MarketAxess 4Q25 Sneak Peek: ADV Cools, Eurobonds Cushion the Fall

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. MKTX recently announced that in the fourth quarter of 2025, it achieved a total trading average daily volume (ADV) of $37.9 billion, an 8% year-over-year decrease. Declines in U.S. Government Bond Rates and Agencies and Other Government Bond Rates affected the total volume. However, its electronic trading platform facilitated $958.5 billion in total credit trading volume in the quarter, 11% year-over-year growth.

MarketAxess’ Eurobonds and Emerging markets credit businesses witnessed 20% and 15% year-over-year growth, respectively, in ADV. New initiatives in the client-initiated, portfolio trading and dealer-initiated channels have driven growth. High-grade markets saw a 6% increase in ADV from the year-ago period. Meanwhile, in rates trading, agency and other government bonds witnessed 43% decline in ADV, whereas U.S. government bonds fell 16%, taking total rates trading down 17% year over year.

Moreover, total credit average variable transaction fees per million (“FPM”) declined 8% year over year in the quarter due to protocol mix, while the same for total rates grew 10% year over year. The number of trading days in the United States and the U.K. were 62 and 64, respectively, in the fourth quarter. Its estimated market share of U.S. credit portfolio trading came at 20.6%, rising from 16.2% a year ago.

MarketAxess is expanding its dealer-initiated and workflow tools and diversifying beyond core fixed-income trading through enhanced protocol solutions and electronic execution offerings. In June 2025, it launched the first fully electronic trading workflow for Indian Government Bonds accessible to Foreign Portfolio Investors. It now offers electronic access to the entire JP Morgan Global Bond Index – Emerging Markets, a major step in EM diversification.

How MKTX’s Peers Are Expanding

CME Group CME is expanding its operations through global growth initiatives, product innovation and retail client and technology enhancements. It extended its partnership with Nasdaq, extending the exclusive NASDAQ futures license through 2039. CME launched Spot-Quoted XRP and SOL futures in December 2025, which will complement the existing Spot-Quoted Bitcoin and Ether futures.

Bigger peer Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. ICE is expanding through strategic investments, technological innovations and new service launches. The digitization taking place in the U.S. residential mortgage industry is expected to support its growth. ICE’s strong balance sheet enables it to make acquisitions that not only fuel its growth but also bring expense synergies. 

MarketAxess’ Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of MarketAxess have declined 21.9% over the past year against the industry’s growth of 37.7%.

From a valuation standpoint, MarketAxess trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32X, higher than the industry average. MKTX carries a Value Score of D.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MarketAxess’ fourth-quarter 2025 earnings implies a 1.2% decline year over year. However, the consensus mark for full-year earnings predicts a 1.9% 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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