CME Group beats profit estimates as hedging demand lifts equity volumes

Updates shares

By Pritam Biswas

July 22 (Reuters) - Derivatives exchange CME Group CME.O beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Wednesday, as investors hedged their positions across products amid equity market ​volatility.

The exchange operator's earnings for the quarter and the year-ago period reflect the persistent turbulence in financial markets.

In the current quarter, developments around the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and the wider Middle East conflict kept markets volatile, which in turn helped the exchange.

But the volatility was lower than the same period last year, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced his Liberation Day tariffs, helping the derivatives exchange post record average daily volumes, or ADV.

The company's total ADV was down 1% from last year, largely as volumes in interest rate and energy contracts were down and that for metals trading was flat.

However, its ADV for equity indexes jumped 13% during the quarter, as investors showed interest in these products due to a 14.9% rise in the benchmark SP 500 index .SPX.

Agricultural and cryptocurrency ADV also rose in the second quarter.

Shares of the exchange operator were up 5.3% in early trading. The stock has shed nearly 13% so far in 2026 as of last close, underperforming most of its major peers except New York Stock Exchange-parent Intercontinental Exchange ICE.N.

REVENUE GROWTH IS A MIXED BAG

Revenue in its market data and information services ​segment increased to $238.1 million from $198.1 million.

The exchange's clearing and transaction fees, however, fell to $1.35 billion from $1.38 billion a year earlier. CME Group operates a vertically integrated model, owning its clearing ​house to capture fees across the trade lifecycle.

CME Group is the first major U.S. exchange to report second-quarter earnings, with Intercontinental Exchange and Cboe CBOE.K set to post their results next week.

Adjusted profit attributable to the common shareholders of the company came in at $1.08 ‌billion, ⁠or $2.99 per share, for the three months ended June 30, compared with $1.07 billion, or $2.96 per share, in the year-ago period.

Analysts were expecting a profit of $2.91 per share, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)

((Pritam.Biswas@thomsonreuters.com;))