based strength across business segments: Options net revenue grew 33 percent to $467.6 million, Europe and APAC net revenue rose 32 percent, North American Equities increased 18 percent, and Global FX net revenue advanced 38 percent, demonstrating diversified growth drivers.
Negative
- Restructuring costs and significant workforce reduction: The company expects $36–$46 million of pre-tax restructuring charges tied to additional strategic realignment actions and, combined with earlier initiatives, anticipates reducing its workforce by approximately 20 percent, which may create operational and execution risk during the transition.
Insights
Cboe posts broad-based Q1 strength, raises growth outlook and trims 2026 cost guidance.
Cboe Global Markets delivered a powerful quarter, with net revenue of $728.9 million, up 29%, and net income to common stockholders up 54% to $384.1 million. Diluted EPS rose to $3.66, while adjusted diluted EPS reached $3.70, up 48%.
Momentum was broad: Options net revenue grew 33% to $467.6 million, North American Equities rose 18%, Europe and APAC climbed 32%, and Global FX advanced 38%. Operating margin expanded to 69.4%, and adjusted operating margin to 72.4%, reflecting strong operating leverage.
Strategic realignment remains a key theme. Cboe expects pre-tax restructuring charges of $36–$46 million, offset by anticipated annualized cost savings of $40–$50 million, with $20–$25 million in 2026. Management raised 2026 organic total net revenue growth guidance to the ‘low double-digit to mid-teens’ range and cut adjusted operating expense guidance to $838–$853 million. A roughly 20% workforce reduction, when combined with prior actions, introduces execution and cultural risks, but the disclosure frames these moves as supporting higher-growth core businesses.
8-K Event Classification
3 items: 2.02, 2.05, 9.01
3 items
Item 2.02
Results of Operations and Financial Condition
Financial
Disclosure of earnings results, typically an earnings press release or preliminary financials.
Item 2.05
Costs Associated with Exit or Disposal Activities
Financial
The company committed to an exit plan involving layoffs, facility closures, or restructuring charges.
Item 9.01
Financial Statements and Exhibits
Exhibits
Financial statements, pro forma financial information, and exhibit attachments filed with this report.
Key Figures
Net revenue: $728.9 million
Net income to common stockholders: $384.1 million
Diluted EPS: $3.66
+5 more
8 metrics
Net revenue
$728.9 million
Q1 2026, up 29% year over year
Net income to common stockholders
$384.1 million
Q1 2026, up 54% vs Q1 2025
Diluted EPS
$3.66
Q1 2026, up 54% vs prior year
Adjusted diluted EPS
$3.70
Q1 2026, up 48% year over year
Expected restructuring charges
$36–$46 million
Pre-tax, tied to additional strategic realignment actions
Expected annualized cost savings
$40–$50 million
Annualized pre-tax savings from additional realignment actions
2026 adjusted opex guidance
$838–$853 million
Lowered 2026 adjusted operating expense range
Cash and cash equivalents
$2,134.4 million
Balance as of March 31, 2026
Key Terms
strategic realignment, organic total net revenue growth, adjusted operating expenses, Operating EBITDA, +2 more
6 terms
strategic realignment financial
"announced additional actions related to its strategic realignment"
organic total net revenue growth financial
"Increases 2026 Organic Total Net Revenue Growth Target2 to 'low double-digit to mid-teens'"
adjusted operating expenses financial
"Decreases 2026 Adjusted Operating Expense Guidance2 to $838 to $853 million"
Adjusted operating expenses are a company’s routine costs of running the business (like payroll, rent and supplies) after removing unusual, one‑time or nonrecurring items so investors can see the recurring spending level. Think of it like cleaning a household budget of a one‑off repair to understand typical monthly bills. It matters because it helps investors compare underlying performance across periods and companies, but the adjustments can vary by company.
Operating EBITDA financial
"Operating EBITDA¹ of $535.1 million, up 39 percent"
Operating EBITDA is a measure of the cash profit a company generates from its core business activities, calculated by taking earnings and adding back interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization while excluding one‑time items and non‑operating income. For investors it acts like checking how much money a store makes from selling its products before financing, taxes and accounting charges, helping compare operational performance across companies and periods.
average daily notional value financial
"European Equities average daily notional value (“ADNV”) traded on Cboe European Equities was €17.3 billion"
Average daily notional value is the average dollar amount of securities or contracts traded each day over a set period, calculated by summing the total value of daily trades and dividing by the number of days. Investors use it like a pipe’s flow rate: higher values mean more money changes hands, which usually signals better liquidity, easier trade execution, and lower price impact when buying or selling positions.
net capture financial
"net capture rate per one million dollars traded was $2.87 for the first quarter of 2026"
Earnings Snapshot
Net revenue: $728.9 million · Guidance included
Q1 2026
Net revenue
$728.9 million
+29% YoY
Net income to common stockholders
$384.1 million
+54% YoY
Diluted EPS
$3.66
+54% YoY
Adjusted diluted EPS
$3.70
+48% YoY
Operating margin
69.4%
+6.8 pp YoY
Guidance
For 2026, Cboe targets organic total net revenue growth in the ‘low double-digit to mid-teens’ range and expects adjusted operating expenses between $838 million and $853 million.
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
________________________________________________________
Form 8-K
________________________________________________________
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): May 1, 2026
________________________________________________________
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
________________________________________________________
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)
| (Commission File Number) | (IRS Employer Identification No.) | ||||
(Address and Zip Code of Principal Executive Offices)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code (312 ) 786-5600
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
| Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) | |||||
| Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) | |||||
| Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) | |||||
| Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) | |||||
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class: | Trading Symbol | Name of each exchange on which registered: | ||||||||||||
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).
Emerging growth company ☐
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o
ITEM 2.02 RESULTS OF OPERATIONS AND FINANCIAL CONDITION.
On May 1, 2026, Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (the “Company”) reported its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. The Company's press release, dated May 1, 2026, is attached as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated by reference into this Item 2.02.
The information set forth under this Item 2.02, including the Exhibit attached hereto, shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.
ITEM 2.05 COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH EXIT OR DISPOSAL ACTIVITIES.
On May 1, 2026, the Company announced additional actions related to its strategic realignment by optimizing resource allocation across the organization, which it expects to be substantially completed by the end of 2026. This follows a comprehensive strategic review of the Company’s global business operations that occurred in the fourth quarter of 2025 and is part of a broader effort to sharpen strategic focus and allocate resources more effectively. In connection with these additional actions related to the Company’s strategic realignment, the Company expects to incur pre-tax restructuring charges of approximately $36 million to $46 million, primarily for severance payments and related costs. The majority of these costs are expected to be incurred beginning in the second quarter of 2026 through the fourth quarter of 2026. The Company anticipates annualized pre-tax cost savings related to these additional actions related to the Company’s strategic realignment of approximately $40 million to $50 million and anticipates realizing $20 million to $25 million of savings in 2026. The actions associated with the elimination of positions are subject to local law and consultation requirements in certain countries, which may extend this process beyond the end of 2026. When these additional strategic realignment actions are combined with the Company’s earlier actions to sell, wind down, and optimize certain businesses, the Company expects to reduce its workforce by approximately 20%. These estimates are subject to a number of assumptions and actual expenses may differ materially from the estimates disclosed above.
