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BGC Group, Inc. — Call Transcript 2026
May 7, 2026
Greetings, and welcome to the BGC Group first quarter 2026 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Jason Chryssicas, Head of Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin. Hello, everyone. This morning, we issued BGC's first quarter 2026 financial results, which can be found at ir.bgcg.com. Any historical results provided on today's call compare only the first quarter of 2026 with the prior year period, unless otherwise specified. All references on today's call to historic, record, and strongest results are to BGC's standalone financial results, excluding Newmark, prior to the spin-off in November 2018. We will be referring to our results on a non-GAAP basis, which include the terms adjusted earnings and adjusted EBITDA. Please refer to today's investor materials on our website for additional details on our financial results and for complete and updated definitions of any non-GAAP terms, reconciliations of these items to the corresponding GAAP results, and how, when, and why management uses them, as well as relevant industry and economic statistics. The outlook discussed today assumes no material acquisitions or dispositions. Our expectations are subject to change based on various macroeconomic, social, political, and/or other factors. Information on this call contains forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements about our economic outlook and business. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause our actual results to differ from expectations. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For information on factors that could cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements and a complete discussion of the risks and other factors that may impact these forward-looking statements, see our SEC filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors and disclosures within these SEC documents. With that, I am now happy to turn the call over to John Abularrage, Chief Executive Officer of BGC Group. Thank you, Jason. Good morning, and welcome to our first quarter 2026 conference call. With me today are my fellow Co-Chief Executive Officers, Sean Windeatt and J.P. Aubin, along with our Chief Financial Officer, Jason Hauf. BGC delivered another record quarter. Revenues increased 44% to $955 million, with growth across every asset class and geography. Excluding OTC, revenues grew 23% to $817 million, which was also a record. Pre-tax earnings hit an all-time high, up more than 44%. Our ECS revenues more than doubled to $330 million, reinforcing our position as the world's largest energy broker. FMX posted its best-ever quarter, setting ADV records for U.S. Treasuries, FX, and futures. FMX UST ADV grew 51% in the first quarter to a record $90 billion, representing 41% market share. We built on last year's $25 million cost reduction program, which is now expected to result in $35 million of annualized cost savings. We will continue to identify and execute cost savings throughout 2026 to drive further margin expansion. A final point on the macro backdrop. The Iran conflict, which began on February the 28th, drove elevated volatility across energy, rates, and FX through the final month of the quarter. Through February the 27th, before the conflict began, revenues were tracking up 41%. Finishing the full-quarter up 44% reinforces that our record results this quarter were driven primarily by our underlying business, with the conflict serving only as an incremental contributor. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Sean to go over the quarterly results of the business in more detail. Thank you, John. We delivered record revenues of $955.5 million, a 43.8% increase versus last year. Our total brokerage revenues grew by 46.7% to $895.8 million, driven by growth across all asset classes. ECS revenues grew by 120.1% to $330 million, driven by the acquisition of OTC and strong organic growth across our broader energy complex and shipping businesses. Rates revenues increased 27.5% to $256.2 million, reflecting strong growth across listed futures and options, interest rate swaps, and government bonds, supported by continued FMX UST market share gains. Foreign exchange revenues were up 19.1% to $131 million, primarily due to strong volume growth in emerging market and G10 products. Credit revenues increased by 8.2% to $94.1 million, driven by higher emerging market credit, PortfolioMatch, and structured credit volumes. Equities grew by 34.3% to $84.5 million, reflecting strong market share gains across all major geographies and global equity volatility. Data, network, and post-trade revenues grew by 23.2% to $34.5 million, excluding KACE, which we sold in the fourth quarter of 2025. This growth was driven by Lucera and Fenics Market Data. Including KACE, data network and post-trade revenues grew by 6.1%. Now turning to Fenics. Fenics revenues increased by 19.8% to a first quarter record of $206.9 million. Fenics Markets generated revenues of $176.7 million, an increase of 20.3%. This growth was driven by higher electronic trading volumes across rates, credit, foreign exchange, and increased Fenics Market Data revenues. On December 31, 2025, we completed the sale of our KACE business for up to $119 million. Excluding KACE, Fenics Markets grew by 24.1%. Fenics Growth Platforms revenues grew to $30.2 million, a 17.4% increase, primarily driven by FMX, PortfolioMatch, and Lucera. FMX UST generated record quarterly ADV of $89.7 billion, 51% higher compared to last year. FMX UST grew its first