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Marketaxess Holdings Inc

MKTX · Financials (security brokers, dealers & flotation companies) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-31

Signed in, this page also says what this company is inside your own portfolio: its weight, its share of your risk, and what buying or selling some of it would change. Sign in ›

Marketaxess Holdings Inc reported revenue of $846.3 million in fiscal 2025, after growing 9.7% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin narrowed from 51.7% in 2016 to 40.4%, and it earned 16.8% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $2.8 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 30.4% went to dividends and 27.3% to buybacks. On the accounting screens, it passes 4 of 7 Piotroski tests; 1 of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.

Revenue, fiscal 2025 846.3M +9.7% a year over 9 years
Operating margin 40.4% gross margin —
Return on invested capital 16.8% 17.8% on average over 2 years
Free cash flow after stock pay 343.0M 40.5% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA Net cash 299.7M more cash than debt
Piotroski F-score 4/7 tests of improvement passed

Is it growing?

Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.

RevenueOperating income
Compound growth a year
3 yrs5 yrs9 yrs
Revenue+5.6%+4.2%+9.7%
Operating income+1.5%-1.8%+6.7%
Net income-0.5%-3.8%+7.7%
Earnings per share-0.0%-3.3%+7.9%
Free cash flow per share+11.1%-0.3%+18.4%
Dividend per share+3.3%+5.5%+13.2%
Shares-0.5%-0.5%-0.2%

Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.

Does it earn more than its capital costs?

Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.

GrossOperatingNetFree cash flow

Return on invested capital

Return on invested capital Cost of capital today · 9.2%

Economic profit

Economic profit

(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.

Return on equity
21.5%
Return on assets
12.7%
Asset turnover
0.44×
Overheads (SG&A)
3.1% of revenue

Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?

Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.

Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay

Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2016–2025

2.8B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.

  • Reinvested in the business 5% 139.8M
  • Acquisitions 4% 115.0M
  • Dividends 30% 859.9M
  • Share buybacks 27% 771.2M
  • Kept, or used to pay down debt 33% 938.8M

Over the same years it paid 242.7M in stock. The share count fell 1.6%. 528.5M of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.

Per share

Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share

Shares outstanding

Diluted shares

Debt and liquidity

Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.

Net debt
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
-0.7×
Interest coverage
230× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
— current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
—

Three classic screens of the accounts

Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.

Piotroski F-score

Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.

4of 7 tests passed
  • ProfitableReturn on assets above zero passed
  • Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zero passed
  • Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year before failed
  • Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals) passed
  • Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fell failed
  • More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year before — not reported no data
  • No new sharesShare count did not grow passed
  • Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year before — not reported no data
  • Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year before failed

Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.

Altman Z''-score

Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?

The accounts lack a line it needs (retained earnings, current assets or liabilities).

Beneish M-score

Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?

The accounts lack too many of the lines it needs.

Where the statements disagree

Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.

Capital spending (8M) is well below depreciation (77M).

Benign

Mature assets, or a business that has become less capital-intensive.

Worrying

Under-investing: today's profit is being held up by consuming tomorrow's capacity.

What is it worth, under which assumptions?

A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.

Revenue
M $

revenue of fiscal 2025

%

revenue grew +4.2% a year over the last 5 years; it fades to the terminal rate by the last year

yrs

ten years for growth to fade to the terminal rate

Cash from each sale
%

free cash flow to the firm after stock-based pay ÷ revenue, last 3 fiscal years together

%

the margin in year ten; by default the business keeps today's

The long run
%

growth forever after year ten, below the risk-free rate: no company outgrows the economy forever

The discount rate
%

10-year US Treasury par yield (U.S. Treasury), 2026-09-28

not measured on this public page, which uses only public filings: 1.0 assumes it moves like the market. Sign in to measure it from prices

%

the extra return demanded for holding shares; it cannot be measured, and 4–6% is the common range

%

interest expense ÷ debt = 0.7%, kept between the risk-free rate and +8 points

%

effective rate in the last fiscal year, 32.7%, kept within 0–35%

The price
$

Type the price you see at your broker. It is used only for the reverse questions: what that price implies.

