CME GROUP Q1 FY26 earnings call CME

Q1 2026 ADV of 36.2 million contracts was CME's highest ever, up 22% YoY and roughly 6 million/day above any prior quarter, and for the first time the firm set simultaneous volume records across all six asset classes — rates, equities, energy, agricultural, metals and FX. Commodity-sector volume grew 38% and financial products 18%. International ADV reached a record 11.4 million contracts (up 30%), with EMEA, APAC and Latin America each posting record highs and all six asset classes setting international records too. Open interest ended the quarter up 11% YoY and 19% since the start of 2026, while U.S. treasury open interest hit an all-time high of 36.3 million contracts.

Clearing and transaction fee revenue rose 15% YoY, adding $205 million, on a blended rate per contract of $0.652 (volume tiering deliberately lowers rate at higher volumes to drive profitable incremental trading). Total revenue was a record $1.9 billion, up 14%. Adjusted expenses were $512 million ($405 million excluding license fees). Adjusted operating income of $1.4 billion produced a record 72.8% adjusted operating margin; adjusted net income was a record $1.2 billion (64.9% margin) and adjusted diluted EPS a record $3.36, up 20%. Management stressed that RPC declines should be read as a feature of client-base growth, not weakness.

Management framed WTI as an increasingly global benchmark, with U.S. crude and Henry Hub gas exporting at record levels since the 2014 export-ban repeal and now reinforced by Middle East supply disruption (~20% of crude flows from the region). CME WTI futures share ran north of 79-80% as stressed markets retrench to core home-exchange liquidity, and the Dubai-based GME contract kept delivering 15-20 million barrels/day outside the Strait of Hormuz uninterrupted. Energy open interest is up 14% since Dec 31 and 1% YoY. Terry flagged an emerging new hedging constituency — insurers/reinsurers of high-value shipping vessels transiting conflict zones.

Since the December 2025 launch of fully-collateralized event contracts, CME has crossed 220 million contracts and drawn over 150,000 new accounts. After a mid-March marketing push with FanDuel, market-based contracts (equity, crypto, energy, metals) exceeded 30% of prediction-market volume — validating management's original thesis that the FanDuel deal was about markets and distribution, not sports. The strategy is to capture next-generation traders earlier in their lifecycle and graduate them into futures. FanDuel's separate FCM application does not change the JV, which carries contractual restrictions against competing alternative venues.

CME is advancing tokenization of cash via the Google Cloud Universal Ledger (Bank of Montreal disclosed as a partner), targeting go-live by year-end to enable value movement outside banking hours for 24/7 trading (crypto 24/7 goes live May 29). It is pursuing a license to issue its own stablecoin, with technology partners under evaluation, aiming to advance this year subject to regulatory timing. Two agricultural products migrate to the Google cloud by year-end, with the Dallas testing facility opening this summer. Google's preferred shares (nonvoting) converted to common during the quarter, now reflected in basic and diluted share counts.

Market data revenue hit a record $224 million (+15%, 32nd consecutive quarter of YoY growth), driven by a surge in simulated-trading-environment participation feeding new retail traders, licensing policy changes (end-of-day data category), and professional subscriber growth (+1% QoQ, +2.45% YoY). Management stressed real-time professional subscribers remain the core, with licensing changes additive but not the primary driver. BrokerTec Chicago, offering smaller tick sizes and Aurora co-location, has 35+ connected clients, saw ADV grow 93% MoM in March and a record $1.2 billion day on April 8 — part of a broader effort to bring cash and futures treasury markets closer together.