quarter market share to 41%, up from 39% last quarter and 33% a year ago. In March, ADV reached $107 billion, the single highest month in the platform's history. FMX Futures Exchange delivered another quarter of significant growth. SOFR ADV climbed to more than 39,000 contracts in the first quarter of 2026, up from 2,200 contracts a year ago. While quarter-end open interest reached approximately 143,000 contracts compared to 8,000 in the prior year period. FMX's US Treasury Futures developed momentum in April, with volume building throughout the month to a new high of approximately 30,000 contracts on April 29th, 2026. FMX FX average daily volumes increased by 42% to a record $20.5 billion, driven by strong growth across Spot FX and NDF volumes, resulting in continued market share gains. PortfolioMatch ADV grew by 42% in the first quarter, setting a new all-time high. Growth was driven by higher client activity across U.S. and EMEA corporate credit, reflecting new and deepening customer relationships and broad-based adoption of recently launched trading functionalities. Average trade size grew to record levels, supported by an increase in the platform's global maximum trade size. PortfolioMatch continues to capture market share in this critically important part of the credit market. Lucera, Fenics network business providing critical real-time trading infrastructure to the capital markets, grew revenues by 22.8% in the first quarter. Growth was led by continued momentum in its FX offering and increasing client adoption across fixed income solutions, including U.S. Treasuries and the futures. Looking ahead, a pipeline of new products across both FX and fixed income is set to come online, which is expected to provide meaningful sources of new incremental growth. With that, I'd now like to turn the call over to Jason. Thank you, Sean. Hello, everyone. BGC generated record revenues of $955.5 million during the quarter, reflecting growth across all of our geographies. EMEA revenues increased by 56.7%, Americas revenues increased by 29.9%, and Asia Pacific revenues increased by 31.1%. Turning to expenses. Compensation and employee benefits under GAAP and for adjusted earnings increased by 57.3%, 51.5%, respectively. The increase in compensation and employee benefits under GAAP was related to the acquisition of OTC, higher commissionable revenues, charges incurred as part of the cost reduction program, and the weaker U.S. dollar. The increase in compensation and employee benefits for adjusted earnings was driven by OTC, higher commissionable revenues, and the weaker U.S. dollar. Non-compensation expenses under GAAP and for adjusted earnings increased by 33.4% and 27.4% respectively, primarily driven by the acquisition of OTC. Excluding OTC, non-compensation expenses under GAAP and for adjusted earnings increased by 19.3% and 12.7% respectively. During the quarter, we realized an additional $10 million of savings and now expect our cost reduction plan to result in $35 million of annualized savings. We remain committed to continuing our cost reduction initiative throughout 2026, with the goal of achieving further margin expansion. Moving on to our record adjusted earnings. Our pre-tax adjusted earnings grew by 44.9% to $232.1 million, representing a pre-tax margin of 24.3%. Post-tax adjusted earnings increased by 40.6% to $201.1 million, resulting in a post-tax adjusted earnings per share of $0.41, 41.4% higher versus last year. Our adjusted EBITDA increased by 26.7% to $253.2 million. Turning to share count. BGC's fully diluted weighted average share count for adjusted earnings was 495.2 million shares during the period, a 1% increase compared to the last quarter and a 1.3% decrease compared to last year. As of March 31st, our liquidity was $878.4 million compared with $979.1 million as of year-end 2025. The change in our liquidity reflects payments for year-end bonuses, tax payments, and timing differences between commissions earned in the seasonally busier first quarter and commissions collected from the seasonally slower fourth quarter. As cash uses are generally the greatest in the first quarter, we typically repurchase fewer shares during this period, and we expect share repurchases to increase throughout the remainder of the year. With that, I'd like to turn the call back to John to go over our second quarter outlook. Thank you, Jason. I'm pleased to provide the following guidance for the second quarter of 2026. We expect to generate revenues of between $785 million and $845 million compared to $784 million in the second quarter of 2025, which at the midpoint of our guidance, would represent a 4% revenue growth increase for the second quarter and 22% revenue growth for the first half of the year, or 13% organically. We anticipate pre-tax adjusted earnings to be in the range of $178 million to $196 million versus $173.6 million last year, which at the midpoint of guidance, would represent 8% earnings growth for the second quarter and 26% earnings growth for the first half of the year. We expect our adjusted earnings tax rate to be between 11% and 14% for the full-year 2026. With that, operator, we would like to open the call for questions. Thank you. If you want to ask a question please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you want to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipments, you may need assistance to pick up your handset before pressing the star key. Our first question comes from the line of Patrick Moley with Piper Sandler. Please proceed with your question. Yes, good morning. Thanks for taking the question and congrats