1-Star Price
INVESTOR
5-Star Price
INVESTOR
Economic Moat
INVESTOR
Capital Allocation
INVESTOR
Wide-moat MarketAxess reported decent second-quarter results as impressive market share gains were undermined by weak pricing in the company’s investment-grade bond trading business. Total revenue was up 3.3% year over year to $182.2 million and earnings per share of $1.78 was effectively flat versus the prior year’s quarter result of $1.77. As we incorporate these results, we are maintaining our $345 fair value estimate for MarketAxess.
Founded in 2000, MarketAxess is a leading electronic fixed-income trading platform that connects broker/dealers and institutional investors. The company is primarily focused on credit based fixed income securities with its main trading products being U.S. investment-grade and high-yield bonds, Eurobonds, and Emerging Market corporate debt. Recently the company has expanded more aggressively into Treasuries and municipal bonds with the acquisitions of LiquidityEdge and MuniBrokers in 2019 and 2021, respectively. The company also provides pre- and post-trade services with its acquisition of Regulatory Reporting Hub from Deutsche Börse Group in 2020 adding to its product offerings.
