MarketAxess : 1Q 2026 MarketAxess Holdings, Inc. Earnings Call Press Release
MKTX
Published on 05/07/2026 at 11:15 am EDT
ds
12% Increase in Total Revenue to Record $233 Million Driven by 20% Growth in Revenue Outside U.S. Credit Products Strong Results Reflect Heightened Demand for Our Differentiated Liquidity by Our Global Client Network
35% Increase in Block Trading ADV With Record U.S. High-Grade, U.S. High-Yield, EM and Eurobonds Block ADV 51% Increase in Portfolio Trading ADV to Record $1.9 Billion with Record U.S. Credit and EM ADV
EPS of $2.20; $2.25 Excluding Notable Items1
NEW YORK | May 7, 2026 - MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: MKTX), the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026.
Chris Concannon, CEO of MarketAxess, commented:
"We delivered record levels of trading volume, commission revenue and services revenue, driven by increased volatility and heightened demand for our differentiated liquidity from our global client network. Our strong results were broad-based and included 20% growth in revenue outside of
U.S. credit, including record levels of commission revenue in emerging markets and eurobonds. Our new initiatives are also continuing to gain traction across our three strategic channels with record levels of ADV across block trading, portfolio trading and dealer-initiated activity.
Our MarketAxess advantage continued to strengthen in the first quarter by expanding our global network, deepening our differentiated liquidity and widening the competitive moat of our proprietary data and analytics. Our accelerating use of AI will help us deliver new trading and unique data solutions to our clients."
1Q26 select financial and operational highlights*
Record total revenues of $233.4 million increased 12%, and included an increase of approximately $3.4 million from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.
12% growth in total commission revenue to record$203 million drivenby record
total credit (+9%) and record total rates (+29%) commission revenue.
10% growth in services revenue2 to record $30 million.
20% growth in revenue outside U.S. credit, including 21% growth in combined emerging markets (record) and eurobonds (record) variable transaction revenue, reflecting the strong contribution from our international products.
Strong progress with our new initiatives across our three strategic channels:
Client-Initiated Channel - 35% increase in block trading average daily volume ("ADV") to a record $6.6 billion, including record U.S. credit (+27%), record emerging markets (+47%) and record eurobonds (+45%).
Portfolio Trading Channel - 51% increase in total portfolio trading ADV to a record $1.9 billion with record U.S. high-grade (+36%), record U.S. high-yield (+78%) and record emerging markets (+69%) portfolio trading ADV.
Dealer-Initiated Channel - 3% increase in dealer-initiated ADV to a record $1.9 billion, including 168% increase in Mid-X ADV to record levels.
Total expenses of $132.5 million increased 10%, and included an increase of approximately $2.2 million from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations. Total expenses, excluding notable items,1 of $130.3 million increased 8%.
Operating margin of 43.2%, representing an increase of approximately 80 basis points; Operating margin, excluding notable items,1 of 44.2%, representing an increase of approximately 180 basis points.
Diluted earnings-per-share ("EPS") of $2.20 on net income of $78.1 million, compared to $0.40 and $15.1 million in the prior year, respectively; EPS of $2.25 on net income of $79.7 million, each excluding notable items,1 increased 20% and 14%, respectively.
Completed $300 million accelerated stockrepurchase ("ASR") agreement, which was the main driver of an approximately 6% reduction in share count compared to the prior year, enhancing EPS growth.
*All comparisons versus 1Q25
$ in millions, except per share data (unaudited)
Quarter
% Change
1Q 2026
4Q 2025
1Q 2025
QoQ
YoY
Selected GAAP-basis financial results
Revenues
$ 233 $ 209 $ 209
11 %
12 %
Expenses
132 133 120
(1 )
10
Operating margin
43.2 %
36.3 %
42.4%
+690
bps
+80
bps
Net Income
78 92 15
(15 )
418
Diluted EPS
2.20 2.51 0.40
(12 )
450
Net Income Margin
33.5 % 44.1 % 7.2%
NM
NM
Selected GAAP-basis financial results ex-notable
items (non-GAAP)1
Revenues
233 209 209
11
12
Expenses
130 132 120
(2 ) 8
Operating margin
44.2 % 36.8 % 42.4%
+740 bps
+180 bps
Net Income
80 62 70
29
14
Diluted EPS
2.25 1.68 1.87
34
20
Other Non-GAAP financial measures
EBITDA3
122 95 107
28
13
EBITDA Margin3
52.1 % 45.3 % 51.5%
+680
bps
+60
bps
NM - not meaningful
Quarter
1Q 2026 4Q 2025 1Q 2025
$ in millions, except per share data (unaudited)
Repositioning charges
$ 1.5 $ 1.1 $ -
Other notable items
0.7 - -
Notable items (pre-tax)
2.2 1.1 -
Income tax impact from notable items
(0.5 ) (0.3 ) -
Reserve for uncertain tax positions related to
prior periods
- (31.3 ) 54.9
Total notable items
$ 1.7 $ (30.5 ) $ 54.9
EPS impact
$ 0.05 $ (0.83 ) $ 1.47
Notable items1
Notable items in 1Q26 include repositioning charges of $1.5 million, which consisted of severance costs related to changes in management structure, and $0.7 million of other legal expenses.