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This Current Report on Form 8-K includes forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. We do not undertake, and expressly disclaim, any duty to update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. In particular, you should consider the risks and uncertainties described in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
ITEM 9.01 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS.
(d) Exhibits
99.1 Press Release, dated May 1, 2026
104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (the cover page XBRL tags are embedded in the Inline XBRL document).
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| CBOE GLOBAL MARKETS, INC. | ||||||||
| (Registrant) | ||||||||
| By: | /s/ Jill M. Griebenow | |||||||
| Jill M. Griebenow | ||||||||
| Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | ||||||||
Dated: May 1, 2026 | ||||||||
Exhibit 99.1
 | News Release Page 1 of 15 | |||||||
Cboe Global Markets Reports Results for First Quarter 2026 and Continued Execution of Strategic Realignment
First Quarter Highlights*
•Record Diluted EPS for the Quarter of $3.66, Up 54 percent
•Record Adjusted Diluted EPS1 for the Quarter of $3.70, Up 48 percent
•Record Net Revenue for the Quarter of $728.9 million, Up 29 percent
•Increases 2026 Organic Total Net Revenue Growth Target2 to 'low double-digit to mid-teens' from 'mid single-digit' and Cboe Data Vantage3 Organic Net Revenue Growth Target2 to 'low double-digit' from 'mid to high single-digit'
•Decreases 2026 Adjusted Operating Expense Guidance2 to $838 to $853 million from $864 to $879 million
•Announces continued execution of strategic realignment to strengthen core businesses and enable greater investment for growth
CHICAGO, IL – May 1, 2026 – Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE) today reported financial results for the first quarter of 2026 and announced additional actions related to its strategic realignment.
“Cboe delivered an exceptional first quarter, building on our 2025 momentum by producing 29 percent net revenue growth, 54 percent diluted EPS growth, and 48 percent adjusted diluted EPS1 growth," said Jill Griebenow, Cboe Global Markets Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer. “Our Cash and Spot Markets net revenue rose 34 percent on strong market activity. Our Derivatives business was up 32 percent on another quarter of record volumes across our index options products, and our Data Vantage business grew 19 percent on a year-over-year basis. Moving forward, we anticipate 2026 total organic net revenue growth2 will be in the ‘low double-digit to mid-teens’ range, up from our prior guidance of ‘mid single-digit’, and we anticipate 2026 Data Vantage organic net revenue growth2 will be in the ‘low double-digit’ range, up from our prior guidance of ‘mid to high single-digit’. In addition, given disciplined expense management and incorporating the impact from today’s additional actions related to our strategic realignment, we are reducing our full year 2026 adjusted operating expense guidance2 range to $838 to $853 million from $864 to $879 million. We are pleased with the strong start to the year and remain focused on producing durable shareholder returns in the quarters ahead."
“As I reflect on my first twelve months at Cboe, it is clear that the decisive steps we have taken are moving the company closer to realizing its full potential,” said Craig Donohue, Chief Executive Officer of Cboe Global Markets. “Following a thorough strategic review and the adoption of a more rigorous financial and strategic framework in the second half of 2025, we announced a realignment to increase focus and investment in the core businesses that drive our earnings. We moved quickly to reorient the portfolio, winding down non‑core initiatives, optimizing resource allocation across the organization, and reaching a definitive agreement last week to sell Cboe Canada and Cboe Australia.
“Today, we announced the next phase of our plan by realigning our organization to build more agile teams positioned to operate effectively in a fast‑changing environment. Our earlier actions to sell, wind down, and optimize certain businesses, combined with today’s strategic realignment, are expected to reduce our workforce by approximately 20 percent.
“As evidenced by our record results, we are executing these changes from a position of strength. These actions position us to invest more resources, including adding talent in emerging areas such as financial and economic event markets, tokenization initiatives, scaling and expanding our clearing services in the U.S. and Europe, and broadening our sales, marketing, and investor education efforts on a global basis. I have been in this industry for several decades, and I have never been as excited about the road ahead as I am now as we continue to build long-term value for shareholders through disciplined execution and focused investment efforts.”
*All comparisons are first quarter 2026 compared to the same period in 2025.
(1)A full reconciliation of our non-GAAP results to our GAAP (“Generally Accepted Accounting Principles”) results is included in the attached tables. See "Non-GAAP Information" in the accompanying financial tables.
(2)Specific quantifications of the amounts that would be required to reconcile the company’s organic net revenue growth guidance and adjusted operating expenses guidance are not available. The company believes that there is uncertainty and unpredictability with respect to certain of its GAAP measures, primarily related to acquisition-related revenues and costs that would be required to reconcile to GAAP revenues less cost of revenues, and GAAP operating expenses, which preclude the company from providing accurate guidance on certain forward-looking GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations. The company believes that providing estimates of the amounts that would be required to reconcile the range of the company’s organic net revenue growth guidance and adjusted operating expenses would imply a degree of precision that would be confusing or misleading to investors for the reasons identified above.
(3)Cboe Data Vantage refers to the company's Cboe Data Vantage business (formerly known as Data and Access Solutions). Cboe Data Vantage is subsequently referred to as Data Vantage throughout this press release.
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Consolidated First Quarter Results
Table 1 below presents summary selected unaudited condensed consolidated financial information for the company as reported and on an adjusted basis for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025.
Table 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Consolidated First Quarter Results ($ in millions except per share amounts and percentages) | 1Q26 | 1Q25 | Change | 1Q26 Adjusted¹ | 1Q25 Adjusted¹ | Change | ||||||||||||||
Total Revenues Less Cost of Revenues | $ | 728.9 | $ | 565.2 | 29 | % | $ | 728.9 | $ | 565.2 | 29 | % | ||||||||
Total Operating Expenses | $ | 223.3 | $ | 211.3 | 6 | % | $ | 200.9 | $ | 192.4 | 4 | % | ||||||||
Operating Income | $ | 505.6 | $ | 353.9 | 43 | % | $ | 528.0 | $ | 372.8 | 42 | % | ||||||||
Operating Margin % | 69.4 | % | 62.6 | % | 6.8 | pp | 72.4 | % | 66.0 | % | 6.4 | pp | ||||||||
Net Income Allocated to Common Stockholders | $ | 384.1 | $ | 249.4 | 54 | % | $ | 388.2 | $ | 263.1 | 48 | % | ||||||||
Net Income Allocated to Common Stockholders Margin % | 52.7 | % | 44.1 | % | 8.6 | pp | 53.3 | % | 46.5 | % | 6.8 | pp | ||||||||
Diluted Earnings Per Share | $ | 3.66 | $ | 2.37 | 54 | % | $ | 3.70 | $ | 2.50 | 48 | % | ||||||||
Operating EBITDA¹ | $ | 535.1 | $ | 384.2 | 39 | % | $ | 540.8 | $ | 384.7 | 41 | % | ||||||||
Operating EBITDA Margin %¹ | 73.4 | % | 68.0 | % | 5.4 | pp | 74.2 | % | 68.1 | % | 6.1 | pp | ||||||||
EBITDA¹ | $ | 539.0 | $ | 383.7 | 40 | % | $ | 544.6 | $ | 383.8 | 42 | % | ||||||||
EBITDA Margin %¹ | 73.9 | % | 67.9 | % | 6.0 | pp | 74.7 | % | 67.9 | % | 6.8 | pp | ||||||||
•Total revenues less cost of revenues (referred to as “net revenue"2) of $728.9 million increased 29 percent, compared to $565.2 million in the prior-year period, a result of increases across all net revenue2 captions.
