CME Group Inc. CME reported first-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings per share of $2.50, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.4%. The bottom line increased 3.3% year over year.

Quarterly results benefited from an increase in trading volumes. Average daily volume increased in four of its six asset classes.

CME Group Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise CME Group Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

CME Group Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | CME Group Inc. Quote

Performance in Detail

CME Group’s revenues of $1.5 billion increased 3.2% year over year. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to higher clearing and transaction fees (up 0.7% year over year), market data and information services (up 5.8% year over year) and other (37% year over year). The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.8%.

Total expenses inched up 0.07% year over year to $528.3 million, attributable to higher technology, compensation and benefits, as well as licensing and other fee agreements. It exceeded our estimate of $468.1 million.

Operating income increased 5% from the prior-year quarter to $959.6 million but missed our estimate of $995.2 million.

Average daily volume (ADV) was 26.4 million contracts, which decreased 1.9% year over year. Non-U.S. ADV reached 7.4 million contracts.
The total average rate per contract was 69.5 cents.

Financial Update

As of Mar 31, 2024, CME Group had $1.5 billion of cash and marketable securities, down 48.5% from the 2023-end level. As of Mar 31, 2024, long-term debt was $2.6 billion, down 21.8% from 2023-end.

As of Mar 31, 2024, CME had shareholders' equity worth $27.1 billion, up 1.5% from the end of 2023.

Capital Deployment

CME Group paid out $2.3 billion in dividends, taking the payout to $24.8 billion since the implementation of the variable dividend policy in early 2012.

Zacks Rank

CME currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Upcoming Releases

Nasdaq, Inc. NDAQ is set to report first-quarter 2024 results on Apr 25, before market open. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings per share is pegged at 65 cents, suggesting a decline of 5.8% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

NDAQ’s earnings beat estimates in each of the last four quarters.

Cboe Global Markets, Inc. CBOE is slated to report first-quarter 2024 results on May 3, before market open. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings per share is pegged at $2.04, suggesting an increase of 7.3% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

CBOE’s earnings beat estimates in each of the last four quarters.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. MKTX is set to report first-quarter 2024 results on May 7, before market open. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings per share is pegged at $1.85, suggesting a decrease of 5.6% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

MKTX’s earnings beat estimates in three of the last four quarters while missing in one.



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

CME Group Inc. (CME):Free Stock Analysis Report

Nasdaq, Inc. (NDAQ):Free Stock Analysis Report

Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (CBOE):Free Stock Analysis Report

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX):Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research