Back to the defaults

SEC from the filings Treasury the 10-year yield measured from prices assumption cannot be measured yours you changed it

Value per share, with these assumptions $137.47 discounted at 9.2% a year · 54% of it from after year 10
$105.6480% of 5,000 simulations$186.34
Cautious $89.33 0.0% growth · 29.5% margin · 10.2% discount · 2.0% forever
Your assumptions $137.47 4.0% growth · 34.7% margin · 9.2% discount · 2.5% forever
Generous $227.16 8.0% growth · 39.9% margin · 8.2% discount · 3.0% forever

Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.

What the value implies, in the usual multiples

At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings20.7×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA11.5×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue5.7×
Free cash flow yield6.7%

From cash flows to a value per share

10 years of cash flow, today2.2B
Everything after, today2.6B
The whole business4.8B
Plus net cash299.7M
What belongs to shareholders5.1B

Divided among 37.1M shares: <strong>$137.47</strong> each.

The projection next to its history

Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.

ReportedProjected
Year by year
2026202720282029203020312032203320342035
Revenue880.1M913.9M947.4M980.5M1.0B1.0B1.1B1.1B1.1B1.2B
Growth4.0%3.8%3.7%3.5%3.3%3.2%3.0%2.8%2.7%2.5%
Cash margin34.7%34.7%34.7%34.7%34.7%34.7%34.7%34.7%34.7%34.7%
Free cash flow305.1M316.7M328.4M339.9M351.2M362.3M373.2M383.7M394.0M403.8M
Worth today279.5M265.8M252.5M239.4M226.6M214.2M202.1M190.4M179.0M168.1M

If the least-known inputs move

Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.

The discount rate and growth forever

discount ↓ · forever →1.5%2.0%2.5%3.0%3.5%
8.2% 142 150 161 173 187
8.7% 132 140 148 158 170
9.2% 124 130 137 146 156
9.7% 117 122 128 135 144
10.2% 110 115 120 126 133

Year-one growth and the final margin

margin ↓ · growth →0.0%2.0%4.0%6.0%8.0%
27.7% 101 109 118 127 137
31.2% 109 118 127 138 149
34.7% 118 127 137 149 161
38.1% 126 136 147 160 173
41.6% 134 145 157 170 185

All the inputs moving at once

5,000 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 5.2%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.

Half of the simulations land between <b>$119.09</b> and <b>$160.14</b>; one in ten below $105.64, one in ten above $186.34.

Does the long run make sense?

  • 10.8×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 10.8 times that year's EBITDA.
  • Free growthIn year 10 free cash flow is at or above after-tax operating profit, yet the model grows 2.5% forever. Growth needs reinvestment; this assumes it comes for free, which flatters the terminal value.
  • 54%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
The discount rate, taken apart
  1. What shareholders demand (CAPM): 5.24% risk-free + 1.00 beta × 5.0% premium = <strong>10.24%</strong>.
  2. What lenders charge, after the tax saving on interest: 5.24% × (1 − 32.7%) = <strong>3.53%</strong>.
  3. Weighted by how much of each the company uses (book value (no price given)): <strong>9.16%</strong>, the rate every future cash flow is discounted at.

What it has filed lately

The last twelve months at the SEC, most important first: annual and quarterly reports, events, large holders and insiders.

What its own directors and officers did

Every Form 4 filed in the last twelve months, read line by line: 6 filings by 4 people. Open-market purchases and sales are counted apart from awards, option exercises and shares withheld for taxes.

Bought on the open market—none in the period
Sold on the open market$1.1M4 sale(s) by 2 insider(s)
Under pre-arranged plans75%of the sales followed a 10b5-1 plan set months earlier
Other lines30 awards · 0 option exercises · 0 tax withholdings
DateWhoWhatSharesPriceValueHolds after
10 Sep 2026 Cruger William Frank Jr.Director Sold on the open market 6,164 $163.20 $1.0M 4,033
10 Sep 2026 Pintoff ScottGeneral Counsel and Secretary Sold on the open market · pre-arranged plan 100 $163.32 $16,332 11,486
12 Aug 2026 Portney Emily HopeDirector Gave as a gift 2,085 — — 4,259
12 Aug 2026 Portney Emily HopeDirector Gave as a gift · indirect 2,085 — — 1,571
10 Aug 2026 Pintoff ScottGeneral Counsel and Secretary Sold on the open market · pre-arranged plan 100 $162.60 $16,260 11,586
7 Aug 2026 Chwick JaneDirector Gave as a gift 606 — — 9,223
10 Jul 2026 Pintoff ScottGeneral Counsel and Secretary Sold on the open market · pre-arranged plan 100 $115.12 $11,512 11,686

A Form 4 says what happened, when, how many shares and at what price. It does not say why: a sale can be diversification, a tax bill or a plan fixed months earlier, and an award is pay, not a purchase. Nothing here is a reason to buy or sell anything.