•Total operating expenses were $223.3 million versus $211.3 million in the first quarter of 2025, an increase of $12.0 million. Adjusted operating expenses1 of $200.9 million were up $8.5 million compared to $192.4 million in the first quarter of 2025. These increases were primarily due to an increase in compensation and benefits, driven by an increase in accrued bonuses as a result of strong company performance, increase in payroll benefits, and an increase in salaries primarily due to merit increases.
•The effective tax rate for the first quarter of 2026 was 25.2 percent as compared with 28.4 percent in the first quarter of 2025. The lower effective tax rate in 2026 is primarily due to the resolution of uncertain tax positions with state and local taxing authorities. The effective tax rate on adjusted earnings1 was 27.5 percent, a decrease of 0.8 percentage points when compared with 28.3 percent in last year’s first quarter. The change was primarily due to reduced interest on uncertain tax positions.
•Diluted EPS for the first quarter of 2026 increased 54 percent to $3.66 compared to the first quarter of 2025. Adjusted diluted EPS1 of $3.70 increased 48 percent compared to 2025 first quarter results.
Business Segment Information:
Table 2 | |||||||||||
Total Revenues Less Cost of Revenues by Business Segment (in millions) | 1Q26 | 1Q25 | Change | ||||||||
Options | $ | 467.6 | $ | 352.4 | 33 | % | |||||
North American Equities | 111.2 | 94.6 | 18 | % | |||||||
Europe and Asia Pacific | 84.9 | 64.1 | 32 | % | |||||||
Futures | 35.8 | 32.8 | 9 | % | |||||||
Global FX | 29.4 | 21.3 | 38 | % | |||||||
Total | $ | 728.9 | $ | 565.2 | 29 | % | |||||
(1)A full reconciliation of our non-GAAP results to our GAAP results is included in the attached tables. See "Non-GAAP Information” in the accompanying financial tables.
(2)See the attached tables on page 10 for "Net Revenue by Revenue Caption.”
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Discussion of Results by Business Segment:
Options:
•Record Options net revenue of $467.6 million was up $115.2 million, or 33 percent, from the first quarter of 2025. Net transaction and clearing fees1 increased primarily as a result of a 10 percent increase in total options average daily volume ("ADV"), coupled with a 21 percent increase in multi-listed options revenue per contract ("RPC") versus the first quarter of 2025. Market data fees were 31 percent higher and access and capacity fees were 21 percent higher as compared to the first quarter of 2025.
•Net transaction and clearing fees1 increased $106.6 million, or 34 percent, reflecting a 29 percent increase in index options ADV and a 4 percent increase in multi-listed options ADV. Total options RPC increased 19 percent compared to the first quarter of 2025. The increase in total options RPC was primarily due to a 21 percent increase in multi-listed options RPC and a mix shift, with index options representing a higher percentage of total options volume.
•Cboe’s Options exchanges had total market share of 29.1 percent for the first quarter of 2026, down compared to 31.1 percent in the first quarter of 2025.
North American (N.A.) Equities:
•Record N.A. Equities net revenue of $111.2 million increased $16.6 million, or 18 percent, from the first quarter of 2025, reflecting higher net transaction and clearing fees1, access and capacity fees, and market data fees.
•Net transaction and clearing fees1 increased $10.7 million, or 40 percent, compared to the first quarter of 2025. The increase was driven by stronger industry volumes and improved net capture rates for on-exchange U.S. Equities exchanges versus the first quarter of 2025.
•Cboe’s U.S. Equities exchanges had market share of 9.8 percent for the first quarter of 2026, down compared to 10.5 percent in the first quarter of 2025. Cboe’s U.S. Equities off-exchange market share was 17.0 percent, down from 17.1 percent in the first quarter of 2025.
Europe and Asia Pacific (APAC):
•Record Europe and APAC net revenue of $84.9 million increased $20.8 million, or 32 percent, from the first quarter of 2025, reflecting growth in net transaction and clearing fees1 and non-transaction revenues. On a constant currency basis2, net revenue was $76.7 million, up 20 percent on a year-over-year basis. European Equities average daily notional value (“ADNV”) traded on Cboe European Equities was €17.3 billion, up 25 percent compared to the first quarter of 2025 given a 21 percent increase in industry market volumes. Cboe Clear Europe net settlement volume reached 3,931.2 thousand shares, up 23 percent from the first quarter of 2025.
•For the first quarter of 2026, Cboe European Equities had 25.5 percent market share, up from 24.8 percent in the first quarter of 2025.
Futures:
•Futures net revenue of $35.8 million increased $3.0 million, or 9 percent, from the first quarter of 2025 driven by an 11 percent increase in net transaction and clearing fees1.
•Net transaction and clearing fees1 increased $2.7 million, reflecting a 14 percent increase in ADV during the quarter.
Global FX:
•Record Global FX net revenue of $29.4 million increased $8.1 million, or 38 percent, from the first quarter of 2025. The increase was due to higher net transaction and clearing fees1. ADNV traded on the Cboe FX platform was $70.4 billion for the quarter, up 36 percent compared to last year’s first quarter, and net capture rate per one million dollars traded was $2.87 for the first quarter of 2026, up 4 percent compared to $2.77 in the first quarter of 2025.
(1)See the attached tables on page 10 for "Net Transaction and Clearing Fees by Business Segment.”
(2)A full reconciliation of our non-GAAP results to our GAAP results is included in the attached tables. See "Non-GAAP Information" in the accompanying financial tables.
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2026 Fiscal Year Financial Guidance1
Cboe provided guidance for the 2026 fiscal year as noted below.
•Organic total net revenue growth2 is expected to be in the 'low double-digit to mid-teens' range, up from prior guidance of 'mid single-digit' in 2026.
•Organic net revenue growth2 from Data Vantage is expected to be in the ‘low double-digit’ range, up from prior guidance of 'mid to high single-digit' in 2026.
•Adjusted operating expenses2 in 2026 are expected to be in the range of $838 to $853 million, down from $864 to $879 million. Our 2026 guidance incorporates roughly $20 to $25 million of expected savings in 2026 as a result of the additional actions related to the strategic realignment. The guidance excludes the expected amortization of acquired intangible assets of $63 million; the company adjusts for this amount in its non-GAAP reconciliation.
•Reaffirms depreciation and amortization expense for 2026 is expected to be in the range of $56 to $60 million, excluding the expected amortization of acquired intangible assets.
•Reaffirms the effective tax rate on adjusted earnings2 for the full year 2026 is expected to be in the range of 27.5 to 29.5 percent. Significant changes in trading volume, expenses, tax laws or rates, and other items could materially impact this expectation.
