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    CBOE
    Earnings call· Mar 2026(Q1 FY26)

    Cboe Global Markets Q1 FY26 earnings call CBOE

    May 1, 2026 Source

    Executive summary

    Cboe Q1 FY26 — Record Revenue and EPS Driven by Derivatives and Strategic Realignment

    Cboe Global Markets delivered a record first quarter, driven by strong performance across its derivatives, cash and spot markets, and Data Vantage segments. The company is undergoing a significant strategic realignment, including divestitures and a 20% workforce reduction, to sharpen focus on core businesses and invest in new growth areas like prediction markets and tokenization, aiming for enhanced efficiency and long-term value creation.

    Highlights

    5

    • Net revenue grew 29% year-over-year to a record $729 million.

    • Adjusted diluted EPS increased 48% year-over-year to a record $3.70.

    • Derivatives net revenue increased 32% year-over-year, with proprietary SPX options average daily volume (ADV) up 34% to 4.9 million contracts.

    • Cash and Spot Markets net revenue was up 34% year-over-year, with Global FX growing 38%.

    • Data Vantage net revenue increased 19% year-over-year, with 85% of growth from new units and sales.

    Concerns

    2

    • Workforce reduction of approximately 20% due to strategic realignment actions.

    • Expected annualized reduction in net revenue of approximately 3% compared to 2025 from business divestitures and wind-downs.

    Guidance & targets

    11
    CategoryTargetConfidence
    Data Vantage organic net revenue growth
    low double-digit range
    medium materiality
    High
    Total organic net revenue growth
    low double-digit to mid-teens range
    high materiality
    High
    Adjusted operating expense
    $838 million to $853 million
    high materiality
    High
    Capital expenditure (CapEx)
    $73 million to $83 million
    medium materiality
    High
    Depreciation and amortization
    $56 million to $60 million
    medium materiality
    High
    Effective tax rate on adjusted earnings
    27.5% to 29.5%
    medium materiality
    High
    Interest income, net of interest expense
    $3.5 million to $4.5 million positive contributor
    low materiality
    High
    Strategic realignment expense savings (annualized)
    approximately 12% to 14%
    high materiality
    High
    Incremental strategic realignment savings in 2026
    $20 million to $25 million
    medium materiality
    High
    Cboe Canada and Cboe Australia total net revenue contribution
    $60 million to $70 million
    medium materiality
    High
    Cboe Canada and Cboe Australia adjusted operating expenses
    $40 million to $50 million
    medium materiality
    High

    Segment performance

    6
    SegmentRevenueYoYQoQMargin
    Options
    Growth driven by net transaction and clearing fees, positive contributions from multi-list products and index complex.
    Net transaction and clearing fees growth: 34%Total options ADV growth: 10%Index options volume growth: 29%Multi-listed options volume growth: 4%Rate per contract increase: 19%
    		record33%——
    North American Equities
    Strong industry volumes drove net transaction and clearing fees.
    Net transaction and clearing fees growth: 40%Market data fees growth: 5%Access and capacity fees growth: 12%
    		—18%——
    Europe and APAC
    Driven by stronger industry volumes, market share, and net capture dynamics, with record trading days in Cboe Europe.
    Net transaction and clearing fees growth: 43%Non-transaction revenues growth: 21%
    		—32%——
    Futures
    Increase primarily due to stronger VIX activity.
    Total ADV uptick: 14%
    		—9%——
    Global FX
    Strongest net revenue growth of any segment in Q1.
    Average daily notional value increase: 36%Net capture increase: 4%
    		record contribution38%——
    Data Vantage
    Revenue growth underpinned by healthy new subscription and unit sales, with pronounced growth from one-time data sales associated with newly launched products.
    Growth from new subscription and unit sales: 85%Growth from pricing changes: 15% (remainder)Market data and access services growth: double digitsGlobal indices growth: double digitsRisk and market analytics growth: double digits
    		—19%——

    Operational metrics

    19
    Adjusted diluted EPS
    $3.70up 48% year-over-year
    Q1 FY26

    Record adjusted diluted EPS.

    Adjusted operating expenses
    $201 millionup 4% year-over-year
    Q1 FY26

    Increase largely driven by higher compensation and benefits expense due to strong Q1 revenue trends and increased short-term incentive compensation.