Which large funds report holding it

From the Form 13F of the 28 institutions followed on this site, as of the end of their last reported quarter. A 13F is filed up to 45 days later and shows only long positions in US-listed shares.

FundSharesValueShare of the fundSince the quarter before
Norges Bank (Norway's sovereign fund) 30 Jun 2026 572,422 $65.0M 0.0% New
Tudor Investment 30 Jun 2026 137,847 $15.6M 0.1% New
Bridgewater Associates 30 Jun 2026 7,024 $797,154 0.0% Added to

All the funds and what they reported ›

Companies like this one

Same SEC industry (security brokers, dealers & flotation companies) first, then the rest of financials.

Every figure, year by year

10 fiscal years · 30 measures
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Size
Revenue367.7M393.4M435.6M511.4M689.1M699.0M718.3M752.5M817.1M846.3M
Revenue growth—+7.0%+10.7%+17.4%+34.8%+1.4%+2.8%+4.8%+8.6%+3.6%
Operating income190.0M199.6M212.6M250.9M374.7M337.2M326.9M315.0M340.9M341.8M
Net income126.2M148.1M172.9M204.9M299.4M257.9M250.2M258.1M274.2M246.6M
Margins
Gross margin——————————
Operating margin51.7%50.7%48.8%49.1%54.4%48.2%45.5%41.9%41.7%40.4%
Net margin34.3%37.6%39.7%40.1%43.4%36.9%34.8%34.3%33.6%29.1%
Free cash flow margin22.7%39.6%43.2%49.6%56.5%37.9%38.4%43.1%45.9%44.2%
R&D ÷ revenue——————————
SG&A ÷ revenue2.5%2.8%2.6%3.1%1.8%2.1%2.7%3.1%2.8%3.1%
Cash
Free cash flow83.4M155.9M188.0M253.6M389.5M264.6M276.1M324.4M375.3M373.9M
Stock-based pay14.5M14.4M15.8M25.3M25.6M27.3M29.9M29.2M29.7M30.9M
Free cash flow after stock pay68.9M141.5M172.2M228.3M363.9M237.3M246.2M295.3M345.6M343.0M
Free cash flow to the firm136.6M153.7M155.7M214.3M320.7M296.4M290.1M305.6M323.1M298.5M
Free cash flow ÷ net income0.7×1.1×1.1×1.2×1.3×1.0×1.1×1.3×1.4×1.5×
Capex ÷ revenue1.7%3.1%8.2%2.4%2.2%2.5%1.8%1.2%1.2%1.0%
Returns
Return on invested capital————————18.7%16.8%
Return on equity27.0%28.8%28.4%26.6%31.3%24.8%23.1%20.0%19.7%21.5%
Return on assets23.9%25.5%24.9%21.5%22.5%16.9%15.6%12.8%15.3%12.7%
Asset turnover0.7×0.7×0.6×0.5×0.5×0.5×0.4×0.4×0.5×0.4×
Economic profit————————132.0M104.9M
Per share
Earnings per share$3.34$3.89$4.57$5.40$7.85$6.77$6.65$6.85$7.28$6.64
Free cash flow per share$2.21$4.10$4.97$6.68$10.21$6.95$7.33$8.62$9.96$10.07
Dividend per share$1.02$1.29$1.65$2.01$2.37$2.62$2.81$2.91$2.99$3.10
Payout ratio30.5%33.0%36.1%37.2%30.3%38.7%42.3%42.5%41.1%46.7%
Book value per share$12.47$13.68$16.15$20.30$25.13$27.46$28.72$34.12$36.89$32.02
Diluted shares37.7M38.0M37.9M38.0M38.1M38.1M37.6M37.7M37.7M37.1M
Balance sheet
Net debt————————-544.5M-299.7M
Net debt ÷ EBITDA————————-1.3×-0.7×
Interest coverage————328.1×400.5×467.0×158.9×212.9×229.9×
Current ratio——————————
Cash conversion cycle (days)——————————
Scores
Piotroski F-score—443444354
Altman Z''——————————
Beneish M——————————

Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.