•Reaffirms capital expenditures for 2026 are expected to be in the range of $73 to $83 million.
(1)2026 guidance includes the anticipated impacts from discontinuing U.S. and European Corporate Listings, CEDX, and Cboe’s Japanese equities business, as well as the planned cost reductions in U.S. and European ETP Listings businesses and several of Cboe's smaller Risk and Market Analytics businesses, as announced in 2025 and early 2026. 2026 guidance also includes the anticipated business-as-usual financial contribution from Cboe Canada and Cboe Australia, which Cboe announced divestiture plans for in October 2025. 2026 guidance will be updated as further actions are announced.
(2)Specific quantifications of the amounts that would be required to reconcile the company’s organic and inorganic growth guidance, adjusted operating expenses guidance, and the effective tax rate on adjusted earnings guidance are not available. Acquisitions are considered organic after 12 months of closing. The company believes that there is uncertainty and unpredictability with respect to certain of its GAAP measures, primarily related to acquisition-related revenues and costs that would be required to reconcile to GAAP revenues less cost of revenues, and GAAP operating expenses, which preclude the company from providing accurate guidance on certain forward-looking GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations. The company believes that providing estimates of the amounts that would be required to reconcile the range of the company’s organic growth, adjusted operating expenses, and the effective tax rate on adjusted earnings would imply a degree of precision that would be confusing or misleading to investors for the reasons identified above.
Capital Management
At March 31, 2026, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $2,134.4 million and adjusted cash3 of $2,134.9 million. Total debt as of March 31, 2026 was $1,443.4 million.
The company paid cash dividends of $75.8 million, or $0.72 per share, during the first quarter of 2026 and utilized $45.1 million to repurchase approximately 161 thousand shares of its common stock under its share repurchase program at an average price of $280.20 per share. As of March 31, 2026, the company had approximately $569.4 million of availability remaining under its existing share repurchase authorizations.
Earnings Conference Call
Executives of Cboe Global Markets will host a conference call to review its first quarter financial results today, May 1, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. ET/7:30 a.m. CT. The conference call and any accompanying slides will be publicly available via live webcast from the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at www.cboe.com, under Events & Presentations. Participants may also listen via telephone by dialing (800) 715-9871 (toll-free) or (646) 307-1963 (toll) and using the Conference ID 8939587. Telephone participants should place calls 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. The webcast will be archived on the company’s website for replay.
(3)A full reconciliation of our non-GAAP results to our GAAP results is included in the attached tables. See "Non-GAAP Information” in the accompanying financial tables.
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About Cboe Global Markets
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. is a leading global markets operator with a long history of innovation in equities derivatives. Since launching the world's first listed options exchange in 1973, Cboe has pioneered landmark products, including the introduction of S&P 500® index options and the creation of the VIX® Index, the world's leading gauge of market volatility, reshaping how investors manage risk and access opportunity. Today, Cboe operates derivatives, equities, and FX markets, providing trading, clearing, and investment solutions for customers worldwide. To learn more about Cboe, visit www.cboe.com.
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. You can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “might,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” or “continue,” and the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. All statements that reflect our expectations, assumptions, or projections about the future other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and assumptions about us, may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
We operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all risks and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.
Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include: the loss of our right to exclusively list and trade certain index options and futures products; economic, political and market conditions; compliance with legal and regulatory obligations; price and new products and services competition and consolidation in our industry; decreases in trading or clearing volumes, market data fees, or a shift in the mix of products traded on our exchanges; legislative or regulatory changes or changes in tax regimes; our ability to protect our systems and communication networks from security vulnerabilities and breaches; our ability to attract and retain skilled management and other personnel; increasing competition by foreign and domestic entities; our business and operational dependence on and exposure to risk from third parties; factors that impact the quality and integrity of our and other applicable indices; our ability to manage our global operations, growth, and strategic acquisitions, wind-downs, divestitures or alliances effectively; increases in the cost of the products and services we use; our ability to operate our business without violating the intellectual property rights of others and the costs associated with protecting our intellectual property rights; our ability to minimize the risks, including our credit, liquidity, market, investment, counterparty, and default risks, associated with operating our clearinghouses; our ability to accommodate trading and clearing volume and transaction traffic, including significant increases, without failure or degradation of performance of our systems; misconduct by those who use our markets or our products or for whom we clear transactions; challenges to our use of open source software code; our ability to meet our compliance obligations, including managing our business interests and our regulatory responsibilities; the loss of key customers or a significant reduction in trading or clearing volumes by key customers; separate from and not integrated with our registered national securities exchanges; damage to our reputation; the ability of our compliance and risk management methods to effectively monitor and manage our risks; restrictions imposed by our debt obligations and our ability to make payments on or refinance our debt obligations; our ability to maintain an investment grade credit rating; impairment of our goodwill, long-lived assets, investments, or intangible assets; the accuracy of our estimates and expectations; and litigation risks and other liabilities. More detailed information about factors that may affect our actual results to differ may be found in our filings with the SEC, including in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and other filings made from time to time with the SEC.
We do not undertake, and we expressly disclaim, any duty to update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.
The condensed consolidated statements of income and balance sheets are unaudited and subject to revision.
Cboe Media Contacts: | Analyst Contact: | |||||||||||||
Angela Tu | Tim Cave | Kenneth Hill, CFA | ||||||||||||
(646) 856-8734 | +44 (0) 7593-506-719 | (312) 786-7559 | ||||||||||||
atu@cboe.com | tcave@cboe.com | khill@cboe.com | ||||||||||||
CBOE-F
Trademarks:
Cboe®, Cboe Global Markets®, Cboe Volatility Index®, Cboe Clear®, Cboe Datashop®, BIDS Trading®, BZX®, BYX®, EDGX®, EDGA®, and VIX® are registered trademarks and Cboe Data VantageSM is a service mark of Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.
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| News Release Page 6 of 15 | |||||||
Cboe Global Markets, Inc.
