MKTX vs ICE vs CME Stock Comparison

Marketaxess Holdings, Intercontinental Exchange and Cme Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CME Cme Group Inc.
$293.48 +11.0% 1M +8.3% 1Y
Market cap
$104.87B
P/E
23.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.97B
Div. yield
–
Exchanges Financial Services
9 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Cme leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (Cme 9, Marketaxess Holdings 1, Intercontinental Exchange 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMKTXICECMELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.80B $87.16B $104.87B CME
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 19.9x 21.6x 23.8x MKTX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.2x 17.9x 25.0x ICE
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.9% +6.9% +9.0% CME
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 30.1% 63.3% CME
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 8.5% 11.7% CME
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 2.6x 0.2x CME
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -1.4% -2.8% +8.3% CME
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -16.4%/yr +2.8%/yr +6.1%/yr CME
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 36.4% 25.8% 25.5% CME
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 45/100 54/100 61/100 CME

Percentile Scorecard

MKTXICECME

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

AxisMKTXICECME
Valuation 28 #69 of 96 59 #40 of 96 43 #55 of 96
Growth 17 #55 of 66 45 #37 of 66 23 #51 of 66
Profitability 87 #9 of 64 83 #12 of 64 92 #6 of 64
Financial Health – 36 #60 of 93 53 #44 of 93
Shareholder Returns 49 #20 of 38 46 #21 of 38 92 #4 of 38
Overall 45 54 61
  • MKTX ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets
  • ICE ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets
  • CME ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMKTXICECMESPY
1 month +0.6%+0.7%+11.0% -0.2%
3 months +35.3%+1.7%+12.9% +3.9%
6 months +4.2%-0.6%+3.1% +8.2%
Year to date -8.9%-4.0%+7.5% +12.9%
1 year -1.4%-2.8%+8.3% +12.3%
3 years -19.8%+48.4%+40.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year -7.1%+14.1%+12.0% +23.3%
5 years -59.2%+14.7%+34.4% +67.9%
5 years, per year -16.4%+2.8%+6.1% +10.9%
10 years +9.6%+192.0%+193.1% +261.1%
10 years, per year +0.9%+11.3%+11.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureMKTXICECMESPY
Volatility, 1Y 36.4%25.8%25.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 28.1%27.5%27.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.160.16-0.38 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.04-0.110.32 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -73.7%-35.1%-33.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -14.7%-11.2%-10.1% -1.2%
52-week high $193.61$175.10$326.46 $779.14
52-week low $109.09$122.91$218.58 $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.

MultipleMKTXICECME
P/E now vs peer median 19.9xmedian 28.3x 21.7xmedian 28.3x 23.8xmedian 28.3x
P/S now vs peer median 6.7xmedian 2.9x 6.5xmedian 2.9x 15.0xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 13.5x 15.0xmedian 13.5x 21.8xmedian 13.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 29.7xmedian 16.0x 17.2xmedian 16.0x 24.2xmedian 16.0x
P/B now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 2.4x 2.9xmedian 2.4x 3.9xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 2.50median 0.54 0.65median 0.54 1.74median 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 monthsMKTXICECME
Revenue $871.61M $13.43B $6.97B
Operating income $341.21M $5.47B $4.58B
Net income – $4.10B $4.42B
Free cash flow – $5.08B $4.33B
EPS (diluted) $8.29 $7.13 $12.31
Cash & equivalents $381.05M $1.07B $2.20B
Total debt – $19.85B $13.69B
Shares (diluted) 35.24M 566.00M 358.64M
Enterprise value $5.80B $80.90B $93.21B

