Financial Trends -- 9/10
Six straight quarters of accelerating net revenue growth (+10.0% to +29.0% YoY), Adjusted
EBITDA margin expanding every quarter (63.2% trough to 74.7% in Q1'26), diluted share count
down every year for five years, and annual free cash flow nearly tripling FY2021-FY2025.
Deducted from a perfect 10 only for clearing-related quarterly FCF volatility and because
recent acceleration is increasingly boosted by realignment cost cuts layered onto still-strong
underlying volume growth.
Weight: 25%
Q1'26 Net Revenue
+29.0% YoY -- record
Adj. EBITDA Margin
74.7%
+680bps YoY
FY2025 FCF
$1,681.6M
+61.7% YoY -- tripled since FY2021
Diluted Shares
105.1M
Down every year for 5 years -- no dilution
Net revenue (quarterly, $M) -- 13-quarter trend
| Metric |
23Q1 |
23Q2 |
23Q3 |
23Q4 |
24Q1 |
24Q2 |
24Q3 |
24Q4 |
25Q1 |
25Q2 |
25Q3 |
25Q4 |
26Q1 |
| Net Revenue ($M) |
471.4 |
467.1 |
480.5 |
499.0 |
502.1 |
513.8 |
532.0 |
524.5 |
565.2 |
587.3 |
605.5 |
671.1 |
728.9 |
| YoY Growth |
— |
— |
— |
— |
+6.5% |
+10.0% |
+10.7% |
+5.1% |
+12.6% |
+14.3% |
+13.8% |
+28.0% |
+29.0% |
| Adj. EBITDA Margin |
65.8% |
62.8% |
66.7% |
64.3% |
67.2% |
66.3% |
64.3% |
63.2% |
67.9% |
65.1% |
68.6% |
69.2% |
74.7% |
Key trends
- Net revenue accelerated for six straight quarters: +10.0% → +10.7% → +5.1% (air pocket) → +12.6% → +14.3% → +13.8% → +28.0% → +29.0% YoY (2024Q2-2026Q1)
- Adjusted EBITDA margin troughed at 63.2% (2024Q4) and expanded to 74.7% (2026Q1) -- +1,510bps peak-to-trough, including +600bps and +680bps YoY in the two most recent quarters
- Growth is powered by record derivatives volumes (SPX zero-DTE ADV +66% YoY in Q4 2025) plus, from Q4 2025 onward, expense-driven margin lift from the multi-quarter portfolio realignment (Japan equities exit, FedEx wind-down, ~20% incremental headcount reduction)
- Quarterly free cash flow is noisy (negative in 4 of the last 13 quarters) purely from clearing-related OCC working-capital timing -- a balance-sheet artifact, not an operating signal; the annual trend is the reliable read
Source:
Daloopa. Net Revenue = GAAP Total Revenues less Total Cost of Revenues (Cboe's own reporting basis). FYE December 31.
Segment net revenue ($M, quarterly) -- Options is the accelerating engine
| Segment |
25Q1 |
25Q2 |
25Q3 |
25Q4 |
26Q1 |
26Q1 YoY |
| Options |
352.4 |
364.8 |
380.8 |
433.1 |
467.6 |
+32.7% |
| North Am. Equities |
94.6 |
98.4 |
103.5 |
110.7 |
111.2 |
+17.5% |
| Futures |
32.8 |
30.1 |
29.6 |
33.7 |
35.8 |
+9.1% |
| Europe & APAC |
64.1 |
70.4 |
69.1 |
69.9 |
84.9 |
+32.4% |
| Global FX |
21.3 |
23.6 |
22.5 |
23.7 |
29.4 |
+38.0% |
Key trends
- Options (~64% of net revenue) is the primary growth engine, stepping from single digits in 2024 to +33.6%/+32.7% in the last two quarters
- Europe & APAC and Global FX are both accelerating consistently and now growing faster than the Options segment (+32.4% and +38.0% YoY in Q1'26) -- both off smaller, fragmented bases
- Futures is volatile and periodically shrinks, reflecting episodic VIX-spike dependence rather than a secular driver
- North American Equities is the slowest-growing reported segment
Source:
Daloopa segment data ("Revenues less cost of revenues" basis).
5-year annual summary
| Metric |
FY2021 |
FY2022 |
FY2023 |
FY2024 |
FY2025 |
| Net Revenue ($M) |
1,476.1 |
1,741.7 |
1,918.0 |
2,072.4 |
2,429.1 |
| Revenue YoY |
— |
+18.0% |
+10.1% |
+8.0% |
+17.2% |
| Adj. Diluted EPS |
$6.05 |
$6.93 |
$7.80 |
$8.61 |
$10.67 |
| Adj. EBITDA Margin |
66.9% |
65.2% |
64.9% |
65.2% |
67.7% |
| Diluted Shares (M) |
107.2 |
106.7 |
106.2 |
105.5 |
105.1 |
| Free Cash Flow ($M) |
545.8 |
591.3 |
1,030.6 |
1,039.7 |
1,681.6 |
| FCF Margin |
37.0% |
33.9% |
53.7% |
50.2% |
69.2% |
| Total Debt ($M) |
1,299.3 |
1,755.0 |
1,450.0 |
1,450.0 |
1,450.0 |
Key trends
- Net revenue compounded from $1,476.1M (FY2021) to $2,429.1M (FY2025), a 13.3% CAGR over 4 years
- Adjusted diluted EPS compounded from $6.05 to $10.67 over the same period -- faster than revenue on margin expansion and buybacks
- Diluted share count declined every year (107.2M → 105.1M, -1.9% over five years) -- no dilution
- Total debt has been flat at $1,450M for three straight fiscal years while net revenue grew +26.7% cumulatively -- leverage (net debt/EBITDA) is negative (net cash)
- FY2025 FCF of $1,681.6M is nearly triple FY2021's $545.8M, with FCF margin expanding from 37.0% to 69.2%
Score rationale
Cboe hits all four rubric legs cleanly at the annual/trailing level: net revenue growth accelerated to +17.2% in FY2025 and to +28-29% YoY in the two most recent quarters; Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded +600-680bps YoY in the same two quarters (+1,510bps trough-to-peak); diluted share count fell every year for five years; and annual FCF grew every year, nearly tripling FY2021-FY2025. No mandatory penalty modifier applies at full force: FCF is positive and growing, there is no dilution, and debt has been flat (not outgrowing revenue) for three straight years.
The deduction from a perfect 10 to 9/10 reflects two real, secondary imperfections: (1) quarterly operating cash flow is highly volatile -- four of the last thirteen quarters show negative reported FCF purely from clearing-related OCC working-capital timing, a balance-sheet artifact rather than an operating-quality issue, meaning the "FCF accelerating" leg is only cleanly true at the annual/TTM level; and (2) recent acceleration is increasingly a function of the multi-quarter realignment's cost actions (Japan/FedEx/Australia-Canada exits, ~20% incremental headcount cut) layering onto still-strong but less dramatically accelerating underlying volume growth -- genuine profitability improvement, but partly self-help rather than pure organic reacceleration.
Data sourced from
Daloopa, company filings, and verbatim FMP earnings-call transcripts. Full detail: tickers/CBOE/data/review_workspaces/2026-07-24/final_score.md.