Key Performance Statistics by Business Segment
1Q 2026 | 4Q 2025 | 3Q 2025 | 2Q 2025 | 1Q 2025 | |||||||||||||
Options | |||||||||||||||||
Total industry ADV (in thousands) | 68,894 | 66,608 | 60,798 | 57,203 | 58,444 | ||||||||||||
Total Company Options ADV (in thousands): | 20,076 | 19,419 | 18,775 | 17,301 | 18,183 | ||||||||||||
Multi-listed options | 13,940 | 13,965 | 13,911 | 12,615 | 13,412 | ||||||||||||
Index options | 6,136 | 5,454 | 4,864 | 4,686 | 4,771 | ||||||||||||
Total Options Market Share: | 29.1 | % | 29.2 | % | 30.9 | % | 30.2 | % | 31.1 | % | |||||||
Multi-listed options | 22.3 | % | 22.9 | % | 24.9 | % | 24.0 | % | 25.0 | % | |||||||
Total Options RPC: | $ | 0.343 | $ | 0.317 | $ | 0.281 | $ | 0.300 | $ | 0.287 | |||||||
Multi-listed options | $ | 0.080 | $ | 0.075 | $ | 0.055 | $ | 0.068 | $ | 0.066 | |||||||
Index options | $ | 0.940 | $ | 0.938 | $ | 0.926 | $ | 0.923 | $ | 0.908 | |||||||
North American Equities | |||||||||||||||||
U.S. Equities - Exchange: | |||||||||||||||||
Total industry ADV (shares in billions) | 20.0 | 18.6 | 17.6 | 18.4 | 15.7 | ||||||||||||
Market share % | 9.8 | % | 9.4 | % | 9.8 | % | 10.5 | % | 10.5 | % | |||||||
Net capture (per 100 touched shares) | $ | 0.017 | $ | 0.018 | $ | 0.015 | $ | 0.012 | $ | 0.014 | |||||||
U.S. Equities - Off-Exchange: | |||||||||||||||||
ADV (touched shares, in millions) | 249.2 | 197.0 | 202.3 | 125.5 | 90.6 | ||||||||||||
Off-Exchange ATS block market share % (reported on a one-month lag) | 17.0 | % | 17.0 | % | 17.9 | % | 14.9 | % | 17.1 | % | |||||||
Net capture (per 100 touched shares) | $ | 0.063 | $ | 0.064 | $ | 0.064 | $ | 0.082 | $ | 0.117 | |||||||
Canadian Equities: | |||||||||||||||||
ADV (matched shares, in millions) | 215.8 | 195.9 | 163.8 | 150.6 | 159.6 | ||||||||||||
Total market share % | 12.5 | % | 12.7 | % | 12.5 | % | 12.7 | % | 13.8 | % | |||||||
Net capture (per 10,000 shares, in Canadian dollars) | $ | 4.329 | $ | 3.962 | $ | 4.142 | $ | 4.222 | $ | 4.250 | |||||||
Europe and Asia Pacific | |||||||||||||||||
European Equities: | |||||||||||||||||
Total industry ADNV (Euros - in billions) | € | 67.8 | € | 49.1 | € | 46.1 | € | 54.5 | € | 55.8 | |||||||
Market share % | 25.5 | % | 24.8 | % | 25.4 | % | 25.1 | % | 24.8 | % | |||||||
Net capture (per matched notional value (bps), in Euros) | € | 0.272 | € | 0.278 | € | 0.288 | € | 0.261 | € | 0.252 | |||||||
Cboe Clear Europe: | |||||||||||||||||
Trades cleared (in thousands) | 434,717.3 | 322,339.2 | 329,293.1 | 400,935.8 | 412,072.2 | ||||||||||||
Fee per trade cleared (in Euros) | € | 0.009 | € | 0.010 | € | 0.010 | € | 0.008 | € | 0.008 | |||||||
Net settlement volume (shares in thousands) | 3,931.2 | 3,603.7 | 3,541.9 | 3,289.3 | 3,200.7 | ||||||||||||
Net fee per settlement (in Euros) | € | 1.044 | € | 1.113 | € | 1.015 | € | 0.956 | € | 0.951 | |||||||
Australian Equities: | |||||||||||||||||
ADNV (Australian dollars - in billions) | $ | 1.2 | $ | 1.0 | $ | 1.0 | $ | 1.0 | $ | 0.8 | |||||||
Market share % - Continuous | 20.6 | % | 20.6 | % | 20.6 | % | 20.0 | % | 19.4 | % | |||||||
Net capture (per matched notional value (bps), in Australian dollars) | $ | 0.208 | $ | 0.207 | $ | 0.206 | $ | 0.160 | $ | 0.156 | |||||||
Futures | |||||||||||||||||
ADV (in thousands) | 283.3 | 239.2 | 200.7 | 220.5 | 249.4 | ||||||||||||
RPC | $ | 1.649 | $ | 1.717 | $ | 1.745 | $ | 1.691 | $ | 1.740 | |||||||
Global FX | |||||||||||||||||
ADNV ($ - in billions) | $ | 70.4 | $ | 53.3 | $ | 49.9 | $ | 55.9 | $ | 51.9 | |||||||
Net capture (per one million dollars traded) | $ | 2.87 | $ | 2.95 | $ | 2.89 | $ | 2.81 | $ | 2.77 | |||||||
Note, in the second quarter of 2025, Digital futures products were transitioned to Cboe Futures Exchange. Futures metrics prior to the second quarter of 2025 exclude Digital futures products.
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ADV = average daily volume; ADNV = average daily notional value.
RPC, average revenue per contract, for options and futures, represents total net transaction fees recognized for the period divided by total contracts traded during the period.
Touched volume represents the total number of shares of equity securities and ETFs internally matched on our exchanges or routed to and executed on an external market center.
Matched volume represents the total number of shares of equity securities and ETFs executed on our exchanges.
U.S. Equities - Exchange, "net capture per 100 touched shares" refers to transaction fees less liquidity payments and routing and clearing costs divided by the product of one-hundredth ADV of touched shares on BZX, BYX, EDGX and EDGA and the number of trading days. U.S. Equities - Off-Exchange data reflects BIDS Trading. For U.S. Equities - Off-Exchange, “net capture per 100 touched shares” refers to transaction fees less order and execution management system (OMS/EMS) fees and clearing costs divided by the product of one-hundredth ADV of touched shares on BIDS Trading and the number of trading days for the period.
Canadian Equities, “net capture per 10,000 shares” refers to transaction fees divided by the product of one-ten thousandth ADV of shares for Cboe Canada and the number of trading days. Total market share represents Cboe Canada volume divided by the total volume of the Canadian Equities market.
European Equities, "net capture per matched notional value" refers to transaction fees less liquidity payments in Euros divided by the product of ADNV in Euros of shares matched on Cboe Europe Equities and the number of trading days. “Trades cleared” refers to the total number of non-interoperable trades cleared, "Fee per trade cleared" refers to clearing fees divided by number of non-interoperable trades cleared, “Net settlement volume” refers to the total number of settlements executed after netting, and "Net fee per settlement" refers to settlement fees less direct costs incurred to settle divided by the number of settlements executed after netting.
Australian Equities data reflects data from Cboe Australia. Australian Equities, “net capture per matched notional value” refers to transaction fees less liquidity payments in Australian dollars divided by the product of ADNV in Australian dollars of shares matched on Cboe Australia and the number of Australian Equities trading days.
Global FX, "net capture per one million dollars traded" refers to transaction fees less liquidity payments, if any, divided by the Spot and SEF products of one-thousandth of ADNV traded on the Cboe FX Markets and the number of trading days, divided by two, which represents the buyer and seller that are both charged on the transaction.
Average transaction fees per contract can be affected by various factors, including exchange fee rates, volume-based discounts, and transaction mix by contract type and product type.