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
MetricMKTXICECME
P/E 19.9x 21.7x 23.8x
P/FCF 29.7x 17.2x 24.2x
P/Operating cash flow – 15.8x 23.7x
P/S 6.7x 6.5x 15.0x
P/B 4.6x 2.9x 3.9x
P/Tangible book 4.9x 5.9x 4.3x
EV/EBITDA – 15.0x 21.8x
EV/EBIT – 19.2x 23.2x
EV/Revenue 6.7x 7.8x 15.2x
EV/FCF – 20.7x 24.5x
EV/Operating cash flow – 19.1x 23.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.50 0.65 1.74

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMKTXICECME
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.9% 6.9% 9.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.9% 11.9% 9.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -1.3% 16.4% 10.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 2.6% 13.9% 12.2%
Net income growth (1Y) – 34.1% 17.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 33.1% 13.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 40.2% 36.6% 19.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.0% 33.3% 13.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 13.1% 6.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 14.9% 9.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 13.9% 6.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 14.1% 9.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMKTXICECME
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin – 52.3% 69.8%
Operating margin – 40.7% 65.7%
Pretax margin – 39.7% 82.8%
Net margin – 30.1% 63.3%
FCF margin – 37.8% 62.1%
Operating cash flow margin – 41.1% 63.5%
Return on equity 23.3% 13.9% 16.6%
Return on assets 12.5% 2.3% 2.3%
Return on invested capital – 8.5% 11.7%
Return on capital employed – 9.7% 12.3%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.1x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.3x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue – 2.0% 1.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMKTXICECME
Debt / assets – 11.4% 1.8%
Debt / equity – 0.7x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA – 2.6x 0.2x
Debt / FCF – 3.9x 0.8x
Liabilities / assets 43.3% 83.0% 86.2%
Equity / assets 56.0% 17.0% 13.8%
Interest coverage – 6.8x 26.2x
Current ratio – 1.0x 1.0x
Quick ratio – 0.0x 0.0x
Cash ratio – 0.0x 0.0x
Altman Z-score – 0.73 0.56

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMKTXICECME
Dividend yield 1.9% 1.3% 3.4%
Net buyback yield – 2.3% –
Shareholder yield 1.9% 3.6% 3.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 27.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 22.5% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 6.1% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 8.3% –

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.

ConsensusMKTXICECME
Forward P/E 20.2xFY2026 17.9xFY2026 25.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.17FY2026 $8.69FY2026 $11.74FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.6%FY2026 +25.0%FY2026 +4.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.0% -3.2% +19.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $944.60MFY2026 $10.54BFY2026 $7.27BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +11.7%FY2026 +6.1%FY2026 +11.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -2.0% +16.0% +7.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMKTXICECME
Held by institutions 100.0% 92.5% 88.9%
Institutions holding 394 1,653 1,691
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.3% +1.4% +0.4%
Institutions buying 189 735 822
Institutions selling 164 694 655
Buyers to sellers 1.15 1.06 1.25

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.

MKTXICECME
MKTX 1.00 0.35 0.31
ICE 0.35 1.00 0.51
CME 0.31 0.51 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MKTX, ICE and CME?

Cme (CME) is the largest by market capitalisation: Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) $5.80B, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) $87.16B, Cme (CME) $104.87B.

Which stock is cheaper, MKTX, ICE and CME?

Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) 19.9x, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 21.6x, Cme (CME) 23.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is cheapest (Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) 20.2x, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 17.9x, Cme (CME) 25.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Cme (CME) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) +3.9%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) +6.9%, Cme (CME) +9.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Cme (CME) has the highest net margin (Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 30.1%, Cme (CME) 63.3%). On return on invested capital, Cme (CME) leads (Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 8.5%, Cme (CME) 11.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cme (CME) returned the most: Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) -1.4%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) -2.8%, Cme (CME) +8.3%. Over five years, Cme (CME) compounded fastest (Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) -16.4%/yr, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) +2.8%/yr, Cme (CME) +6.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) 0.00%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 0.01%, Cme (CME) 0.00%. Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) and Cme (CME) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cme (CME) has been the steadiest (Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) 36.4%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 25.8%, Cme (CME) 25.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Cme (CME) leads on 9. 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.