Zacks Research Has Negative View of MarketAxess Q2 Earnings

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) – Research analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q2 2026 earnings per share estimates for MarketAxess in a note issued to investors on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $1.92 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.02. The consensus estimate for MarketAxess’ current full-year earnings is $8.08 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for MarketAxess’ Q3 2026 earnings at $1.98 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.86 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $8.01 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $2.27 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $2.15 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $2.14 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $2.14 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $8.70 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $2.40 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $9.49 EPS.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.10. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 35.53%.The firm had revenue of $233.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MarketAxess from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $190.88.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $136.25 on Friday. MarketAxess has a fifty-two week low of $135.22 and a fifty-two week high of $228.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $162.90 and a 200-day moving average of $170.12.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new position in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Stance Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.88%.

MarketAxess News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting MarketAxess this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts still expect MarketAxess to grow earnings over time, with FY2027 and FY2028 estimates remaining above the current-year consensus, suggesting the long-term earnings outlook is intact.
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketAxess recently reported strong first-quarter 2026 results, including earnings and revenue that beat expectations, which helps offset some of the more recent analyst caution.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research cut FY2026 EPS to $8.01 from $8.03, FY2027 EPS to $8.70 from $8.79, FY2028 EPS to $9.49 from $9.58, and also lowered several quarterly estimates, including Q2 2026, Q3 2026, Q4 2026, Q2 2027, Q3 2027, Q4 2027, and Q1 2028.
• Negative Sentiment: The repeated downward revisions may signal slightly weaker near-term trading or volume expectations for the electronic bond-trading platform, which can dampen investor confidence in the stock.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.