CME vs VIRT vs MKTX Stock Comparison

Cme, Virtu Financial and Marketaxess Holdings Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CME Cme Group Inc.
$293.48 +11.0% 1M +8.3% 1Y
Market cap
$104.90B
P/E
23.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.97B
Div. yield
3.41%
Exchanges Financial Services
5 wins
VIRT Virtu Financial, Inc.
$54.96 +2.9% 1M +62.3% 1Y
Market cap
$8.53B
P/E
8.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.08B
Div. yield
1.75%
Institutional Trading Financial Services
7 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Virtu Financial leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Virtu Financial 7, Cme 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCMEVIRTMKTXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $104.90B $8.53B $5.81B CME
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 23.8x 8.7x 19.9x VIRT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.0x 8.0x 20.2x VIRT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.0% +20.8% +3.9% VIRT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 63.3% 13.5% — CME
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 11.7% 39.4% — VIRT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.2x 0.6x — CME
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 3.41% 1.75% 1.88% CME
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +8.3% +62.3% -1.4% VIRT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +6.1%/yr +16.3%/yr -16.4%/yr VIRT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.5% 37.4% 36.4% CME
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 61/100 61/100 45/100 VIRT

Percentile Scorecard

CMEVIRTMKTX

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCMEVIRTMKTX
Valuation 43 #55 of 96 92 #9 of 96 28 #69 of 96
Growth 23 #51 of 66 51 #33 of 66 17 #55 of 66
Profitability 92 #6 of 64 76 #16 of 64 87 #9 of 64
Financial Health 53 #44 of 93 30 #65 of 93 –
Shareholder Returns 92 #4 of 38 57 #17 of 38 49 #20 of 38
Overall 61 61 45
  • CME ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets
  • VIRT ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets
  • MKTX ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCMEVIRTMKTXSPY
1 month +11.0%+2.9%+0.6% -0.2%
3 months +12.9%-6.2%+35.3% +3.9%
6 months +3.1%+12.4%+4.2% +8.2%
Year to date +7.5%+64.9%-8.9% +12.9%
1 year +8.3%+62.3%-1.4% +12.3%
3 years +40.4%+200.5%-19.8% +87.4%
3 years, per year +12.0%+44.3%-7.1% +23.3%
5 years +34.4%+112.9%-59.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year +6.1%+16.3%-16.4% +10.9%
10 years +193.1%+317.9%+9.6% +261.1%
10 years, per year +11.4%+15.4%+0.9% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCMEVIRTMKTXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.5%37.4%36.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.7%35.8%28.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.380.430.16 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.321.67-0.04 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.1%-57.5%-73.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -10.1%-19.1%-14.7% -1.2%
52-week high $326.46$67.93$193.61 $779.14
52-week low $218.58$32.53$109.09 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCMEVIRTMKTX
P/E now vs peer median 23.8xmedian 28.3x 8.7xmedian 28.3x 19.9xmedian 28.3x
P/S now vs peer median 15.0xmedian 2.9x 2.1xmedian 2.9x 6.7xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.8xmedian 13.5x 4.3xmedian 13.5x —median 13.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 24.2xmedian 16.0x 16.4xmedian 16.0x 29.7xmedian 16.0x
P/B now vs peer median 3.9xmedian 2.4x 3.7xmedian 2.4x 4.6xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 1.74median 0.54 0.14median 0.54 2.50median 0.54

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCMEVIRTMKTX
Revenue $6.97B $4.08B $871.61M
Operating income $4.58B – $341.21M
Net income $4.42B $1.06B –
Free cash flow $4.33B $521.11M –
EPS (diluted) $12.31 $6.29 $8.29
Cash & equivalents $2.20B $1.07B $381.05M
Total debt $13.69B $2.38B –
Shares (diluted) 358.64M 87.60M 35.24M
Enterprise value $93.23B $5.17B $5.83B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCMEVIRTMKTX
P/E 23.8x 8.7x 19.9x
P/FCF 24.2x 16.4x 29.7x
P/Operating cash flow 23.7x 15.3x –
P/S 15.0x 2.1x 6.7x
P/B 3.9x 3.7x 4.6x
P/Tangible book 4.3x 3.9x 4.9x
EV/EBITDA 21.8x 4.3x –
EV/EBIT 23.2x 4.6x –
EV/Revenue 15.2x 2.4x 6.7x
EV/FCF 24.5x 18.9x –
EV/Operating cash flow 23.9x 17.6x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.74 0.14 2.50

