CME Group vs MSCI
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The short version
- CME Group is the larger business, with $6.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $3.1B for MSCI, about 2.1 times as much.
- MSCI grew revenue faster (9.8%, against 6.4%).
- CME Group kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (64.9% operating margin, against 54.7%).
- CME Group turned more of its sales into free cash flow (64.3% FCF margin, against 49.4%).
- MSCI earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (44.5%, against 11.9%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of MSCI’s earnings: a P/E of 32.6x against 25.1x for CME Group.
| Latest fiscal year | CME · FY25 | MSCI · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $109.6B | $44.5B |
| Revenue | $6.5B | $3.1B |
| Free cash flow | $4.2B | $1.5B |
| Net income | $4.1B | $1.2B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 6.4% | 9.8% |
| 5-year growth | 6.0% | 13.1% |
| Share count change | 0.1% | −2.9% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 64.9% | 54.7% |
| Net margin | 62.5% | 38.4% |
| FCF margin | 64.3% | 49.4% |
| Return on capital | 11.9% | 44.5% |
| Return on equity | 14.8% | — |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$1.1B | $5.7B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.3x | 3.3x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $3.9B | $3.0B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 25.1x | 32.6x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 7 |
Revenue
FY16
CME $3.6B
MSCI $1.2B
FY17
CME $3.6B
MSCI $1.3B
FY18
CME $4.3B
MSCI $1.4B
FY19
CME $4.9B
MSCI $1.6B
FY20
CME $4.9B
MSCI $1.7B
FY21
CME $4.7B
MSCI $2.0B
FY22
CME $5.0B
MSCI $2.2B
FY23
CME $5.6B
MSCI $2.5B
FY24
CME $6.1B
MSCI $2.9B
FY25
CME $6.5B
MSCI $3.1B
CME
MSCI
Operating margin
FY16
CME 61.2%
MSCI 42.4%
FY17
CME 63.4%
MSCI 45.5%
FY18
CME 60.5%
MSCI 47.9%
FY19
CME 53.2%
MSCI 48.5%
FY20
CME 54.0%
MSCI 52.2%
FY21
CME 56.4%
MSCI 52.5%
FY22
CME 60.1%
MSCI 53.7%
FY23
CME 61.6%
MSCI 54.8%
FY24
CME 64.1%
MSCI 53.5%
FY25
CME 64.9%
MSCI 54.7%
CME
MSCI
Free cash flow
FY16
CME $1.6B
MSCI $410M
FY17
CME $1.7B
MSCI $371M
FY18
CME $2.3B
MSCI $583M
FY19
CME $2.4B
MSCI $680M
FY20
CME $2.5B
MSCI $789M
FY21
CME $2.3B
MSCI $923M
FY22
CME $3.0B
MSCI $1.1B
FY23
CME $3.4B
MSCI $1.2B
FY24
CME $3.6B
MSCI $1.5B
FY25
CME $4.2B
MSCI $1.5B
CME
MSCI
Return on capital
FY16
CME 7.1%
MSCI 20.0%
FY17
CME 10.7%
MSCI 23.7%
FY18
CME 7.2%
MSCI 35.8%
FY19
CME 7.1%
MSCI 47.2%
FY20
CME 7.2%
MSCI 49.9%
FY21
CME 7.3%
MSCI 43.2%
FY22
CME 8.3%
MSCI 39.6%
FY23
CME 9.8%
MSCI 39.9%
FY24
CME 11.3%
MSCI 38.7%
FY25
CME 11.9%
MSCI 44.5%
CME
MSCI
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.