April 22 (Reuters) – CME Group reported a rise in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, as heightened market volatility drove investors to the derivatives exchange to hedge their positions against economic uncertainty.
The Chicago-based exchange operator benefited from increased trading volumes in its interest rate and equity index products, as market participants navigated shifting expectations for global borrowing costs and geopolitical tensions.
The company sees increased demand for its futures products when businesses seek to lock in prices amid rapid market swings.
A volatile and uncertain market helps CME’s business model by increasing average daily volumes (ADV) for its product line. ADV touched a record high in the quarter with 36.2 million contracts, up 22% from the year-ago period.
All its asset classes including foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals also showed significant growth in ADV in the first quarter.
“In a world in which risk has become the new normal, 2026 is off to a record-breaking start as clients around the world turn to CME Group’s trusted, regulated markets to hedge across asset classes and in all trading environments,” CEO Terry Duffy said in a statement.
CHAOS OFFERS CLEARING REVENUE BOOST
The higher trading volume helped the exchange’s clearing and transaction fees rise to $1.54 billion from $1.34 billion in the year earlier. This makes up the lion’s share of the company’s revenue.
CME Group operates a vertically integrated model, owning its clearing house to capture fees across the trade lifecycle.
Revenue in its market data and information services segment came in at $224.1 million, up from $194.5 million in the year earlier.
Adjusted profit attributable to the common shareholders of the company came in at $1.22 billion, or $3.36 per share, for the three months ended March 31, compared with $1 billion, or $2.80 per share, in the year-ago period.
That slightly missed analysts’ average estimate of $3.37 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Shares of the company, which have gained about 4.2% so far in the year to beat the broader markets, were down about 1% in trading before the bell. New York Stock Exchange-parent Intercontinental Exchange is down about 2% in 2026 while Nasdaq has declined nearly 10%.
Nasdaq is set to report its first-quarter earnings on Thursday.
(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
