MarketAxess' 3Q25 ADV Declines, Eurobond Gains Ease the Drop

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. MKTX recently announced that in the third quarter of 2025, it achieved a total trading average daily volume (ADV) of $38.8 billion, a 4% year-over-year decrease. Declines in U.S. High-Grade Credit and U.S. Government Bonds Rates affected the volume. Its electronic trading platform facilitated more than $932.4 billion in total credit trading volume in the third quarter.

In the third quarter, MarketAxess’ Eurobonds and Emerging markets credit businesses witnessed 16% and 14% year-over-year growth, respectively, in ADV. New initiatives in the client-initiated, portfolio trading and dealer-initiated channels have driven growth.

But High-grade markets saw a 7% decrease in ADV from the year-ago period. Meanwhile, in rates trading, agency and other government bonds witnessed 6% growth in ADV, whereas U.S. government bonds declined by 9%, taking total rates trading down 8% year over year.

Moreover, total credit average variable transaction fees per million (“FPM”) declined 6% year over year in the third quarter due to protocol mix, while the same for total rates remained stable year over year. The number of trading days in the United States was 64 in the third quarter, while the same in the U.K. was 65. Its estimated market share of U.S. credit portfolio trading came at 19.1%, declining from 20% a year ago.

It is expanding its dealer business and rolling out tools for sell-side traders and continues to diversify beyond core fixed-income trading. In June 2025, it launched the first fully electronic trading workflow for Indian Government Bonds accessible to Foreign Portfolio Investors.

How MKTX’s Peers Are Expanding?

CME Group CME is expanding its operations through global growth, product innovation, retail client initiatives and technology enhancements. It plans to begin offering 24/7 trading for cryptocurrency futures and options by early next year. The cryptocurrency products are expected to trade continuously on the CME Globex platform.

Bigger peer Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. ICE is expanding through strategic investments, technological innovations and new service launches. It is focusing on sustainability, data and emerging markets. It is expected to launch ICE GreenTrac late this year, targeting the global carbon markets.

MarketAxess’ Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of MarketAxess have declined 25.7% year to date against the industry’s growth of 28.3%.

From a valuation standpoint, MarketAxess trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78X, higher than the industry average. MKTX carries a Value Score of D.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MarketAxess’ third-quarter 2025 earnings implies a 2.6% decline year over year. However, the consensus mark for full-year earnings predicts a 2.2% increase from a year ago.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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