on the record quarter. I wanted to ask about energy, commodity, and shipping revenues. They were very strong this quarter. In the release, you noted that total revenues, though, were already tracking up 41% year-over-year before the Iran conflict broke out. Finished at 44% increase in the quarter year-over-year. How much of that growth do you view as structural versus cyclical? Then I'm just curious, you know, how do you think investors should think about the ECS revenue run rate from here as you lap the OTC Global Holdings acquisition in April of last year and as we think about maybe some of the geopolitical-driven volatility normalizing from here? Thanks. Morning, Patrick. I think in terms of structural, as John said in his prepared remarks, we pointed out that the business was up 41% pre the start of the conflict and ended up 44%. If you do the maths on that, you'll see, you know, our opinion is that around about, call it $20 million of incremental revenue, one could ascribe to the conflict. But most of the growth in Q1 was part of our normal business. That's incredibly positive. I think with ECS in particular, I don't think anything has changed between Q1 and Q2, and therefore the rest of the year. You know, we've now owned OTC for one year. The integration of that business is virtually complete. Therefore, I think we'll continue. What you'll now see is growth across the ECS spectrum for our multi-brands. We won't be breaking it out between OTC and our core business. Okay, that's helpful. As a follow-up, you know, you expanded the cost reduction program this quarter. In the press release, I think you said that you were gonna continue to identify and execute cost savings throughout 2026 to drive further margin expansion. Could you walk us through what's driving that incremental $10 million, how much additional runway you see beyond the $35 million now? How should we just think about the pace of margin expansion flowing through the P&L over the remainder of the year? Yeah, I like that. You see, we, you know, we increase our cost reduction program in the Q1 by 40%, and you ask for what we're gonna do next after that. I like that. Yeah. Look, I think as you know, having, you know, having covered us for a while, you know, as a result of the OTC acquisition, we identified, you know, that we should be able to save, you know, $25 million in cost reduction. Once we started on that journey, we of course we wanted to exceed that. We found an additional $10 million, so we're now up at $35 million. You know, the bulk of that is within the compensation lines. There are some infrastructure lines as well. You know, for example, we closed one of the non-profit making businesses that OTC had in its logistics business, which resulted in decreases in compensation and a small amount of non-comp as well. I think once you do these exercises, we will continue to do that across the business. You know, will we expect to get more than the 35? Of course, that's why we said it in our prepared remarks. I think having just done that incremental 40%, we'll perhaps update you on what we think and an updated thing in the next quarter. Okay. That's helpful. I'm looking forward to that. I got another question, but I'm gonna hop back in the queue. Thanks. Thank you. As a reminder, if you'd like to join the question queue, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Our next question comes from the line of Elias Abboud with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question. Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. You pointed out a moment ago to Patrick that revenues were tracking 41% higher year-on-year before the Liberation Day even began. My question is, if the Liberation Day was not a major tailwind for you guys in 1Q 2026, how do I bridge the 31% organic revenue growth in 1Q 2026 with the 4% revenue growth implied by the guide for 2Q 2026? Thanks, Eli. Why don't I take that one? It's interesting actually, you know, John, JP, and I when doing guidance, I'd probably say it was one of the more challenging times to give you guidance. That's really for two reasons. Firstly, as we pointed out in Q1 this year, around $20 million of incremental revenue was there in Q1 in our estimate as a result of the Iran conflict. Last year, you of course remember that April is an interesting month in the U.S. because April 25 was, I think it was called Liberation Day, and therefore, it was the introduction of the tariffs which had significant increases in volumes and trading in the month of April. If you put the $20 million of Q1 this year and circa $20 million of Q2 last year, that will help you bridge. I think also, look, we didn't mention it in our numbers, in our prepared remarks, I apologize. You know, we did sell the KACE business and we did also, you know, close down the logistics business. That's $10 million of quarterly revenue. If you add those three things together, you know, that's $50 million difference. That's why also we gave you the six-month, in John's prepared remarks, he gave you the six-month numbers, which said that organically, we're growing at 12.7%, assuming mid-guidance, organically. You know, April was in giving our guidance, April, of course, therefore was challenged by comparison to last year. What we've seen and of course, you know, today is May 7th, and, you know, what we've seen is we've started to see trading levels return back to what I would call normality and try to reflect that in our guidance. Got it. In the deck, you gave us some new data that shows your listed revenues are actually outpacing exchange volumes. I think conventional