MarketAxess Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results

12% Increase in Total Revenue to Record $233 Million Driven by 20% Growth in Revenue Outside U.S. Credit Products

Strong Results Reflect Heightened Demand for Our Differentiated Liquidity by Our Global Client Network

35% Increase in Block Trading ADV With Record U.S. High-Grade, U.S. High-Yield, EM and Eurobonds Block ADV

51% Increase in Portfolio Trading ADV to Record $1.9 Billion with Record U.S. Credit and EM ADV

EPS of $2.20; $2.25 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 first quarter ended March 31, 2026.

Table 1: 1Q26 select financial results

1Q26 overview of results

Table 1A: Notable items¹

Notable items¹

• Notable items in 1Q26 include repositioning charges of $1.5 million, which consisted of severance costs related to changes in management structure, and $0.7 million of other legal expenses.

Revenue

• Record total revenues of $233.4 million increased 12% compared to the prior year and included RFQ-hub revenues of approximately $4.7 million and a $3.4 million increase from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.

Commission revenue

Table 1B: 1Q26 variable transaction fees per million (FPM)

Credit

• Record total credit commission revenue of $183.8 million (including $33.4 million in fixed-distribution fees) increased $14.6 million, or 9%, compared to $169.1 million (including $33.3 million in fixed-distribution fees) in the prior year, and was up 11% from 4Q25 levels. A 17% increase in total credit ADV compared to the prior year, driven by growth in market volumes, was partially offset by a 5% decrease in total credit variable transaction fee per million ("FPM"). The 9% increase in total credit commission revenue was driven by a 21% increase in emerging markets and eurobonds commission revenue, reflecting continued product and geographic diversification. The decline in 1Q26 total credit FPM year-over-year was driven by protocol and product mix, partially offset by the higher duration of bonds traded in U.S. high-grade. The quarter-over-quarter decline was due principally to product mix.

Rates

• Record total rates commission revenue of $9.0 million increased $2.0 million, or 29%, compared to the prior year, and increased 33% from 4Q25 levels. The increase compared to the prior year was driven by a 16% increase in total rates ADV and an 11% increase in FPM.

Other

• Record total other commission revenue of $10.7 million increased $5.5 million, or 104%, compared to the prior year, driven by the inclusion of approximately $4.3 million from RFQ-hub, majority control of which was acquired in 2Q25.

Services revenue

• Record services revenue² of $29.9 million increased $2.7 million, or 10%, compared to the prior year.

Information services

— Information services revenue of $14.4 million increased $1.5 million, or 12%, compared to the prior year. The increase was principally driven by net new contract revenue and an increase of $0.5 million from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.

Post-trade services

— Post-trade services revenue of $11.6 million increased $0.5 million, or 5%, compared to the prior year principally due to an increase of $1.0 million from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.

Technology services

— Total technology services revenue of $3.9 million increased $0.6 million, or 19%, compared to the prior year. The increase was driven by connectivity fees from RFQ-hub, majority control of which was acquired in 2Q25.

Expenses

• Total expenses of $132.5 million increased 10% from the prior year, including approximately $3.4 million of RFQ-hub expenses and an increase of $2.2 million from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations. Total expenses, excluding notable items,¹ of $130.3 million increased 8% from the prior year.

Non-operating

• Other income (expense): Other income was $3.0 million, down from $7.8 million in the prior year. The decrease was driven by lower interest income due to a decrease in interest rates and higher interest expense due to borrowings on the Company's credit facility that were used, along with cash on hand, to fund the ASR, partially offset by receipt of a tax credit.
• Tax rate: The effective tax rate was 24.8%, compared to 84.3% in the prior year. The effective tax rate excluding notable items¹ in the prior year was 27.2%.

Capital

• The Company had $537.4 million in cash, cash equivalents, corporate bond investments and U.S. Treasury investments as of March 31, 2026, down from $678.9 million as of December 31, 2025. The Company had $157.0 million in borrowings outstanding under the Company's credit facility as of March 31, 2026, as compared to $220.0 million in borrowings outstanding as of December 31, 2025. As of April 30, 2026, the Company had $137.0 million in borrowings outstanding under the Company's credit facility.
• Final settlement of the previously disclosed $300.0 million ASR occurred on February 4, 2026, with the delivery of 359,782 additional shares. As of April 30, 2026, $205.0 million remained under the Board of Directors' share repurchase authorizations.
• The Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.78 per share, payable on June 3, 2026 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 20, 2026.

Other

• Employee headcount was 859 as of March 31, 2026, down from 869 as of December 31, 2025 and 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 Thursday, May 7, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET. To access the conference call, please dial +1-800-715-9871 (U.S.) or +1-646-307-1963 (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; our dependence on third-party suppliers for key products and services; 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; risks related to sanctions levied against states or individuals that could expose us to operational or regulatory risks; the effects of climate change or other sustainability risks that could affect our operations or reputation; 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 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; limitations on our flexibility because we operate in a highly regulated industry; the increasing government regulation of us and our clients; our exposure to costs and penalties related to our extensive regulation; our risks of litigation and securities laws liability; our tax filing positions; 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 and other 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.

Table 2: Consolidated Statements of Operations

Table 3: Commission Revenue Detail

Table 4: Trading Volume Detail*

Table 5: Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheet Data

Table 6: Reconciliation of Notable Items

Table 7: Reconciliation of Net Income to EBITDA and Net Income Margin to EBITDA Margin

Table 8: Reconciliation of Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities to Free Cash Flow

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INVESTOR RELATIONS

Stephen Davidson

MarketAxess Holdings Inc.

+1 212 813 6313

sdavidson2@marketaxess.com

MEDIA RELATIONS

Marisha Mistry

MarketAxess Holdings Inc.

+1 917 267 1232

mmistry@marketaxess.com