CME Group Q2 2026 revenue rose 0.8% to $1.71B: trading fees fell 2.6% as volume cooled after a volatile Q1, while market data rose 20%. Diluted EPS was $2.88, up 2.5%, and operating margin slipped to 64.9% as expenses rose 6.5%.
Revenue
$1.7B
+0.8% YoY
Net income
$1.0B
+1.6% YoY
Diluted EPS
$2.88
+2.5% YoY
Operating margin
64.9%
Overview
CME Group runs the world's biggest futures exchanges: CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX. A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell something (a Treasury bond, a stock index, crude oil, gold) at a set price on a later date. CME makes most of its money from a small fee on every contract traded and cleared. Clearing means CME's clearing house stands between buyer and seller and guarantees the trade. So the business depends mostly on two things: how many contracts trade, and the average fee per contract.
Q2 2026 (April–June) was a quiet quarter coming after a very busy one. The Middle East conflict pushed trading to extreme levels in Q1. In Q2, CME says, "overall market volatility subsided relative to periods of very high volatility earlier in the year." Average daily volume (ADV, the number of contracts traded per day) slipped 1% year over year, to 29.8 million contracts. Clearing and transaction fees fell 3%. Total revenue still rose 1%, to $1,706.2 million, because market data revenue jumped 20%. Expenses rose 6.5%, so operating income fell 2%. Net income still grew 1.6%, to $1,041.8 million, helped by a lower tax rate and a wider spread on client collateral. Diluted EPS rose 2.5%, to $2.88.
The first half as a whole looks far stronger. Revenue rose 8%, to $3,586.3 million. Net income rose 11%, to $2,196.1 million. Diluted EPS rose 12%, to $6.06. Most of that growth came in Q1: subtracting Q2 from the half-year totals gives Q1 revenue of $1,880.1 million.
Key metrics
Metric
Q2 2026
Q2 2025
YoY Change
Total revenue
$1,706.2M
$1,692.0M
+0.8%
Clearing & transaction fees
$1,352.5M
$1,388.0M
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Operating margin is the share of revenue left after the costs of running the business, before interest, investment income and tax.
Six months to June 30, 2026: revenue $3,586.3M (+8%), clearing & transaction fees $2,895.1M (+6%), market data $462.2M (+18%), operating margin 67.4% (vs 67.1%), net income $2,196.1M (+11%), diluted EPS $6.06 (vs $5.43, +12%), ADV 33.0M (+10%).
Takeaway: Q2 shows how CME performs once a volatility spike fades. Volume slipped 1% and the average fee per contract fell 1.7%, so trading fees dropped $35.5M. Market data made up for more than all of it (+$40.0M), and the April 1 fee increases limited the fall in rate per contract. What cut the margin was costs: expenses rose 6.5% in a quarter when revenue barely moved.
Volume by asset class: a strong Q1 and a quieter Q2
Average daily volume (thousands of contracts)
Q2 2026
Q2 2025
Change
H1 2026
H1 2025
Change
Interest rates
14,532
15,472
-6%
16,586
15,252
+9%
Equity indexes
8,634
7,661
+13%
8,644
7,827
+10%
Energy
2,667
3,082
-13%
3,320
2,993
+11%
Agricultural commodities
2,080
1,964
+6%
2,061
1,961
+5%
Foreign exchange
989
1,096
-10%
1,091
1,123
-3%
Metals
941
942
0%
1,309
838
+56%
Total
29,843
30,217
-1%
33,011
29,994
+10%
Interest rates (-6%), CME's largest franchise, drove the Q2 decline. The filing puts it down to "more certainty surrounding the Federal Reserve's future interest rate policy decisions." Traders who expect the Fed to be predictable have less reason to hedge. Short-dated SOFR futures, which let traders bet on or hedge short-term US interest rates, fell 10%. SOFR options fell 17%. Treasury futures were mixed: 10-Year +4%, 2-Year +10%, 5-Year -9%, Treasury Bond -15%. Interest-rate fee revenue fell 6%, to $433.0M.