wisdom is that electronification is a one-way trend and that your business, which is primarily voice, should be actually slower growth than that of the exchanges. These numbers, obviously, they suggest that maybe that isn't true. I was hoping you could help us understand why. Why does it make sense for the high touch flow that BGC does to be higher growth than the fully electronic low touch flow that comprises the majority of listed volume? Okay. I think two things. As my Co-CEO, J.P., pointed out in the last quarter, what we were trying to explain is we are an exchange. You know, we act like an exchange except for we do it not just for electronic marketplace, but for voice, for hybrid, and for electronic. The interesting point was, you know, when there's volatility in the marketplace, we couldn't understand why the exchanges, of course, you know, the exchange share prices would do well and ours not so much. We're pointing out that we act like an exchange. The difference is the clients can come to us and execute their business in one of three ways. It shouldn't be surprising, therefore, that when electronic volumes that, for example, you know, CME and ICE are up, of course, the trading that's going to be happening in both voice hybrid and electronic with the intermediaries like BGC, that's going to be positive as well. That's why there is a correlation between the two. Again, you've seen that very much in April, where the exchange volumes were lower, we still grew. Why are we outperforming them? I think we're outperforming them for two reasons. You know, number one is because of what's led to our market share gains in multiple asset classes. You know, number one, obviously our acquisitions Yeah, and secondly, just overall increased volume. I think that's why, that's why we continue to outperform the market. Got it. I'll squeeze one more in here before I hand it back to Patrick. Could you help us understand the decline in FMX futures open interest quarter to date versus 1Q? What can be done to course-correct there? Hey, it's John. The drop in OI on the futures it's just simply a reflection of a risk-off mentality in terms of what's going on in the market. OI, as you know, is just standing orders. That is, you know, something that we would expect to happen as the conflict starts and something that we are seeing now, start to recover in the same way that, you know, you're seeing those volumes start to recover. I guess the way that we think of it is it kind of in general, in nascent exchange, is that it, you know, of course, we're always looking at, you know, you never wanna see volumes go down for any reason, but this is exactly what we saw in the UST cash platform when that was in nascent exchange, and obviously now it's not. You saw our cash platform perform beautifully when the conflict started. I think that this is what, you know, we would have expected. Clearly, you know, if there was ever an opportunity where, you know, the climb back to the market share that we had before and we're, you know, we're virtually there now, and you'll see that the next time we speak, we believe we'll be there and above, proves, you know, what the, what the participants in the market and the partners have been telling us, which is you need a second player in this market. We are that second player. You know, that's why we believe that, you know, we're seeing our market share and volumes, you know, climb back to where they were, and it'll be, you know, higher than that, we're quite confident of the next time we speak. You know, the risk parameters in the market are changing, but our place in the market has only been reinforced by the recovery in our volumes and our OI that you're starting to see. Got it. Thanks, guys. Thank you. Our next question is a follow-up from the line of Patrick Moley with Piper Sandler. Please proceed with your question. Thanks for taking the follow-up. Just a quick one. I don't have the live transcript in front of me, but in your prepared remarks, you said something about new products that you were looking forward to launching. I think you might have said FX. Could you just elaborate on what those are and then any way to quantify, you know, maybe from a revenue or top-line perspective, what sort of impact that could have and the timing of those launches? Thanks. You know, as you and I have discussed, Lucera is a gem within the BGC portfolio. I think in terms of quantifying that, you'll continue to see it grow, you know, around the rates that it has grown historically despite, you know, the larger revenue size. You know, it grows at 20%+. In terms of new products, you know, the single thing that is most important in the Lucera world and growing importance in our world is connectivity. Lucera is constantly rolling out other products within asset classes. The way to think about it is, yes, you know, Lucera is dominant in FX and to a slightly lesser extent, but growing in rates, but there are other parts of a rates complex where Lucera is growing in and getting more buy-in from existing and from new customers. As Lucera's connectivity within big clients continues to grow, it continues to expand in other asset classes, and the trust factor and white glove service that come along with Lucera is really genuinely taking hold. We're pleased to see it. They're doing a great job. Okay, great. That's it for me. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Abularrage for final comments. Thanks very much, everyone. As always, we appreciate your time and look forward to speaking to you next quarter. Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.
