CME Group vs FactSet

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KIRA’s take AI analyst

I put CME Group and FactSet side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:

CME Group is the larger business, with $6.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.5B for FactSet, about 2.6 times as much.
CME Group kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (64.9% operating margin, against 28.3%).
CME Group turned more of its sales into free cash flow (64.3% FCF margin, against 28.6%).
FactSet earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (18.2%, against 11.9%).

Who comes out ahead

Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.

CME Group

CME

5/10

Operating marginNet marginFCF marginPiotroski F-scoreNet debt / EBITDA

FactSet

FDS

5/10

Revenue growth5-year growthReturn on capitalReturn on equityShare count change

Side by side

Best in the row

Latest fiscal year	CME FY25	FDS FY26
Size
Market cap	$110.5B	$11.8B
Revenue	$6.5B	$2.5B
Free cash flow	$4.2B	$707M
Net income	$4.1B	$534M
Growth
Revenue growth	6.4%	6.7%
5-year growth	6.0%	9.3%
Share count change	0.1%	−4.6%
Profitability
Gross margin	—	50.6%
Operating margin	64.9%	28.3%
Net margin	62.5%	21.5%
FCF margin	64.3%	28.6%
Return on capital	11.9%	18.2%
Return on equity	14.8%	25.5%
Balance sheet
Net debt	−$1.1B	$1.1B
Net debt / EBITDA	−0.3x	1.3x
Dividends and buybacks	$3.9B	$808M
Valuation & quality
P/E	25.3x	—
Piotroski F-score	7	6

Ten years

Revenue

FY17

CME $3.6B

FDS $1.2B

FY18

CME $4.3B

FDS $1.4B

FY19

CME $4.9B

FDS $1.4B

FY20

CME $4.9B

FDS $1.5B

FY21

CME $4.7B

FDS $1.6B

FY22

CME $5.0B

FDS $1.8B

FY23

CME $5.6B

FDS $2.1B

FY24

CME $6.1B

FDS $2.2B

FY25

CME $6.5B

FDS $2.3B

FY26

CME —

FDS $2.5B

FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

CME FDS

Operating margin

FY17

CME 63.4%

FDS 28.8%

FY18

CME 60.5%

FDS 27.1%

FY19

CME 53.2%

FDS 30.5%

FY20

CME 54.0%

FDS 29.4%

FY21

CME 56.4%

FDS 29.8%

FY22

CME 60.1%

FDS 25.8%

FY23

CME 61.6%

FDS 30.2%

FY24

CME 64.1%

FDS 31.8%

FY25

CME 64.9%

FDS 32.2%

FY26

CME —

FDS 28.3%

FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

CME FDS

Free cash flow

FY17

CME $1.7B

FDS $284M

FY18

CME $2.3B

FDS $352M

FY19

CME $2.4B

FDS $368M

FY20

CME $2.5B

FDS $428M

FY21

CME $2.3B

FDS $494M

FY22

CME $3.0B

FDS $487M

FY23

CME $3.4B

FDS $585M

FY24

CME $3.6B

FDS $615M

FY25

CME $4.2B

FDS $617M

FY26

CME —

FDS $707M

FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

CME FDS

Return on capital

FY17

CME 10.7%

FDS 35.9%

FY18

CME 7.2%

FDS 31.4%

FY19

CME 7.1%

FDS 42.5%

FY20

CME 7.2%

FDS 44.5%

FY21

CME 7.3%

FDS 46.6%

FY22

CME 8.3%

FDS 23.3%

FY23

CME 9.8%

FDS 18.2%

FY24

CME 11.3%

FDS 20.8%

FY25

CME 11.9%

FDS 20.7%

FY26

CME —

FDS 18.2%

FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

CME FDS

Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.