MarketAxess Holdings Inc. Reports Record Q4 2025 Earnings and Strategic Growth Plans
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 2d ago
0mins
Should l Buy MKTX?
Source: seekingalpha
- Record Revenue: MarketAxess achieved a record revenue of $846 million in Q4 2025, reflecting a 10% year-over-year growth, which underscores the company's successful expansion in global markets and investment in multiprotocol solutions, enhancing its competitive edge.
- Cash Flow and Return Plans: The company generated $347 million in free cash flow in 2025 and returned $474 million to investors through share repurchases and dividends, further boosting investor confidence while announcing a $400 million capital return plan, indicating strong financial health.
- Trading Volume Growth: Block trading ADV increased by 29%, with a 28% market share in U.S. high-yield portfolio trading, demonstrating robust momentum in electronic trading, which is expected to drive future revenue growth.
- Future Outlook: The CFO projected mid-single-digit growth in services revenue for 2026, with expenses expected to range between $530 million and $545 million, while management reiterated an 8% to 9% revenue growth target over the next three years, reflecting confidence in sustained growth.
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Analyst Views on MKTX
Wall Street analysts forecast MKTX stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for MKTX is 194.43 USD with a low forecast of 167.00 USD and a high forecast of 225.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
8 Analyst Rating
3 Buy
4 Hold
1 Sell
Hold
Current: 162.830
Low
167.00
Averages
194.43
High
225.00
Current: 162.830
Low
167.00
Averages
194.43
High
225.00
About MKTX
MarketAxess Holdings Inc. operates electronic trading platforms. The Company offers end-to-end trading solutions, including the operation of electronic platforms for the trading of fixed-income and other securities and related data, analytics compliance tools, post-trade services, automated trading services and technology services. The Company provides an Open Trading marketplace which offers an all-to-all trading solution in the global credit markets, creating a liquidity pool for a range of credit market participants. It leverages its diverse set of trading protocols, automated and algorithmic trading solutions, intelligent data and index products and a range of post-trade services to provide an end-to-end trading solution to its robust network of platform participants. The Company also provides several integrated and actionable data offerings, including CP+ and Axess All, to assist clients. Its RFQ-hub platform is a bilateral multi-asset and multi-dealer request for quote platform.
About the author

Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.

- Record Revenue: MarketAxess achieved a record revenue of $846 million in Q4 2025, reflecting a 10% year-over-year growth, which underscores the company's successful expansion in global markets and investment in multiprotocol solutions, enhancing its competitive edge.
- Cash Flow and Return Plans: The company generated $347 million in free cash flow in 2025 and returned $474 million to investors through share repurchases and dividends, further boosting investor confidence while announcing a $400 million capital return plan, indicating strong financial health.
- Trading Volume Growth: Block trading ADV increased by 29%, with a 28% market share in U.S. high-yield portfolio trading, demonstrating robust momentum in electronic trading, which is expected to drive future revenue growth.
- Future Outlook: The CFO projected mid-single-digit growth in services revenue for 2026, with expenses expected to range between $530 million and $545 million, while management reiterated an 8% to 9% revenue growth target over the next three years, reflecting confidence in sustained growth.
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- Earnings Beat: MarketAxess reported a Q4 non-GAAP EPS of $1.68, exceeding expectations by $0.04, indicating strong profitability despite revenue falling slightly short of forecasts.
- Revenue Growth Challenges: Total revenue reached $209.4 million, up 3.5% year-over-year, but missed expectations, primarily impacted by foreign currency fluctuations, highlighting challenges in the market environment.
- Strong Trading Channel Performance: The Client-Initiated Channel saw a 29% increase in average daily volume, with emerging markets and eurobonds growing by 41% and 43% respectively, demonstrating success in the company's diversified trading strategies.
- Cautious Future Outlook: For 2026, the company expects mid-single-digit growth in service revenue, an 8% increase in expenses, and capital expenditures between $65 million and $75 million, reflecting a cautious approach to future investments.
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- Philip Morris Earnings Outlook: The expected EPS for Q4 2025 is $1.67, representing a 7.74% increase year-over-year, showcasing the company's ability to consistently exceed market expectations and enhancing its competitive edge in the tobacco industry.
- Cboe Global Markets Performance: The forecasted EPS is $2.93, reflecting a significant 39.52% increase from the previous year, indicating a strong recovery and improved profitability that may attract more investor interest.
- Biogen Earnings Warning: The anticipated EPS is $1.60, a substantial 53.49% decrease compared to last year, highlighting significant challenges the company faces, which could impact market confidence and stock performance.
- AerCap's Stability: The expected EPS is $3.31, unchanged from last year, indicating the company's resilience in the transportation sector, maintaining profitability despite industry fluctuations.
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- Earnings Announcement Date: MarketAxess is set to release its Q4 earnings on February 6 before market open, with consensus EPS estimate at $1.64 and revenue estimate at $211.35 million, reflecting a 4.4% year-over-year growth, which will provide critical insights into the company's financial health.
- Historical Performance: Over the past year, MarketAxess has beaten EPS estimates 100% of the time and revenue estimates 75% of the time, indicating the company's reliability in financial forecasting and bolstering market confidence.
- Estimate Revision Dynamics: In the last three months, EPS estimates have seen one upward revision and eight downward revisions, while revenue estimates have experienced two upward revisions and six downward revisions, suggesting a cautious market sentiment regarding the company's future performance.
- Stock Buyback Plan: MarketAxess has recently increased its stock repurchase authorization to $505 million, a move that not only reflects the company's confidence in its stock value but may also enhance shareholder returns and strengthen market expectations for future growth.
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- Record Trading Volume: MarketAxess reported a total credit trading volume of $18.6 billion in January 2026, marking a 28% year-over-year increase, with emerging markets achieving a record average daily volume (ADV) of $5.5 billion, indicating robust performance and sustained market demand in the fixed-income sector.
- Emerging Markets Surge: The ADV for emerging markets reached $5.468 billion, up 50% from last year, showcasing the company's expanding capabilities in global markets and significantly enhancing its competitive position, which may lead to increased market share.
- Multi-Channel Trading Growth: The client-initiated trading channel saw a 56% increase in ADV, with U.S. high-grade bonds achieving an ADV of $2.8 billion, a 33% rise, demonstrating the success of the company's diversified trading strategies and enhancing client retention and market competitiveness.
- Commission Revenue Growth: Although the total credit variable transaction fee per million declined by 4% year-over-year, the increase in trading volume is expected to drive significant revenue growth, reflecting the company's strong profitability and ongoing revenue generation potential in the market.
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- Conference Participation: MarketAxess CFO Ilene Fiszel Bieler will participate in the UBS Financial Services Conference on February 9, 2026, highlighting the company's leadership in the fixed-income market.
- Live Webcast Details: The live webcast of the session will begin at 1:50 p.m. ET, with investors able to access the content via the MarketAxess Investor Relations homepage, enhancing transparency and investor engagement.
- Technological Edge: MarketAxess’ electronic trading platform provides efficient trading solutions for approximately 2,100 institutional investors and broker-dealers, significantly improving trading efficiency and liquidity in fixed-income securities, thereby driving overall market cost savings.
- Market Recognition: The company’s award-winning Open Trading® marketplace is widely regarded as the preferred all-to-all trading solution in the global credit markets, further solidifying its competitive advantage in the industry.
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