MarketAxess Holdings Inc.’s (NASDAQ:MKTX) first-quarter 2018 earnings per share of $1.27 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.1% and grew 14% year over year.
Better-than-expected results were driven by an increase in total trading volumes.
Operational Update
First-quarter revenues were a record $115 million, up 11.4% year over year and ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.5%.
Commission revenues increased 9.3% year over year to $102.8 million. Revenues from post trade services were up a good 77% year over year led by a combination of new customers added and the impact of a weaker U.S. dollar versus the pound sterling.
Total trading volume increased 18% in the reported quarter to $465 billion year over year, driven by record trading volume in U.S. high-grade and other credit products. Additionally, the trading volume with international clients reached a record $130 billion, representing an increase of 30%.
Total expenses at MarketAxess increased 14% from the prior-year quarter to $54.5 million. This rise was due to higher employee compensation and benefit cost, technology and communication costs and occupancy costs.
The effective tax rate was 21.4% in the first quarter, down from 23.6% in the year-ago quarter, due to a reduction in the federal income tax rate and other changes associated with the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act.
Financial Update
Total assets were $589.3 million as of Mar 31, 2018, up 1.4% from year-end 2017.
Total cash and cash equivalents were $156.2 million, down 6.5% from year-end 2017.
Free cash flow totaled $22.5 million, down 7.8% year over year.
Share Repurchase and Dividend Update
MarketAxess bought back shares worth $6.3 million in the first quarter.
The company's board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 42 cents per share. The same will be paid on May 23, 2018 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 9, 2018.
Zacks Rank & Other Releases
MarketAxess carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Among the other players from the finance sector that have reported first-quarter earnings so far, the bottom line of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) and Alliance Data System Corporation (NYSE:ADS) and Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) beat the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate.
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American Express Company (AXP): Free Stock Analysis Report
Nasdaq, Inc. (NDAQ): Free Stock Analysis Report
MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX): Free Stock Analysis Report
Alliance Data Systems Corporation (ADS): Free Stock Analysis Report
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