Revenue
Record total revenues of $233.4 million increased 12% compared to the prior year and included RFQ-hub revenues of approximately $4.7 million and a $3.4 million increase from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.
Commission revenue
Quarter
% Change
1Q 2026
4Q 2025
1Q 2025
QoQ
YoY
AVG. VARIABLE TRANS. FEE PER MILLION (FPM)
Total Credit
$ 132
$ 138
$ 139
(4 ) %
(5 ) %
Total Rates
4.68
4.79
4.20
(2 )
11
Record total credit commission revenue of $183.8 million (including $33.4 million in fixed-distribution fees) increased $14.6 million, or 9%, compared to $169.1 million (including $33.3 million in fixed-distribution fees) in the prior year, and was up 11% from 4Q25 levels. A 17% increase in total credit ADV compared to the prior year, driven by growth in market volumes, was partially offset by a 5% decrease in total credit variable transaction fee per million ("FPM"). The 9% increase in total credit commission revenue was drivenby a 21% increase in emerging markets and eurobonds commission revenue, reflecting continued product and geographic diversification. The decline in 1Q26 total credit FPM year-over-year was driven by protocol and product mix, partially offset by the higher duration of bonds traded in U.S. high-grade. The quarter-over-quarter decline was due principally to product mix.
Record total rates commission revenue of $9.0 million increased $2.0 million, or 29%, compared to the prior year, and increased 33% from 4Q25 levels. The increase comparedto the prior year was drivenby a 16% increase in total rates ADV and an 11% increase in FPM.
Record total other commission revenue of $10.7 millionincreased $5.5 million, or 104%, comparedto the prior year, driven by the inclusion of approximately $4.3 million from RFQ-hub, majority control of which was acquired in 2Q25.
Services revenue
Record services revenue2 of $29.9 million increased $2.7 million, or 10%, compared to the prior year.
Information services revenue of $14.4 million increased $1.5 million, or 12%, compared to the prior year. The increase was principally driven by net new contract revenue and an increase of $0.5 million from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.
Post-trade servicesrevenue of $11.6 million increased $0.5 million, or 5%, compared to the prior year principally due to an increase of $1.0 million from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.
Total technology services revenue of $3.9 million increased $0.6 million, or 19%, compared to the prior year. The increase was driven by connectivity fees from RFQ-hub, majority control of which was acquired in 2Q25.
Expenses
Total expenses of $132.5 million increased 10% from the prior year, including approximately $3.4 million of RFQ-hub expenses and an increase of $2.2 million from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations. Total expenses, excluding notable items,1 of
$130.3 million increased 8% from the prior year.
Non-operating
Other income (expense): Other income was $3.0 million, downfrom $7.8 million in the prior year. The decrease was driven by lower interest income due to a decrease in interest rates and higher interest expense due to borrowings on the Company's cred it facility that were used, along with cash on hand, to fund the ASR, partially offset by receipt of a tax credit.
Tax rate: The effective tax rate was 24.8%, compared to 84.3% in the prior year. The effective tax rate excluding notable items1 in the prior year was 27.2%.
Capital
The Company had $537.4 million in cash, cash equivalents, corporate bond investments and U.S. Treasury investments as of March 31, 2026, down from $678.9 million as of December 31, 2025. The Company had $157.0 million in borrowings outstanding under the Company's credit facility as of March 31, 2026, as compared to $220.0 million in borrowings outstanding as of December 31, 2025. As of April 30, 2026, the Company had $137.0 million in borrowings outstanding under the Company's credit facility.
Final settlement of the previously disclosed $300.0 million ASR occurred on February 4, 2026, with the delivery of 359,782
additional shares. As of April 30, 2026, $205.0 million remained under the Board of Directors' share repurchase authorizations.
The Board declared a quarterlycash dividend of $0.78 per share, payable on June 3, 2026 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 20, 2026.
Other
Employee headcount was 859 as of March 31, 2026, down from 869 as of December 31, 2025 and 870 as of March 31, 2025.
1 See Table 1A in this release for a listing of notable items. Results excluding notable items are non-GAAP financial measures. Refer to "Non-GAAP financial measures and other items" for a discussion of these non-GAAP financial measures and Table 6 for a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures.
2 Services revenue is defined as combined information, post-trade and technology services revenue.
3 EBITDA and EBITDA margin are non-GAAP financial measures. Refer to "Non-GAAP financial measures and other items" for a discussion of these non-GAAP financial measures and Table 7 for a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures.
