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MarketAxess MKTX

MarketAxess scores good on business quality (7.3 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.

Last price$164.58Oct 9, 2026
Business qualityGood
Next earningsOct 21, 2026, before the open
Insiders, 90 daysSelling

Why it matters

  1. What MarketAxess does

    MarketAxess operates an electronic trading platform for corporate bonds, charging institutional investor and dealer clients transaction fees. Revenue stems from credit trading volume across high-grade and emerging market debt.

  2. What it does best

    MarketAxess dominates electronic credit trading, boasting an 88.6% gross margin that outpaces peers like CBOE at 54.1%. This pricing power stems from a vast liquidity pool where institutional buyers and sellers congregate, creating high switching costs that rivals struggle to replicate.

  3. The main risk

    MarketAxess faces intense competitive pressure from alternative trading protocols and other financial exchanges, threatening its high credit trading volumes and growth rate which ranks in the bottom quartile of its sector at the 25th percentile.

Quality, check by check

Scored against its own industry, from company filings.

ProfitabilityStrong

Operating margin reaches 40.9% with a free cash flow margin of 38.0%, both supported by high gross margins of 88.6%. Profitability remains exceptional as software-like scaling drives strong cash conversion.

MoatStrong

The firm commands an elite network moat locking in institutional bond traders, reflected in its gross margin sitting in the top decile at the 87th sector percentile. Competitors cannot easily replicate its deep liquidity pool within years.

GrowthSlow

Revenue growth crawls at 3.8% annually, well below historical levels. This sluggish pace reflects stalling volumes in core credit segments despite broader market activity.

Financial healthStrong

Debt is minimal with a net debt of negative $300M and interest coverage at 60x, making debt costs a rounding error. Free cash flow sits at $142M while buybacks totaled $361M, keeping the balance sheet exceptionally strong.

Insiders

Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.

1 sold $1.0M outside pre-planned sales.

Our sealed record on MKTX

Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.

The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.

Questions

Is MKTX a good business?

MarketAxess scores good on the Cluenex quality check (7.3 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is strong, moat strong, growth slow and financial health strong.

Are insiders buying MKTX?

In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: 1 sold $1.0M outside pre-planned sales.

When does MKTX report earnings?

Oct 21, 2026, before the open.

For members

See MKTX today

  • Today's verdict on MKTX, and why
  • Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
  • The exact price that would change the verdict
  • Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
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Cite this page: Cluenex, “MarketAxess (MKTX)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/mktx/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.