MarketAxess Reports Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results

11% Increase in Revenue to Record $219.5 Million; Strong Progress with New Initiatives to Drive Growth

Record Block Trading ADV, Record Total Portfolio Trading ADV and Strong Growth in Dealer-Initiated ADV

EPS of $1.91; $2.00 Excluding Notable Items¹

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX), the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2025.

2Q25 select financial and operational highlights*

• 11% increase in total revenues to a record $219.5 million, including an approximately $2.1 million increase from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.
  • Record total commission revenue of $191.8 million increased 12%, driven by record total credit commission revenue, up 10%, and record total rates commission revenue, up 40%.
    • Record emerging markets (+16%), record eurobonds (+22%) and record U.S. government bond (+49%) commission revenue.
  • Record services revenue (combined information, post-trade and technology services revenue) of $27.7 million, up 7%.
• Strong progress with our new initiatives across our three strategic channels:
  • Client-Initiated Channel - strong growth in block trading average daily volume ("ADV") with record ADV across U.S. credit block trading (+37%), emerging markets (+27%), and eurobonds (+100%).
  • Portfolio Trading Channel - 69% increase in total portfolio trading ADV to record $1.5 billion.
  • Dealer-Initiated Channel - dealer-initiated ADV increased 40% to $1.8 billion, including record levels of eurobonds activity.
• Total expenses of $127.6 million increased 10%, including an approximately $1.7 million increase from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations. Total expenses excluding notable items¹ of $123.6 million increased 6%.
• Diluted earnings-per-share ("EPS") of $1.91 increased 11%; EPS excluding notable items¹ of $2.00 increased 16%.

*All comparisons versus 2Q24

Chris Concannon, CEO of MarketAxess, commented:

"In the second quarter, we made significant strides in enhancing our client franchise, increasing client engagement with X-Pro, and delivering on our new initiatives across our client-initiated, portfolio trading and dealer-initiated channels. Strong progress with our new initiatives, combined with a favorable market backdrop, helped drive record levels of revenue and ADV across most product areas and regions in the quarter.

As we move through the back-half of 2025, we are focused on growing our targeted block trading solution in the client-initiated channel, continuing to enhance our portfolio trading solution for clients, and launching our new Mid-X solution in the dealer-initiated channel. Additionally, over the last several months, we have made several strategic hires in key roles that we believe will enhance our ability to drive growth.

We are executing our long-term strategy to drive growth, we are showing strong progress with our new initiatives, and we now have key leaders in place to help drive growth in 2025 and beyond."

Table 1: 2Q25 select financial results

2Q25 overview of results

Table 1A: Notable items¹

Notable items¹

• Notable items in 2Q25 include repositioning charges of $4.0 million, which were principally severance costs related to changes in management structure, and an acquisition-related charge of $0.6 million.

Commission revenue

Table 1B: 2Q25 variable transaction fees per million (FPM)

Credit

• Record total credit commission revenue of $176.6 million (including $33.6 million in fixed-distribution fees) increased $15.8 million, or 10%, compared to $160.8 million (including $33.2 million in fixed-distribution fees) in the prior year, and increased 4% from 1Q25 levels. A 22% increase in total credit ADV compared to the prior year, driven in part by strong growth in market volumes, was partially offset by a 7% decrease in total credit variable transaction fee per million ("FPM"). The 10% increase in total credit commission revenue was driven by strong growth in U.S. credit commission revenue, up 7%, record emerging markets commission revenue, up 16%, and record eurobonds commission revenue, up 22%, reflecting continued product and geographic diversification. The decline in 2Q25 total credit FPM both year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter was due principally to protocol mix.

Rates

• Record total rates commission revenue of $8.1 million increased $2.3 million, or 40%, compared to the prior year, and increased 16% from 1Q25 levels. A 58% increase in total rates ADV compared to the prior year, driven in part by strong growth in market volumes, was partially offset by a 9% decrease in FPM. The decrease in 2Q25 total rates FPM both year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter was driven by the impact of product mix.

Other

• Record total other commission revenue of $7.1 million increased $2.0 million, or 39%, compared to the prior year driven by the inclusion of approximately $1.8 million from RFQ-Hub, which was acquired in mid-May 2025.

Services revenue

• Record services revenue of $27.7 million increased $1.7 million, or 7%, compared to the prior year, driven by growth across information, post-trade and technology services.

Information services

• Information services revenue of $13.1 million increased $0.5 million, or 4%, compared to the prior year. The increase was principally driven by an increase of $0.4 million from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations and net new data contract revenue.

Post-trade services

• Post-trade services revenue of $11.1 million increased $0.7 million, or 7%, compared to the prior year mainly due to an increase of $0.6 million from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations and net new contract revenue.

Technology services

• Total technology services revenue of $3.5 million increased $0.5 million, or 16%, compared to the prior year. The increase was driven by higher license fees of $0.3 million and connectivity fees of $0.2 million from RFQ-hub, which was acquired in mid-May 2025.

Expenses

• Total expenses of $127.6 million increased 10% from the prior year, including an increase of $1.7 million from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations. Total expenses excluding notable items¹ were $123.6 million, an increase of 6%.

Non-operating

• Other income (expense): Other income was $5.6 million, up from $5.0 million in the prior year. The increase was driven by foreign exchange gains in the current quarter compared to foreign exchange losses in the prior quarter, offset by acquisition-related charges.
• Tax rate: The effective tax rate was 26.9%, up from 24.8% in the prior year. The higher effective tax rate is due to an increase in current period accruals for the uncertain tax position reserve established in 1Q25.

Capital

• The Company had $620.9 million in cash, cash equivalents, corporate bond investments and U.S. Treasury investments as of June 30, 2025, down from $698.6 million as of December 31, 2024. There were no outstanding borrowings under the Company's credit facility.
• A total of 379,667 shares were repurchased year-to-date through July 2025 at a cost of $80.0 million, including 167,783 shares repurchased during the second quarter at a cost of $36.7 million. As of July 31, 2025, a total of $145.0 million remained under the Board of Directors' share repurchase authorization.
• The Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.76 per share, payable on September 3, 2025 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 20, 2025.

Other

• Employee headcount was 881 as of June 30, 2025, up from 864 as of June 30, 2024, and up from 870 as of March 31, 2025.

Non-GAAP financial measures and other items

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 free 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.

Webcast and conference call information

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 Wednesday, August 6, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. ET. To access the conference call, please dial 646-307-1963 (U.S./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.

General Notes Regarding the Data Presented

Reported MarketAxess volume in all product categories includes only fully electronic trading volume. MarketAxess trading volumes and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine ("TRACE") reported volumes are available on the Company's website at investor.marketaxess.com/volume.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

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 based on 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 MarketAxess platform; the rapidly evolving nature of the electronic financial services industry; the level and 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 and our 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 between our clients in which we act as an intermediary in matched principal trades; risks related to self-clearing; risks related to sanctions levied against states or individuals that could expose us to operational or regulatory risks; the effect of rapid market or technological changes on us and the users of our technology; issues related to the development and use of artificial intelligence; our dependence on third-party suppliers for key products and services; 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 and attempted cybersecurity breaches; 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; 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 attract and retain talent; limitations on our flexibility because we operate in a highly regulated industry; the increasing government regulation of us and our clients; risks related to the divergence of U.K. and European Union legal and regulatory requirements following the U.K.'s exit from the European Union; our exposure to costs and penalties related to our extensive regulation; our risks of litigation and securities laws liability; our tax filing positions; the effects of climate change or other sustainability risks that could affect our operations or reputation; 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 Company undertakes 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.

About MarketAxess

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 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.