To supplement the Company's unaudited financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), the Company uses certain non-GAAP financial measures, including earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA"), EBITDA margin and free cash flow. From time to time, we present selected GAAP-basis financial results, excluding notable items. Notable items are revenues, expenses, other income (expense) and tax related items that are non-recurring and outside of the Company's normal course of business or other notables, such as acquisition and restructuring charges or gains/losses on sales (collectively, "notable items"). We define EBITDA margin as EBITDA divided by revenues. We define fr ee cash flow as net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities excluding the net change in trading investments and net change in securities failed-to-deliver and securities failed-to-receive from broker-dealers, clearing organizations and customers, less expenditures for furniture, equipment and leasehold improvements and capitalized software development costs. Non -GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for or superior to, financial measures determined in conformity with GAAP. The Company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures, when taken into consideration with the corresponding GAAP financial measures, provide additional information regarding the Company's operating results because they assist both investors and management in analyzing and evaluating the performance of our business. Please refer to Tables 6, 7 & 8 for a reconciliation of: (i) selected GAAP-basis financial results, each excluding notable items, to their most directly comparable GAAP measure; (ii) GAAP net income to EBITDA and GAAP net income margin to EBITDA margin; and (iii) GAAP net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities to free cash flow, in each case, the most directly comparable GAAP measure.
Chris Concannon, Chief Executive Officer and Ilene Fiszel Bieler, Chief Financial Officer, will host a conference call to discuss the Company's financial results and outlook on Thursday, May 7, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET. To access the conference call, please dial +1-800-715-9871 (U.S.) or +1-646-307-1963 (International) and use the ID 1832176. The Company will also host a live audio Webcast of the conference call on the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at http://investor.marketaxess.com. The Webcast will be archived on http://investor.marketaxess.com for 90 days following the announcement.
Reported MarketAxess volume in all product categories includes only fully electronic trading volume. MarketAxess trading volu mes and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine ("TRACE") reported volumes ar e available on the Company's website at investor.marketaxess.com/volume.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements about the outlook and prospects for the Company, market conditions and industry growth, as well as statements about the Company's future financial and operating performance. These and other statements that relate to future results and events are basedon MarketAxess' current expectations. The Company's actual results in future periods may differ materially from those currently expected or desired because of a number of risks and uncertainties, including: global economic, political and market factors; the level of trading volume transacted on the Market Axess platform; the rapidly evolving nature of the electronic financial services industry; the leveland intensity of competition in the fixed-income electronic trading industry and the pricing pressures that may result; the variability of our growth rate; our ability to introduce new fee plans andour clients' response; our ability to attract clients or adapt our technology and marketing strategy to new markets; risks related to our growing international operations; our dependence on our broker-dealer clients; the loss of any of our significant institutional investor clients; our exposure to risks resulting from non-performance by counterparties to transactions executed betweenour clients in which we act as an intermediary in matched principal trades; risks related to self -clearing; our dependence on third-party suppliers for key products and services; our ability to enter into strategic alliances and to acquire other businesses and successfully integrate them with our business; our dependence on our management team and our ability to attrac t and retain talent; risks related to sanctions levied against states or individuals that could expose us to operational or regulatory risks; the effects of climate change or other sustainability risks that could affect our operations or reputation; the effect of rap id market or technological changes on us and the users of our technology; issues relatedto the development and use of artificial intelligence; our ability to successfully maintain the integrity of our trading platform and our response to system failures, capacity constraints and business interruptions; the occurrence of design defects, errors, failures or delays with our platforms, products or services; our vulnerability to malicious cyber-attacks andattemptedcybersecuritybreaches; our actual or perceived failure to comply with privacy and data protection laws; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights or technology and defend against intellectual property infringement or other claims; our use of open-source software; limitations on our flexibility because we operate in a highly regulated industry; the increasing government regulation of us and our clients; our exposure to costs and penalties related to our extensive regulation; our risks of litigation and securities laws liability; our tax filing positions; our future capital needs and our ability to obtain capital when needed; limitations on our operating flexibility contained in our credit agreement; our exposure to financial institutions by holding cash in excess of federally insured limits; and other factors. The Companyundertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More information about these and other factors affecting MarketAxess' business and prospects is contained in MarketAxess' periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and can be accessed at www.marketaxess.com.
MarketAxess (Nasdaq: MKTX) operates a leading electronic trading platform that delivers greater trading efficiency, a diversified pool of liquidity and significant cost savings to institutional investors and broker-dealers across the global fixed-income and other markets. Approximately 2,100 firms leverage MarketAxess' patented technology to efficiently trade fixed-income securities. Our automated and algorithmic trading solutions, combined with our integrated and actionable data offerings, help our clients make faster, better-informed decisions on when and how to trade on our platform. MarketAxess' award-winning Open Trading® marketplace is widely regarded as the preferred all-to-all trading solution in the global credit markets. Founded in 2000, MarketAxess connects a robust network of market participants through an advanced full trading lifecycle solution that includes automated trading solutions, intelligent data and index products and a range of post-trade services. Learn more at www.marketaxess.com and on X @MarketAxess.
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Disclaimer
MarketAxess Holdings Inc. published this content on May 07, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on May 07, 2026 at 15:13 UTC.