Miami International Holdings (MIAX) Q4 FY25 earnings call: guidance and Q&A

What is the outlook for options volumes in 2026, and how will MIAX's market share trend given a slight dip in Q1 after a record Q4?

Management expects continued volatility and growth in 2026, though not at the same pace as 2025. Market share is comfortable, balancing share with capture rates, and short-dated options are performing well. MIAX's technology positions it to outperform.

“I think that the market dynamics, as we are in Q1 here 2026, are going to continue to provide volatility. Issues surrounding the tariff, issues surrounding the midterms coming up and issues surrounding some of the tension in global politics, particularly the Middle East, I think, are going to lead to continued volatility.”

asked by Patrick Moley · answered by Thomas Gallagher

Can you elaborate on conversations with retail platforms for the Bloomberg derivative products and the initial launch scale?

There is significant interest from retail firms for smaller products. MIAX will start with T&E contract sizes for B100/B500, focusing on the retail market and working with liquidity providers and retail firms to create a competitive model.

“We're going to start with what we call our T&E contract size for both the Bloomberg 100 and the Bloomberg 500 Index, very focused in the retail market, working closely with the liquidity providers as well as the retail firms to come up with a model that works for the retail.”

asked by Patrick Moley · answered by Shelly Brown

How will MIAX make the B100/B500 model work for retail, especially regarding commissions and the potential for commission-free trading?

The strategy centers on achieving extremely low execution costs for retail brokers, similar to the options market, to drive quick adoption. MIAX aims to introduce alternative pricing mechanisms to compete with existing monopolies and expand the overall market pie.

“So what we're going to try and do is come up with some alternative pricing mechanisms that will allow for these firms to enjoy extremely low cost of execution and then also provide opportunities with respect to strategies to engage with the market makers.”

asked by Michael Cyprys · answered by Thomas Gallagher

What will the B100/B500 product suite look like initially (e.g., 0DTE) and what is the go-to-market strategy for investor education?

MIAX will launch futures first in Q2, with options to follow, including short-dated options. All products will clear at the OCC. Investor education will be a collaborative effort with Bloomberg and retail firms known for their educational tools.

“Once we do list the options, we certainly plan to list short-dated options. Those have been extremely successful in other index products. I believe it's over 60% of the volume in SPX is short-dated options. So we certainly are planning to go down that path.”

asked by Michael Cyprys · answered by Shelly Brown

What is the initial activity and market share trend for the newly launched Monday and Wednesday options, and is MIAX's technology advantage translating into share gains?

It's early, but volumes are expected to grow. MIAX already outperforms in these 9 stocks (over 20% market share) and expects this to continue due to its technology and risk protections. The new expirations are seen as growing the overall options market.

“We're seeing very large volume in each of these 9 stocks on these Monday and Wednesday expirations, similar to what we've seen on the Fridays historically. We think this is very positive for the industry.”

asked by Kenneth Worthington · answered by Shelly Brown

When can we expect Tuesday and Thursday options, and what conditions are needed to consider adding them?

Expansion will likely involve adding more stocks to the existing Monday and Wednesday program before adding Tuesday and Thursday expirations to the current 9 classes. This approach avoids earnings days and better addresses investor demand by expanding product breadth.

“I would expect that going forward, expansion of the program would be adding additional stocks to the Monday and Wednesday program long before we had Tuesdays and Thursdays to these 9 classes.”

asked by Kenneth Worthington · answered by Shelly Brown

How sensitive is the 2026 adjusted operating expense guidance to top-line growth and volumes?

Predicting top-line revenue is difficult due to its transaction-based nature. While some discretionary investments could be scaled back if volumes underperform, the guidance includes planned investments for futures and new product launches.

“I will say there's certainly some sensitivity in those expenses, there is some discretionary investments that if volumes don't pan out the way we anticipate them to that we could peel that back.”

asked by Jeffrey Schmitt · answered by Lance Emmons

Is there any evidence of market makers shifting their market share after participating in MIAX's secondary offering?

Management sees no evidence of any impact. Market participants are primarily driven by MIAX's technology, low latency, high throughput, and risk protections, not their equity stake from the secondary offering.

“But what's really keeping these market participants trading every day is the technology that Doug built with the low latency, high throughput, extreme determinism and also the risk protections that Shelly and Doug worked on together.”

asked by Patrick O'Shaughnessy · answered by Thomas Gallagher