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Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Unaudited)
Three Months Ended March 31, 2026 and 2025
Three Months Ended March 31, | ||||||||||||||
(in millions, except per share amounts) | 2026 | 2025 | ||||||||||||
Revenues: | ||||||||||||||
Cash and spot markets | $ | 482.2 | $ | 500.9 | ||||||||||
Data Vantage | 181.3 | 152.5 | ||||||||||||
Derivatives markets | 609.3 | 541.6 | ||||||||||||
Total Revenues | 1,272.8 | 1,195.0 | ||||||||||||
Cost of Revenues: | ||||||||||||||
Liquidity payments | 446.1 | 394.8 | ||||||||||||
Routing and clearing | 20.0 | 19.6 | ||||||||||||
Regulatory fees cost of revenues | — | 153.1 | ||||||||||||
Royalty fees and other cost of revenues | 77.8 | 62.3 | ||||||||||||
Total Cost of Revenues | 543.9 | 629.8 | ||||||||||||
Revenues Less Cost of Revenues | 728.9 | 565.2 | ||||||||||||
Operating Expenses: | ||||||||||||||
Compensation and benefits | 127.9 | 116.2 | ||||||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | 29.5 | 30.3 | ||||||||||||
Technology support services | 27.6 | 25.6 | ||||||||||||
Professional fees and outside services | 18.3 | 20.8 | ||||||||||||
Travel and promotional expenses | 8.0 | 6.4 | ||||||||||||
Facilities costs | 6.2 | 6.2 | ||||||||||||
Acquisition-related costs | — | 0.2 | ||||||||||||
Other expenses | 5.8 | 5.6 | ||||||||||||
Total Operating Expenses | 223.3 | 211.3 | ||||||||||||
Operating Income | 505.6 | 353.9 | ||||||||||||
Non-operating Income (Expenses): | ||||||||||||||
Interest expense | (13.3) | (12.8) | ||||||||||||
Interest income | 17.7 | 8.4 | ||||||||||||
Loss on investments, net | (0.7) | (3.3) | ||||||||||||
Other income, net | 6.2 | 4.0 | ||||||||||||
Total Non-operating Income (Expenses) | 9.9 | (3.7) | ||||||||||||
Income Before Income Tax Provision | 515.5 | 350.2 | ||||||||||||
Income tax provision | 129.8 | 99.6 | ||||||||||||
Net Income | 385.7 | 250.6 | ||||||||||||
Net income allocated to participating securities | (1.6) | (1.2) | ||||||||||||
Net Income Allocated to Common Stockholders | $ | 384.1 | $ | 249.4 | ||||||||||
Net Income Per Share Allocated to Common Stockholders: | ||||||||||||||
Basic earnings per share | $ | 3.67 | $ | 2.38 | ||||||||||
Diluted earnings per share | 3.66 | 2.37 | ||||||||||||
Weighted average shares used in computing income per share: | ||||||||||||||
Basic | 104.7 | 104.7 | ||||||||||||
Diluted | 105.0 | 105.1 | ||||||||||||
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Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)
March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025
(in millions) | March 31, 2026 | December 31, 2025 | |||||||||
Assets | |||||||||||
Current assets: | |||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 2,134.4 | $ | 2,216.5 | |||||||
Financial investments | 35.9 | 36.1 | |||||||||
Accounts receivable, net | 514.6 | 391.4 | |||||||||
Margin deposits, default fund, and interoperability fund | 3,443.9 | 1,618.2 | |||||||||
Income taxes receivable | — | 67.9 | |||||||||
| Other current assets | 95.3 | 91.3 | |||||||||
Total current assets | 6,224.1 | 4,421.4 | |||||||||
Investments | 31.4 | 32.4 | |||||||||
Property and equipment, net | 137.4 | 133.1 | |||||||||
Operating lease right of use assets | 105.1 | 111.0 | |||||||||
Goodwill | 3,142.4 | 3,150.5 | |||||||||
Intangible assets, net | 1,274.6 | 1,297.2 | |||||||||
Other assets, net | 155.6 | 159.7 | |||||||||
Total assets | $ | 11,070.6 | $ | 9,305.3 | |||||||
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity | |||||||||||
Current liabilities: | |||||||||||
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities | $ | 332.8 | $ | 686.9 | |||||||
Current portion of long-term debt | 649.5 | — | |||||||||
Section 31 fees payable | 0.2 | 0.2 | |||||||||
Deferred revenue | 16.8 | 6.9 | |||||||||
Margin deposits, default fund, and interoperability fund | 3,443.9 | 1,618.2 | |||||||||
Income taxes payable | 50.4 | 50.1 | |||||||||
Total current liabilities | 4,493.6 | 2,362.3 | |||||||||
Long-term debt | 793.9 | 1,442.9 | |||||||||
Non-current unrecognized tax benefits | 22.0 | 15.8 | |||||||||
Deferred income taxes | 233.0 | 185.3 | |||||||||
Non-current operating lease liabilities | 114.6 | 120.9 | |||||||||
Other non-current liabilities | 40.0 | 39.8 | |||||||||
Total liabilities | 5,697.1 | 4,167.0 | |||||||||
Stockholders’ Equity: | |||||||||||
Preferred stock | — | — | |||||||||
Common stock | 1.0 | 1.0 | |||||||||
Treasury stock, at cost | (75.1) | (1.5) | |||||||||
Additional paid-in capital | 1,583.0 | 1,565.1 | |||||||||
Retained earnings | 3,853.5 | 3,543.6 | |||||||||
Accumulated other comprehensive income, net | 11.1 | 30.1 | |||||||||
Total stockholders’ equity | 5,373.5 | 5,138.3 | |||||||||
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity | $ | 11,070.6 | $ | 9,305.3 | |||||||
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Table 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net Transaction and Clearing Fees by Business Segment Three Months Ended March 31, 2026 and 2025 (in millions) | Consolidated March 31, | Options March 31, | N.A. Equities March 31, | Europe and APAC March 31, | Futures March 31, | Global FX March 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2026 | 2025 | 2026 | 2025 | 2026 | 2025 | 2026 | 2025 | 2026 | 2025 | 2026 | 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Transaction and clearing fees | $ | 1,026.4 | $ | 832.6 | $ | 559.2 | $ | 464.5 | $ | 342.0 | $ | 271.7 | $ | 68.6 | $ | 50.8 | $ | 30.3 | $ | 27.1 | $ | 26.3 | $ | 18.5 | ||||||||||||||
Liquidity payments | (446.1) | (394.8) | (135.2) | (146.8) | (295.9) | (235.3) | (13.1) | (11.3) | (1.9) | (1.4) | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Routing and clearing | (20.0) | (19.6) | (4.0) | (4.3) | (8.6) | (9.6) | (6.7) | (5.3) | — | — | (0.7) | (0.4) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net transaction and clearing fees | $ | 560.3 | $ | 418.2 | $ | 420.0 | $ | 313.4 | $ | 37.5 | $ | 26.8 | $ | 48.8 | $ | 34.2 | $ | 28.4 | $ | 25.7 | $ | 25.6 | $ | 18.1 | ||||||||||||||
Table 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net Revenue by Revenue Caption Three Months Ended March 31, 2026 and 2025 (in millions) | Cash and Spot Markets March 31, | Data Vantage March 31, | Derivatives Markets March 31, | Total March 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2026 | 2025 | 2026 | 2025 | 2026 | 2025 | 2026 | 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||
Transaction and clearing fees | $ | 436.9 | $ | 341.0 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 589.5 | $ | 491.6 | $ | 1,026.4 | $ | 832.6 | ||||||||||
Access and capacity fees | — | — | 113.2 | 97.8 | — | — | 113.2 | 97.8 | ||||||||||||||||||
Market data fees | 15.7 | 15.7 | 67.1 | 54.0 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 91.8 | 77.8 | ||||||||||||||||||