    Adjusted operating EBITDA
    $541 milliongrew 41%
    Q1 FY26
    Adjusted operating EBITDA margin
    74.2%expanded by 6.1 percentage points
    Q1 FY26

    Result of exceptional revenue results and disciplined expense management.

    SPX options ADV
    4.9 million contractsincreasing 34% year-over-year
    Q1 FY26

    Proprietary SPX options set another quarterly record. Drivers of growth evolved throughout the quarter.

    SPX options notional value traded on floor
    58%
    Q1 FY26

    While the number of contracts traded on the floor is smaller, it represents the majority of notional dollars at risk.

    SPX options electronic volume share
    84%
    Q1 FY26

    Volume is spread across many platforms, indicating broad participation.

    SPX options complex vs simple trade split
    50%
    Q1 FY26
    SPX options 0 DTE volume share
    60%
    Q1 FY26
    Global trading hours volumes
    record highrose more than 32%
    Q1 FY26

    Driven by strong growth during Asian hours as Cboe continues onboarding local brokers.

    Workforce reduction
    approximately 20%
    Q1 FY26

    Result of earlier actions to sell, wind down, and optimize certain businesses, combined with additional strategic realignment changes.

    Adjusted cash position
    $2.1 billion
    Q1 FY26

    Provides balance sheet flexibility.

    Leverage ratio
    0.8x
    Q1 FY26

    Positions the company well to invest in opportunities and redeploy capital.

    Share repurchases
    $45 million
    Q1 FY26

    Resumed opportunistically following Q4 earnings call.

    Dividends paid
    $76 million
    Q1 FY26

    Returned to shareholders in the form of a dividend.

    Total capital returned to shareholders
    $121 million
    Q1 FY26

    Combined share repurchases and dividends.

    SPX options product age
    approaching its 43rd anniversary
    current

    Despite its age, it has shown phenomenal growth.

    SPX options volume growth
    more than a 300%
    last 5 years

    Increase in volume for the SPX product.

    Cboe Europe highest trading days in history
    5
    Q1 FY26

    Five of the ten highest trading days in Cboe Europe's history occurred during the quarter.

    Product announcements

    1
    ProductTypeDetails
    securities-based event contractslaunch

    Deals & partnerships

    2
    Not statedSale of Cboe Canada and Cboe Australia businesses as part of strategic realignment.

    Part of a strategic decision to exit or scale back noncore and lower-return businesses.

    CNBCNew multiyear collaboration to bring Cboe's trading floor expertise to a global audience.multiyear

    Leveraging the trading floor to deliver live market insight and investor education, elevate the Cboe brand, and reinforce leadership in global markets. Inaugural televised bell ringing on April 6.

    Risks & headwinds

    5
    Workforce reduction

    approximately 20%

    Mitigation: Designed to build more agile teams, place clear ownership of outcomes, and direct resources to work that will drive future success.

    Annualized reduction in net revenue from strategic realignment actions (sales and wind-downs of non-core businesses)annualized

    approximate 3% annualized reduction in net revenue compared to 2025

    Mitigation: Strategic decision to exit or scale back noncore and lower-return businesses to allow for more deliberate investment in core and new growth areas.

    Uncertainty regarding timing and completion of Cboe Canada and Cboe Australia sales

    Not quantified

    Mitigation: Company will update guidance as regulatory approvals progress and transaction timing becomes more certain.

    Market continues to evolve at an unprecedented paceongoing

    Not quantified

    Mitigation: Company must move faster, sharpen focus, and deploy resources with greater discipline; strategic realignment to position for future success and invest in emerging areas like financial/economic event markets and tokenization.

    Regulatory clarity on binary options on broad-based stock indices

    Not quantified

    Mitigation: Active discussions with regulators; hopeful and optimistic that regulatory clarity will ultimately result in no impact to licensed products.

    What to watch in Q2 FY26

    5

    Data Vantage organic net revenue growth

    Next quarter (Q2 FY26 results)
    Current19% (Q1 FY26)
    TargetLow double-digit range (full year 2026 guidance)

    Why it matters

    To assess if the strong Q1 growth, partly driven by one-time📎 sales, can be sustained towards the full-year guidance, indicating underlying demand for data products.

