CME Group Posts Record Third-Quarter Revenue of $1.74 Billion as Volume Hits a Record and Adjusted Profit Beats Forecasts

Uncertainty was good business for CME Group in the third quarter: the more markets had to hedge, the more the world's largest derivatives exchange earned.

CME Group reported third-quarter results on Wednesday, Oct. 21, with revenue of $1.74 billion, up 13% from $1.54 billion a year earlier and the highest third-quarter revenue in the company's history. Adjusted earnings were $3.02 a share, up from $2.68, beating the consensus estimate of $2.98 a share, and revenue beat the $1.71 billion estimate, according to MarketBeat. Reported net income was $1.04 billion and diluted earnings were $2.89 a share, up from $2.49, while operating income was $1.14 billion and adjusted operating income was $1.21 billion. Chairman and Chief Executive Terry Duffy said: “As uncertainty intensified in Q3, clients turned to CME Group in record numbers to manage risk and capitalize on opportunities.”

Record volume, in every asset class

The engine was trading activity. Average daily volume reached 29.4 million contracts, the highest third-quarter figure on record and up 16% from a year earlier, with double-digit volume growth across all six asset classes and non-United States volume at a third-quarter high of 9.0 million contracts. Interest-rate products remained the largest line at 15.1 million contracts a day, followed by equity-index products at 7.7 million contracts a day, up 23%. Energy volume averaged 2.7 million contracts a day, agricultural commodities 2.0 million, foreign exchange 1.0 million and metals 900,000. Duffy said the quarter was the company's second highest ever for revenue and adjusted net income, that it generated a new high of $100 billion in average daily capital efficiencies, and that its cloud migration now makes it the only exchange to offer clients the choice of both co-location and cloud-managed services.

Duffy also pointed to what the volume built beyond fees. The company launched several innovative new products in the quarter and generated a new high of $100 billion in average daily capital efficiencies for clients, and he said its cloud migration makes CME Group the only exchange to offer clients the choice of both co-location and cloud-managed services. That matters for how durable the volume is: capital efficiencies and cheaper access give large clients a reason to keep flow on the exchange after the uncertainty that drove this quarter's hedging demand fades, rather than treating the record as a one-off volatility windfall.

Volume, not price, did the work

Clearing and transaction fees totaled $1.38 billion, but the total average rate per contract slipped to $0.679 from $0.702 a year earlier, so the fee growth came from how much clients traded, not from what each contract paid. Market data and information services revenue totaled a record $243.1 million, up 20%, and other revenue was $116.1 million. Total expenses were $595.9 million, up about 5.5%, well below the pace of revenue growth, which is why operating income grew faster than revenue. Adjusted net income was $1.08 billion. For the first nine months, revenue was $5.32 billion, operating income was $3.56 billion, net income was $3.23 billion and adjusted earnings were $9.38 a share.

The gap between the reported and adjusted lines is mostly accounting, not operations. Adjusted net income of $1.08 billion adds back $60.0 million of amortization of purchased intangibles and $5.4 million of restructuring and severance to reported net income, partly offset by a $16.3 million income tax effect and $4.3 million of other income tax items. Inside expenses, compensation and benefits were the largest line at $234.3 million, followed by licensing and other fee agreements at $104.2 million and technology at $80.9 million, and adjusted total expenses were $531.8 million against the reported $595.9 million. The clean read is that the adjusted margin expanded because revenue grew two and a half times as fast as reported expenses.

Almost $1 billion went back to shareholders

The balance sheet stayed light for a company that clears much of the world's derivatives trading. As of Sept. 30, 2026, the company had $2.4 billion in cash and $3.4 billion of debt, and it returned nearly $1 billion to shareholders during the quarter, with $465 million in regular quarterly dividends and $524 million in share repurchases. What to watch next is concrete: management's discussion on today's 8:30 a.m. Eastern question-and-answer call; whether volume holds near record levels if uncertainty fades, since the rate per contract is already drifting lower; and whether market data revenue can keep growing at 20% and cushion the business in a quieter trading quarter.