Virtu Financial Posts Impressive Q4 Earnings on Market-Making Strength

Virtu Financial, Inc. VIRT reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.85, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 44.8%. The bottom line increased 62.3% year over year.

Virtu Financial, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Virtu Financial, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Virtu Financial, Inc. Quote

Adjusted Net Trading Income rose 34% year over year to $613.4 million, exceeding the consensus estimate by 18.2%

The strong quarterly results can be attributed to the improved commissions and technology services revenues. Strong performance in both the Market Making and Execution Services segments, driven by increased trading activity, also contributed to the upside. The bottom line also gained from lower expense level.

Full-Year Highlights

Full-year adjusted EPS was $5.73, reflecting a 61.4% year-over-year increase. The figure beat the consensus mark of $5.13 per share.

Adjusted Net Trading Income rose 34.3% year over year to $2.15 billion, and exceeded the consensus mark of $2.05 billion.

Adjusted EBITDA of $1.4 billion jumped 52.3% year over year and was above our estimate of $1.2 billion. The Adjusted EBITDA margin stood at 65.2%, above the year-ago level of 57.5%.

Virtu Financial’s Q4 Performance Details

Revenues from commissions, net, and technology services rose 12.1% year over year to $157.4 million. The metric marginally missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate and our model estimate of $157.7 million.

Interest and dividend income of $143.9 million increased 16.3% year over year and beat our estimate of $128.2 million.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 55.9% year over year to $442 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin improved year over year to 72.1% from 61.9% a year ago.

Total operating expenses declined 0.9% year over year to $626.3 million, and were lower than our estimate of $628.5 million. The decline was driven by lower costs related to reduced brokerage, exchange, and clearance fees as well as employee compensation and payroll taxes.

Q4 Segmental Update

Market Making: Adjusted net trading income totaled $488.67 million in the fourth quarter, climbing 40.5% year over year. The metric surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $376.43 million. The unit’s revenues increased 13.7% year over year to $803.4 million, coming in well above both the Zacks Consensus Estimate and our estimate of $650.1 million.

Execution Services: The unit recorded adjusted net trading income of $124.8 million in the quarter under review, representing an increase of 13.6% year over year and marginally surpassing our estimate of $124.3 million. The unit’s total revenues rose 15.8% year over year to $158.2 million, beating both the consensus estimate and our estimate of $153.1 million.

Financial Update (Dec. 31, 2025)

Virtu Financial ended the fourth quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $1.06 billion, above the 2024 year-end level of $872.5 million. Total assets increased to $20.2 billion from $15.4 billion at the end of 2024.

Long-term borrowings, net, amounted to $2 billion, up from $1.7 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024. Short-term borrowings totaled $12.4 million.

Total equity of $2 billion was up from the 2024-end level of $1.5 billion.

Share Repurchase & Dividend Update

Virtu Financial bought back 3.5 million shares worth $135.3 million in 2025.  It announced a quarterly cash dividend of 24 cents per share, payable on March 16, 2026, to shareholders of record as of Feb. 27, 2026.

Zacks Rank

Virtu Financial currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Upcoming Earnings Releases

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Robinhood Markets, Inc.’s HOOD fourth-quarter bottom line is pegged at 62 cents, indicating 14.8% year-over-year growth. Robinhood Markets beat on earnings in each of the past four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 25.8%

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MarketAxess Holdings Inc.’s MKTX fourth-quarter top line is pinned at $212.7 million, indicating 5.1% year-over-year growth. The consensus mark for the bottom line is pegged at $1.68. MarketAxess beat on earnings in each of the past four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 4.12%

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

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