Equity indexes (+13%) were the bright spot. E-mini Nasdaq-100 volume rose 32%, and CME cites "market shifts in the Nasdaq-100 and Russell 2000." E-mini S&P 500 volume rose only 2%. Equity fee revenue rose 7%, to $324.0M, less than the growth in volume. That gap fits the filing's point that small "micro" contracts, which carry lower fees, made up more of the volume. Bitcoin futures and options rose 35%. Ether fell 12%.
Energy (-13%) fell back after Q1. CME says Middle East "tensions eased within the region leading to broader price stabilization." Natural gas fell 24% and refined products 22%. WTI crude was nearly flat (-3%). Over the half-year, however, WTI volume was up 29%. Energy fees fell 14%, to $187.0M.
Metals (flat in Q2, +56% in H1) swung the most within the year. Gold fell 4% in Q2 after investors piled into precious metals in Q1. Silver rose 43% in the quarter and 160% in the half-year. CME says "increased adoption of precious metals micro contracts among our retail client base" kept volume up. Metals fees still fell 10%, to $76.7M, which again reflects smaller, cheaper contracts.
Agriculture (+6%): wheat rose 22% and corn 14%. CME links this to disrupted grain supply routes and "greater demand for crop-based fuels" as oil prices became uncertain. Ag fees rose 5%, to $183.8M.
FX futures (-10%): euro and yen volume each fell 13%. That compares with a Q2 2025 boosted by uncertainty over US tariff policy.
Rate per contract: micro contracts pull the average fee down
The average rate per contract (total futures and options fees divided by contracts traded) fell to $0.678 from $0.690. CME's estimate of the $38.5M drop in futures and options fees splits it into -$15.8M from lower volume and -$22.7M from the lower rate. The filing blames the lower rate on "an increase in micro contract volume, specifically within equities, energy and metals, as well as higher member trading as a percentage of total volume." Exchange members pay lower fees than non-members. The decline was "partially offset by an increase in certain clearing and transaction fees which went into effect on April 1, 2026." In other words, CME raised list prices, but the mix of what was traded outweighed the increase.
For the half-year the rate fell 3%, to $0.664, which reduced fees by about $87.3M. Higher volume added about $246.5M.
Cash markets (BrokerTec and EBS)
Fees from CME's cash (non-futures) trading platforms were roughly flat at $73.9M, versus $74.6M. BrokerTec fixed income fees rose 8%, to $40.1M. Average daily notional value (the face value of the trades) in US repo rose 9%, to $397.3B, and European repo rose 17%, to €364.0B. US Treasury cash trading fell 20%, to $91.4B a day, which CME again ties to a clearer outlook for the Fed. EBS FX fees fell 10%, to $33.8M, as spot FX notional fell 9%. Interest rate swap clearing fees rose 18%, to $24.3M.
Market data: the steadiest growth line
Market data and information services revenue rose 20%, to $238.1M, and 18% for the half-year. That is the fastest-growing line in the business, and it doesn't depend on how much trading happens. CME attributes it to "higher usage of certain products, increased demand by new customer segments, and price increases for certain products." Market data now makes up 14% of revenue, up from 12%. One concentration risk: the two largest resellers accounted for about 25% of market data revenue in the first half. CME says it considers the risk of losing that revenue "minimal", because customers could switch to another reseller.
Expenses and margin
Total expenses rose $36.4M (+6.5%). CME's own breakdown of the increase:
License fees +$12.9M, "primarily due to record volumes for certain equity products." These are royalties CME pays to index owners, such as S&P and Nasdaq, when their indexes are traded. So strong equity volume raises this cost too.
Technology support services +$11.6M, for "the ongoing Google Cloud transformation project." CME's own risk factors mention the duplicate cost of running both its own data centers and Google Cloud during the move.
Rent +$9.4M, mostly because Q2 2025 benefited from one-off gains on lease reductions, not because rent went up.
Offsets: legal fees -$6.2M (Q2 2025 included class-action litigation costs), currency effects -$3.3M, and professional fees down 22%, to $29.1M.
Salaries, benefits and payroll taxes were essentially flat in Q2 (-$0.3M), so the cost growth didn't come from hiring. About $9M of the increase (rent) reflects a prior-year one-off gain rather than a real change in running costs. Even so, the operating margin fell 1.8 points, to 64.9%, because revenue barely grew. For the half-year the margin was 67.4%, up slightly from 67.1%.
