CME Group (CME) Q2 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Achieved record Q2 2024 revenue of $1.53 billion, up 13% year-over-year, with the highest-ever adjusted net income of $932 million and adjusted EPS of $2.56, both up 11% from Q2 2023.

• Net income rose 14% to $883 million, with diluted EPS at $2.42, and operating margin improved to 69.1%.

• Average daily volume (ADV) reached a record 25.9 million contracts, up 14% year-over-year, with broad-based growth across all asset classes and record non-US ADV of 7.8 million contracts, up 23%.

• Physical commodities revenue grew 17% year-over-year, representing over one-third of clearing and transaction fees.

• Continued innovation with the announcement of a new private Google Cloud region and colocation facility to support global trading and leverage AI/data capabilities.

Financial highlights

• Q2 2024 revenue: $1.53 billion, up from $1.36 billion in Q2 2023; net income: $883 million; adjusted net income: $932 million.

• Market data revenue increased 7% to $175 million; other revenue rose over 35% to $107 million.

• Adjusted operating margin rose to 69.1% from 66.8% a year ago; effective tax rate was 23.1%.

• Cash and equivalents at period end were $2.0 billion; total debt was $3.4 billion as of June 30, 2024.

• Paid $419 million in dividends during Q2; over $25 billion returned to shareholders since 2012.

Outlook and guidance

• Tracking in line with guidance: 1.5%-2% increase in clearing/transaction fees, 3%-5% in data products, and total revenue impact of 2.5%-3% for the year.

• Expense guidance for the full year remains unchanged, with expected $60 million increase in the second half due to marketing, technology/cloud migration, and compensation.

• No current impact on financial guidance from the new Google colocation facility; future impacts to be layered in as guidance is updated.

• Focus remains on capital efficiencies, new product launches, and value creation through Google Cloud partnership for the remainder of 2024.

• Management expects to maintain investment grade credit ratings and strong liquidity, with no material changes in market risk exposure since year-end 2023.