Regulatory fees | 0.3 | 120.7 | — | — | 10.1 | 41.1 | 10.4 | 161.8 | ||||||||||||||||||
Other revenue | 29.3 | 23.5 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 31.0 | 25.0 | ||||||||||||||||||
Total revenues | $ | 482.2 | $ | 500.9 | $ | 181.3 | $ | 152.5 | $ | 609.3 | $ | 541.6 | $ | 1,272.8 | $ | 1,195.0 | ||||||||||
Liquidity payments | $ | 308.6 | $ | 245.7 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 137.5 | $ | 149.1 | $ | 446.1 | $ | 394.8 | ||||||||||
Routing and clearing | 15.9 | 15.3 | — | — | 4.1 | 4.3 | 20.0 | 19.6 | ||||||||||||||||||
Regulatory fees cost of revenues | — | 120.6 | — | — | — | 32.5 | — | 153.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
Royalty fees and other cost of revenues | 15.0 | 12.6 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 59.3 | 46.6 | 77.8 | 62.3 | ||||||||||||||||||
Total cost of revenues | $ | 339.5 | $ | 394.2 | $ | 3.5 | $ | 3.1 | $ | 200.9 | $ | 232.5 | $ | 543.9 | $ | 629.8 | ||||||||||
Net revenue | $ | 142.7 | $ | 106.7 | $ | 177.8 | $ | 149.4 | $ | 408.4 | $ | 309.1 | $ | 728.9 | $ | 565.2 | ||||||||||
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Non-GAAP Information
In addition to disclosing results determined in accordance with GAAP, Cboe Global Markets has disclosed certain non-GAAP measures of operating performance. These measures are not in accordance with, or a substitute for, GAAP, and may be different from or inconsistent with non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The non-GAAP measures provided in this press release include adjusted operating expenses, adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, adjusted net income allocated to common stockholders, adjusted diluted earnings per share, effective tax rate on adjusted earnings, adjusted income before income taxes, operating EBITDA, operating EBITDA margin, adjusted operating EBITDA, adjusted operating EBITDA margin, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted cash, and net revenue in constant currency.
Management believes that the non-GAAP financial measures presented in this press release provide additional and comparative information to assess trends in our core operations and a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Non-GAAP financial measures disclosed by management are provided as additional information to investors in order to provide them with an alternative method for assessing our financial condition and operating results.
The tables below show the reconciliation of each financial measure from GAAP to non-GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures exclude the impact of those items detailed below and are referred to as adjusted financial measures.
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Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Information
Table 5 (in millions, except percentages and per share amounts) | Three Months Ended March 31, | |||||||||||||
2026 | 2025 | |||||||||||||
Reconciliation of Net Income Allocated to Common Stockholders to Non-GAAP (As shown on Table 1) | ||||||||||||||
Net income allocated to common stockholders | $ | 384.1 | $ | 249.4 | ||||||||||
Non-GAAP adjustments | ||||||||||||||
Acquisition-related costs (1) | — | 0.2 | ||||||||||||
Amortization of acquired intangible assets (2) | 16.7 | 18.4 | ||||||||||||
Business realignment costs (3) | 5.1 | 0.3 | ||||||||||||
Executive compensation adjustment (4) | 0.6 | — | ||||||||||||
Non-operating investment adjustments, net (5) | (0.1) | (0.4) | ||||||||||||
Total Non-GAAP adjustments | 22.3 | 18.5 | ||||||||||||
Income tax expense related to the items above | (6.1) | (4.7) | ||||||||||||
Deferred tax re-measurements (6) | (0.6) | — | ||||||||||||
Tax reserves (6) | (11.4) | — | ||||||||||||
Net income allocated to participating securities - effect on reconciling items | (0.1) | (0.1) | ||||||||||||
Adjusted earnings | $ | 388.2 | $ | 263.1 | ||||||||||
Reconciliation of Diluted EPS to Non-GAAP | ||||||||||||||
Diluted earnings per common share | $ | 3.66 | $ | 2.37 | ||||||||||
Per share impact of non-GAAP adjustments noted above | 0.04 | 0.13 | ||||||||||||
Adjusted diluted earnings per common share | $ | 3.70 | $ | 2.50 | ||||||||||
Reconciliation of Operating Margin to Non-GAAP | ||||||||||||||
Revenues less cost of revenues | $ | 728.9 | $ | 565.2 | ||||||||||
Operating expenses (7) | $ | 223.3 | $ | 211.3 | ||||||||||
Non-GAAP adjustments noted above | 22.4 | 18.9 | ||||||||||||
Adjusted operating expenses | $ | 200.9 | $ | 192.4 | ||||||||||
Operating income | $ | 505.6 | $ | 353.9 | ||||||||||
Non-GAAP adjustments noted above | 22.4 | 18.9 | ||||||||||||
Adjusted operating income | $ | 528.0 | $ | 372.8 | ||||||||||
Adjusted operating margin (8) | 72.4 | % | 66.0 | % | ||||||||||
Reconciliation of Income Tax Rate to Non-GAAP | ||||||||||||||
Income before income taxes | $ | 515.5 | $ | 350.2 | ||||||||||
Non-GAAP adjustments noted above | 22.3 | 18.5 | ||||||||||||
Adjusted income before income taxes | $ | 537.8 | $ | 368.7 | ||||||||||
Income tax expense | $ | 129.8 | $ | 99.6 | ||||||||||
Non-GAAP adjustments noted above | 18.1 | 4.7 | ||||||||||||
Adjusted income tax expense | $ | 147.9 | $ | 104.3 | ||||||||||
Adjusted income tax rate | 27.5 | % | 28.3 | % | ||||||||||
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(1)This amount includes acquisition-related costs primarily from the company’s Cboe Digital, Cboe Canada, and Cboe Asia Pacific acquisitions, which are included in acquisition-related costs on the condensed consolidated statements of income.
(2)This amount represents the amortization of acquired intangible assets related to the company’s acquisitions, which is included in depreciation and amortization on the condensed consolidated statements of income.
(3)This amount represents certain business realignment costs related to announced business realignment initiatives. For the three months ended March 31, 2026, the costs included $1.6 million in compensation and benefits, $1.8 million in technology support services, $1.5 million in professional fees and outside services, and $0.2 million in other expenses, respectively, on the condensed consolidated statements of income. For the three months ended March 31, 2025, the costs included $0.3 million in compensation and benefits on the condensed consolidated statements of income.
(4)This amount represents the CEO sign-on long-term equity awards granted in 2025 with a grant date value of $6.0 million (comprised of a mixture of time and performance-based awards) that are subject to a 3-year cliff vesting requirement associated with the hiring of Craig Donohue as Chief Executive Officer, which is included in compensation and benefits on the condensed consolidated statements of income. This amount does not include the CEO's annual long-term equity incentive awards that were prorated for 2025.
