MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The financial services provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.04), FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $209.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.06 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 20.20%. MarketAxess’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.73 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from MarketAxess’ conference call:

• MarketAxess reported record 2025 results with $846 million revenue, record ADV and $347 million free cash flow, returned $474 million to shareholders (including a completed $300 million ASR that retired 1.7M shares) and raised the dividend to $0.78 per share.
• New protocols gained strong traction: block trading ADV grew 24% to a record $5 billion, portfolio trading ADV rose 48% to $1.4 billion, and dealer-initiated MIDX volumes surged (total MIDX up 383% to $7 billion), with momentum continuing into January 2026.
• Fee capture is under pressure from protocol and product mix (more portfolio trading, blocks, eurobonds and EM), with total US credit revenue down 2% in 2025 and January fee-per-million moderating, while operating expenses ex-notables rose ~8% and 2026 expense guidance of $530–$545 million implies continued cost investment.
• Management reiterated its three-year targets (8%–9% average annual revenue growth and 75–125 bps operating margin expansion) and issued 2026 guidance: mid-single-digit services revenue growth, a 24%–26% tax rate, and $65–$75 million of capex (≈80% capitalized software), noting phasing may vary year-to-year.
• MarketAxess is leaning into AI and proprietary data (deciding not to sell raw data) and called out the accretive Pragma acquisition and strong algorithmic/automation adoption (AutoX adaptive algo >$8 billion in Q4) as strategic drivers for differentiated products and execution analytics.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $162.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $173.39 and a 200-day moving average of $177.34. MarketAxess has a one year low of $156.17 and a one year high of $232.84.

Key Stories Impacting MarketAxess

Here are the key news stories impacting MarketAxess this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong January trading volumes — MarketAxess reported double-digit ADV growth in January, with credit ADV up 28% year-over-year (emerging markets credit ADV +50%) and rates growth, signaling continued demand for its electronic fixed-income platform. This supports fee momentum going forward. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Liquidity and shareholder return action — the company amended and restated its credit facility and declared a dividend, improving balance sheet flexibility and returning capital to shareholders. That reduces financing risk and is typically supportive of the equity. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Company release and materials available — MarketAxess filed its Q4 & full-year 2025 results with slides and a conference call; these provide management detail on new initiatives and FX impacts but contained no major guidance change. Investors should review the slide deck and call for color. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript — the full Q4 2025 call transcript is available for investors who want management commentary on product progress and cost or margin drivers; useful for judging forward revenue mix. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst recaps vary — some outlets (Zacks) note pockets of beats vs certain estimates while others highlight misses; takeaways depend on which consensus you reference. Expect analyst revisions as they digest details. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 headline results were mixed-to-disappointing versus consensus — revenue of $209.4M (+3.5% YoY) and EPS of $1.68 missed the commonly cited Street revenue and EPS figures (revenue ~ $214M; EPS variability across outlets). EPS also declined from $1.73 a year ago, which, combined with the revenue miss, pressured the stock. Read More.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in MarketAxess by 151.7% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,752 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter worth about $767,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 698.1% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at approximately $656,000. Finally, Morningstar Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,398,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $194.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Loop Capital set a $164.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.64.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.