CME Group vs Nasdaq
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The short version
- Nasdaq is the larger business, with $8.3B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $6.5B for CME Group.
- Nasdaq grew revenue faster (11.7%, against 6.4%).
- CME Group kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (64.9% operating margin, against 28.2%).
- CME Group turned more of its sales into free cash flow (64.3% FCF margin, against 24.1%).
- CME Group earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (11.9%, against 9.5%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Nasdaq’s earnings: a P/E of 28.0x against 25.1x for CME Group.
| Latest fiscal year | CME · FY25 | NDAQ · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $109.6B | $57.8B |
| Revenue | $6.5B | $8.3B |
| Free cash flow | $4.2B | $2.0B |
| Net income | $4.1B | $1.8B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 6.4% | 11.7% |
| 5-year growth | 6.0% | 8.0% |
| Share count change | 0.1% | −0.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 63.5% |
| Operating margin | 64.9% | 28.2% |
| Net margin | 62.5% | 21.6% |
| FCF margin | 64.3% | 24.1% |
| Return on capital | 11.9% | 9.5% |
| Return on equity | 14.8% | 15.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$1.1B | $8.4B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.3x | 3.4x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $3.9B | $1.2B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 25.1x | 28.0x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 9 |
Revenue
FY16
CME $3.6B
NDAQ $3.7B
FY17
CME $3.6B
NDAQ $3.9B
FY18
CME $4.3B
NDAQ $4.3B
FY19
CME $4.9B
NDAQ $4.3B
FY20
CME $4.9B
NDAQ $5.6B
FY21
CME $4.7B
NDAQ $5.9B
FY22
CME $5.0B
NDAQ $6.2B
FY23
CME $5.6B
NDAQ $6.1B
FY24
CME $6.1B
NDAQ $7.4B
FY25
CME $6.5B
NDAQ $8.3B
CME
NDAQ
Operating margin
FY16
CME 61.2%
NDAQ 22.6%
FY17
CME 63.4%
NDAQ 25.1%
FY18
CME 60.5%
NDAQ 24.0%
FY19
CME 53.2%
NDAQ 23.9%
FY20
CME 54.0%
NDAQ 21.9%
FY21
CME 56.4%
NDAQ 24.5%
FY22
CME 60.1%
NDAQ 25.1%
FY23
CME 61.6%
NDAQ 26.0%
FY24
CME 64.1%
NDAQ 24.3%
FY25
CME 64.9%
NDAQ 28.2%
CME
NDAQ
Free cash flow
FY16
CME $1.6B
NDAQ $642M
FY17
CME $1.7B
NDAQ $765M
FY18
CME $2.3B
NDAQ $917M
FY19
CME $2.4B
NDAQ $836M
FY20
CME $2.5B
NDAQ $1.1B
FY21
CME $2.3B
NDAQ $920M
FY22
CME $3.0B
NDAQ $1.6B
FY23
CME $3.4B
NDAQ $1.5B
FY24
CME $3.6B
NDAQ $1.7B
FY25
CME $4.2B
NDAQ $2.0B
CME
NDAQ
Return on capital
FY16
CME 7.1%
NDAQ 8.4%
FY17
CME 10.7%
NDAQ 9.3%
FY18
CME 7.2%
NDAQ 5.7%
FY19
CME 7.1%
NDAQ 9.2%
FY20
CME 7.2%
NDAQ —
FY21
CME 7.3%
NDAQ —
FY22
CME 8.3%
NDAQ 10.4%
FY23
CME 9.8%
NDAQ 7.5%
FY24
CME 11.3%
NDAQ 6.8%
FY25
CME 11.9%
NDAQ 9.5%
CME
NDAQ
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.