Interest on client collateral
Clearing members post large amounts of cash as collateral (called "performance bonds" and guaranty fund contributions). CME invests it, then passes most of the interest back to the clearing members. At June 30 these balances were $158.1B, including $138.5B held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In Q2, CME earned $1,388.8M on this cash (vs $1,487.6M) and paid $1,265.7M back to clearing firms (vs $1,374.5M). CME kept the difference: about $123.1M, up from $113.1M. Gross earnings fell because of "a lower average rate of return despite higher overall reinvestment balances". CME ties this to a lower Federal Funds rate. Because the payout to members fell by more, CME's share still grew. For the half-year, the amount CME kept rose to about $244.9M, from $181.9M.
Equity earnings from joint ventures slipped to $97.7M, from $99.0M. The S&P Dow Jones Indices joint venture earned more, but CME no longer books earnings from OSTTRA, which it sold in Q4 2025. The effective tax rate fell to 21.5%, from 22.9%, helped by "favorable settlements from state tax examinations". That is a one-off that lifted Q2 net income.
Capital returns
Dividends: CME declared a regular quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share in Q2, up from $1.25 a year earlier. Dividends declared in the first half totalled $8.75 per share ($3,171.8M), compared with $2.50 in H1 2025. Take out two regular quarters ($2.60) and about $6.15 per share remains. That amount matches CME's annual variable dividend, the once-a-year extra payout of surplus cash. This year it appears to have been declared in Q1, whereas the $2.50 declared in H1 2025 contained only regular dividends; the 10-Q does not break out the variable dividend on its own line. Cash dividends paid in H1 were $3,165.7M, compared with $3,022.7M.
Buybacks: CME bought back 2.55 million shares for about $0.7B in Q2, at an average of $273.14. It bought back 4.38 million shares for $1.2B in the first half, compared with just $8.2M in H1 2025. $1.5B remains under the $3.0B authorization. The Series G preferred shares converted into 4.6 million Class A shares on March 5, 2026. As a result, the share count grew slightly year over year (361.3M diluted vs 360.4M) despite the buybacks.
Cash and cash equivalents fell to $2.1B, from $4.4B at year-end, after the large first-half dividend payout and buybacks. Debt stands at $3.45B of fixed-rate notes, rated AA-/Aa3.
New products and competition
This 10-Q says little on either topic. The volume and rate-per-contract statistics now explicitly "exclude CME Group's event contracts" (contracts that pay out based on whether an event happens), which confirms CME is running that business. The filing gives no event-contract volume or revenue. On competition, it offers only standard risk-factor language about "increased competition from new entrants into our markets." The quarter's MD&A doesn't name a competitor or quantify any market-share loss. The growth products it does highlight are micro contracts (for retail traders in equities, energy and precious metals) and crypto futures. Micro contracts win volume but lower the average fee, as the rate-per-contract discussion shows.
Outlook
The 10-Q gives no financial guidance. Our read:
Volume is the swing factor, and it depends on volatility. Q2 shows what happens when a spike fades. Q3 results will show whether Q2 was a low point or the new normal, especially in rates, CME's largest business, where Fed clarity has been reducing hedging demand.
The average fee per contract faces a persistent headwind. Retail micro contracts and more trading by members, who pay lower fees, keep pulling the average down. The April 1 fee increases only partly offset that. Watch whether the rate per contract stabilizes in Q3 now that the new fees apply for a full quarter.
Market data (+20%) is the most dependable growth. It carries no volume risk and helped offset the drop in trading fees.
Watch costs. The Google Cloud migration and index license fees, which rise with equity volume, are pushing expenses up 6–7%. Revenue has to keep growing faster than that to hold the ~65% margin.
Interest on collateral now depends on Fed rate cuts. Balances are high, so each cut lowers what CME earns on client cash. In Q2, CME's share still rose because it paid out proportionally less to members, but that cushion depends on how CME and its clearing members split the interest.
Source: CME Group Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, filed July 24, 2026. All figures from the consolidated financial statements and MD&A. Q1 and "amount kept" figures are our arithmetic from the reported numbers.