(5)This amount represents net gains and losses associated with the PYTH token intangible assets and from the company's minority investments in Abaxx Singapore Pte and American Financial Exchange, LLC, which are included in loss on investments, net on the condensed consolidated statements of income.
(6)These amounts represent the tax impact related to resolution of uncertain tax positions for the three months ended March 31, 2026.
(7)The company sponsors deferred compensation plans held in a trust. The expenses or income related to the deferred compensation plans are included in compensation and benefits ($0.4 million and $12.4 million in expense for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively) and are directly offset by deferred compensation income and expenses included in loss on investments, net, and dividends included in other income, net ($0.4 million and $12.4 million in income, expense, and dividends in the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively) on the condensed consolidated statements of income. The deferred compensation plans' expenses are not excluded from adjusted operating expenses and do not have an impact on income before income taxes.
(8)Adjusted operating margin represents adjusted operating income divided by revenues less cost of revenues.
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EBITDA Reconciliations
EBITDA (earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization) and Adjusted EBITDA are widely used non-GAAP financial measures of operating performance. These metrics are presented as supplemental information that the company believes are useful to investors to evaluate the company's results because they exclude certain items that are not directly related to the company’s core operating performance. Operating EBITDA is calculated by adding back to operating income depreciation and amortization. Adjusted Operating EBITDA is calculated by adding back to Operating EBITDA relevant adjustments. Operating EBITDA margin represents Operating EBITDA divided by revenues less cost of revenues. Adjusted Operating EBITDA margin represents Adjusted Operating EBITDA divided by revenues less cost of revenues. EBITDA is calculated by adding back to net income interest (income) expense, net, income tax expense, and depreciation and amortization. EBITDA margin represents EBITDA divided by revenues less cost of revenues. Adjusted EBITDA is calculated by adding back to EBITDA relevant adjustments. Adjusted EBITDA margin represents Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenues less cost of revenues. Relevant adjustments are detailed in the reconciliations that follow. Operating EBITDA, Adjusted Operating EBITDA, EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as substitutes either for net income, as an indicator of the company’s operating performance, or for cash flow as a measure of the company’s liquidity. In addition, because Operating EBITDA, Operating EBITDA margin, Adjusted Operating EBITDA, Adjusted Operating EBITDA margin, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA margin may not be calculated identically by all companies, the presentation here may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies.
Table 6 (in millions, except percentages) | Three Months Ended March 31, | |||||||||||||
Reconciliation of Operating Income to Operating EBITDA and Adjusted Operating EBITDA (Per Table 1) | 2026 | 2025 | ||||||||||||
Operating income | $ | 505.6 | $ | 353.9 | ||||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | 29.5 | 30.3 | ||||||||||||
Operating EBITDA | $ | 535.1 | $ | 384.2 | ||||||||||
Operating EBITDA Margin | 73.4 | % | 68.0 | % | ||||||||||
Non-GAAP adjustments not included in above line items | ||||||||||||||
Acquisition-related costs | $ | — | $ | 0.2 | ||||||||||
Business realignment costs | 5.1 | 0.3 | ||||||||||||
Executive compensation adjustment | 0.6 | — | ||||||||||||
Adjusted Operating EBITDA | $ | 540.8 | $ | 384.7 | ||||||||||
Adjusted Operating EBITDA Margin | 74.2 | % | 68.1 | % | ||||||||||
Reconciliation of Net Income Allocated to Common Stockholders to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (Per Table 1) | 2026 | 2025 | ||||||||||||
Net income allocated to common stockholders | $ | 384.1 | $ | 249.4 | ||||||||||
Interest (income) expense, net | (4.4) | 4.4 | ||||||||||||
Income tax provision | 129.8 | 99.6 | ||||||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | 29.5 | 30.3 | ||||||||||||
EBITDA | $ | 539.0 | $ | 383.7 | ||||||||||
EBITDA Margin | 73.9 | % | 67.9 | % | ||||||||||
Non-GAAP adjustments not included in above line items | ||||||||||||||
| Acquisition-related costs | — | 0.2 | ||||||||||||
| Business realignment costs | 5.1 | 0.3 | ||||||||||||
| Executive compensation adjustment | 0.6 | — | ||||||||||||
| Non-operating investment adjustments, net | (0.1) | (0.4) | ||||||||||||
Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 544.6 | $ | 383.8 | ||||||||||
Adjusted EBITDA Margin | 74.7 | % | 67.9 | % | ||||||||||
Table 7 (in millions) | March 31, | December 31, | ||||||||||||
Reconciliation of Cash and Cash Equivalents to Adjusted Cash | 2026 | 2025 | ||||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 2,134.4 | $ | 2,216.5 | ||||||||||
Financial investments | 35.9 | 36.1 | ||||||||||||
Less deferred compensation plan assets | (35.4) | (35.8) | ||||||||||||
Adjusted Cash | $ | 2,134.9 | $ | 2,216.8 | ||||||||||
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Table 8 (in millions) | Three Months Ended March 31, | |||||||||||||
Reconciliation of GAAP Net Revenue to Net Revenue in Constant Currency | 2026 | 2025 | ||||||||||||
Europe and Asia Pacific net revenue | $ | 84.9 | $ | 64.1 | ||||||||||
Constant currency adjustment | (8.2) | — | ||||||||||||
Europe and Asia Pacific net revenue in constant currency1 | $ | 76.7 | $ | 64.1 | ||||||||||
(1)Net revenue in constant currency is calculated by converting the current period GAAP net revenue in local currency using the foreign currency exchange rates that were in effect during the previous comparable period.
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FAQ
How did Cboe (CBOE) perform financially in Q1 2026?
Cboe delivered strong Q1 2026 results with robust growth. Net revenue rose 29 percent to $728.9 million, while net income allocated to common stockholders increased 54 percent to $384.1 million. Diluted EPS reached $3.66 and adjusted diluted EPS was $3.70, both sharply higher year over year.
What guidance did Cboe (CBOE) provide for its 2026 results?
Cboe raised 2026 growth guidance and lowered cost expectations. It now targets 2026 organic total net revenue growth in the ‘low double-digit to mid-teens’ range and expects adjusted operating expenses between $838 million and $853 million, down from prior guidance of $864 million to $879 million.
What restructuring and cost-saving actions is Cboe (CBOE) undertaking?
Cboe announced additional actions under its strategic realignment. It expects pre-tax restructuring charges of $36 million to $46 million, mainly for severance, and anticipates annualized pre-tax cost savings of $40 million to $50 million, including $20 million to $25 million of savings expected in 2026.
How will Cboe’s strategic realignment affect its workforce?
Cboe anticipates a sizable reduction in headcount. When the new strategic realignment actions are combined with earlier moves to sell, wind down, and optimize certain businesses, the company expects to reduce its workforce by approximately 20 percent, subject to local law and consultation requirements.
Which Cboe (CBOE) business segments drove Q1 2026 growth?
Growth was broad-based across Cboe’s segments. Options net revenue rose 33 percent to $467.6 million, North American Equities increased 18 percent, Europe and APAC climbed 32 percent to $84.9 million, and Global FX net revenue advanced 38 percent, reflecting higher volumes and improved fee capture.