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCMEVIRTMKTX
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.0% 20.8% 3.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 9.2% 23.1% 5.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 10.1% – -1.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 12.2% – 2.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 17.3% 36.4% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 13.1% 60.0% –
EPS growth (1Y) 19.4% 32.8% 40.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.7% 61.3% 8.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 6.4% -4.1% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 9.3% -3.6% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 6.1% -7.7% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 9.4% -3.9% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCMEVIRTMKTX
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 69.8% 55.7% –
Operating margin 65.7% – –
Pretax margin 82.8% 31.3% –
Net margin 63.3% 13.5% –
FCF margin 62.1% 12.8% –
Operating cash flow margin 63.5% 13.7% –
Return on equity 16.6% 46.9% 23.3%
Return on assets 2.3% 4.0% 12.5%
Return on invested capital 11.7% 39.4% –
Return on capital employed 12.3% – –
Asset turnover 0.0x 0.2x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 0.5x –
Stock comp / revenue 1.4% 3.0% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCMEVIRTMKTX
Debt / assets 1.8% 8.7% –
Debt / equity 0.1x 1.0x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.2x 0.6x –
Debt / FCF 0.8x 4.6x –
Liabilities / assets 86.2% 91.5% 43.3%
Equity / assets 13.8% 8.5% 56.0%
Interest coverage 26.2x 2.5x –
Current ratio 1.0x – –
Quick ratio 0.0x – –
Cash ratio 0.0x – –
Altman Z-score 0.56 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCMEVIRTMKTX
Dividend yield 3.4% 1.7% 1.9%
Net buyback yield – 1.0% –
Shareholder yield 3.4% 2.8% 1.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCMEVIRTMKTX
Forward P/E 25.0xFY2026 8.0xFY2026 20.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $11.74FY2026 $6.89FY2026 $8.17FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.8%FY2026 +20.2%FY2026 +10.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +19.0% +7.3% +10.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $7.27BFY2026 $2.93BFY2026 $944.60MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +11.6%FY2026 +36.5%FY2026 +11.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.0% +4.0% -2.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCMEVIRTMKTX
Held by institutions 88.9% 93.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,691 472 394
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.4% +6.7% +2.3%
Institutions buying 822 282 189
Institutions selling 655 142 164
Buyers to sellers 1.25 1.99 1.15

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CMEVIRTMKTX
CME 1.00 0.27 0.31
VIRT 0.27 1.00 0.16
MKTX 0.31 0.16 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CME, VIRT and MKTX?

Cme (CME) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cme (CME) $104.90B, Virtu Financial (VIRT) $8.53B, Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) $5.81B.

Which stock is cheaper, CME, VIRT and MKTX?

Virtu Financial (VIRT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cme (CME) 23.8x, Virtu Financial (VIRT) 8.7x, Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) 19.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Virtu Financial (VIRT) is cheapest (Cme (CME) 25.0x, Virtu Financial (VIRT) 8.0x, Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) 20.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Virtu Financial (VIRT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cme (CME) +9.0%, Virtu Financial (VIRT) +20.8%, Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) +3.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Cme (CME) has the highest net margin (Cme (CME) 63.3%, Virtu Financial (VIRT) 13.5%). On return on invested capital, Virtu Financial (VIRT) leads (Cme (CME) 11.7%, Virtu Financial (VIRT) 39.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Virtu Financial (VIRT) returned the most: Cme (CME) +8.3%, Virtu Financial (VIRT) +62.3%, Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) -1.4%. Over five years, Virtu Financial (VIRT) compounded fastest (Cme (CME) +6.1%/yr, Virtu Financial (VIRT) +16.3%/yr, Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) -16.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Cme (CME) has the highest dividend yield: Cme (CME) 3.41%, Virtu Financial (VIRT) 1.75%, Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) 1.88%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cme (CME) has been the steadiest (Cme (CME) 25.5%, Virtu Financial (VIRT) 37.4%, Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) 36.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CME, VIRT and MKTX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Virtu Financial (VIRT) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.