    As you heard Jill say, we are taking our guidance up this quarter to low double digits for the year. I wouldn't say that's a new baseline, but we continue to see some pretty strong growth. So we'll continue to update as the quarters go on.

    Q&A highlights

    5

    How sustainable is the 19% Data Vantage growth, especially with 85% from new sales? Is low double-digit growth the new baseline for full-year guidance?

    Craig Donohue explained that about half the growth was from higher access-related revenue due to client demand for options exchange connectivity, and 40% from market data sales, particularly in Europe, US, and Asia. He noted that new product launches triggered significant one-time revenue from historic data sets, contributing to the 19% growth. While guidance was raised to low double-digits for the year, he wouldn't call it a new baseline but expects strong growth.

    “About half of the growth year-over-year was driven by higher access-related revenue, and the driver of that was really client demand for increased connectivity to our options exchanges. ... About 40% of the growth came from increased market data sales. ... we launched 2 new products related to options data sets this quarter. And while we started off strong on subscription sales, those 2 new launches also triggered quite a bit of onetime revenue related to historic data sets to combine with those new products. So that's where you see some of the relative outperformance in that 19% year-over-year growth rate.”

    asked by Patrick Moley · answered by Craig Donohue

    2 min read7 chapters

    Detailed Narrative

    01

    Record Q1 Performance and Broad-Based Growth

    Cboe achieved record net revenue of $729 million, up 29% year-over-year, and record adjusted diluted EPS of $3.70, up 48%. This robust performance was broad-based, with double-digit net revenue growth in four of five segments and record results across all major categories, underscoring the strong foundation for future strategic advancements.

    02

    Derivatives Strength and Evolving Market Dynamics

    The derivatives business saw a 32% increase in net revenue, driven by a 35% rise in Index options net transaction and clearing fees. Proprietary SPX options set a quarterly record with 4.9 million ADV, up 34% year-over-year. Growth drivers evolved, with 0 DTE options powering growth in stable markets, while non-0 DTE options surged in March due to shifting macro outlooks, highlighting the utility of Cboe's volatility toolkit across diverse market environments.

    03

    Strategic Realignment and Workforce Optimization

    Cboe announced further strategic realignment actions, including a workforce reduction of approximately 20% across the organization. These actions, combined with prior divestitures (Canada, Australia) and wind-downs (European derivatives, Japanese equities), aim to eliminate lower-return work, strengthen core businesses, and invest more deliberately in new growth areas like prediction markets and tokenization, enhancing efficiency and accountability.

    04

    Event Contracts and Prediction Markets Strategy

    Cboe plans to launch securities-based event contracts, starting with a Mini SPX-based product mirroring vertical call spreads, designed for defined risk and capped payouts. The company sees significant long-term growth in event and prediction markets, intending to expand beyond index-based outcomes to economic and financial indicators, leveraging its expertise in product design, regulatory integrity, and market infrastructure.

    05

    Cash and Spot Markets Momentum

    Net revenue in Cash and Spot Markets increased 34%, with record results across Europe and Asia Pacific (up 32%), North American Equities (net transaction and clearing fees up 40%), and Global FX (up 38%). This growth was fueled by stronger industry volumes, market share gains, and increased net capture, with Cboe Europe experiencing five of its ten highest trading days during the quarter.

    06

    Data Vantage Growth and Product Innovation

    Data Vantage net revenue grew 19% year-over-year, with approximately 85% of this growth attributed to new units and sales, rather than pricing. The segment saw strong contributions from new product sales and continued demand for market access, particularly from local brokers in Asia seeking U.S. market data, with onetime data sales from newly launched products contributing to the pronounced growth.

    07

    Capital Allocation and Balance Sheet Strength

    Cboe maintains a strong balance sheet with $2.1 billion in adjusted cash and a leverage ratio of 0.8x, providing flexibility for organic and inorganic investments. The company resumed opportunistic share repurchases, buying back $45 million in Q1, and returned $76 million through dividends, totaling $121 million in capital returned to shareholders for the quarter.

    AI-generated summary of the company’s earnings call. Not investment advice.