Speaker 5: Greetings, and welcome to the BGC Group first quarter 2026 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Jason Chryssicas, Head of Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin. Greetings, and welcome to the BGC Group first quarter 2026 earnings call. greetings and welcome to the bgc group first quarter 2026 earnings call At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. at this time all participants are in a listen-only mode A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. a question and answer session will follow the formal presentation If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. if anyone should require operator assistance during the conference please press star zero on your telephone keypad As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. as a reminder this conference is being recorded I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Jason Chryssicas, Head of Investor Relations. i would now like to turn the call over to your host jason chryssicas head of investor relations Thank you. thank you You may begin. you may begin
Speaker 2: Hello, everyone. This morning, we issued BGC's first quarter 2026 financial results, which can be found at ir.bgcg.com. Any historical results provided on today's call compare only the first quarter of 2026 with the prior year period, unless otherwise specified. All references on today's call to historic, record, and strongest results are to BGC's standalone financial results, excluding Newmark, prior to the spin-off in November 2018. We will be referring to our results on a non-GAAP basis, which include the terms adjusted earnings and adjusted EBITDA. Please refer to today's investor materials on our website for additional details on our financial results and for complete and updated definitions of any non-GAAP terms, reconciliations of these items to the corresponding GAAP results, and how, when, and why management uses them, as well as relevant industry and economic statistics. Hello, everyone. hello everyone This morning, we issued BGC's first quarter 2026 financial results, which can be found at ir.bgcg.com. this morning we issued bgc's first quarter 2026 financial results which can be found at ir.bgcg.com Any historical results provided on today's call compare only the first quarter of 2026 with the prior year period, unless otherwise specified. any historical results provided on today's call compare only the first quarter of 2026 with the prior year period unless otherwise specified All references on today's call to historic, record, and strongest results are to BGC's standalone financial results, excluding Newmark, prior to the spin-off in November 2018. all references on today's call to historic record and strongest results are to bgc's standalone financial results excluding newmark prior to the spin-off in november 2018 We will be referring to our results on a non-GAAP basis, which include the terms adjusted earnings and adjusted EBITDA. we will be referring to our results on a non-gaap basis which include the terms adjusted earnings and adjusted ebitda Please refer to today's investor materials on our website for additional details on our financial results and for complete and updated definitions of any non-GAAP terms, reconciliations of these items to the corresponding GAAP results, and how, when, and why management uses them, as well as relevant industry and economic statistics. please refer to today's investor materials on our website for additional details on our financial results and for complete and updated definitions of any non-gaap terms reconciliations of these items to the corresponding gaap results and how when and why management uses them as well as relevant industry and economic statistics The outlook discussed today assumes no material acquisitions or dispositions. Our expectations are subject to change based on various macroeconomic, social, political, and/or other factors. Information on this call contains forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements about our economic outlook and business. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause our actual results to differ from expectations. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For information on factors that could cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements and a complete discussion of the risks and other factors that may impact these forward-looking statements, see our SEC filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors and disclosures within these SEC documents. With that, I am now happy to turn the call over to John Abularrage, Chief Executive Officer of BGC Group. The outlook discussed today assumes no material acquisitions or dispositions. the outlook discussed today assumes no material acquisitions or dispositions Our expectations are subject to change based on various macroeconomic, social, political, and/or other factors. our expectations are subject to change based on various macroeconomic social political and/or other factors Information on this call contains forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements about our economic outlook and business. information on this call contains forward-looking statements including without limitation statements about our economic outlook and business These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause our actual results to differ from expectations. these statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause our actual results to differ from expectations Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. except as required by law we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements For information on factors that could cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements and a complete discussion of the risks and other factors that may impact these forward-looking statements, see our SEC filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors and disclosures within these SEC documents. for information on factors that could cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements and a complete discussion of the risks and other factors that may impact these forward-looking statements see our sec filings including but not limited to the risk factors and disclosures within these sec documents With that, I am now happy to turn the call over to John Abularrage, Chief Executive Officer of BGC Group. with that i am now happy to turn the call over to john abularrage chief executive officer of bgc group
Speaker 4: Thank you, Jason. Good morning, and welcome to our first quarter 2026 conference call. With me today are my fellow Co-Chief Executive Officers, Sean Windeatt and J.P. Aubin, along with our Chief Financial Officer, Jason Hauf. BGC delivered another record quarter. Revenues increased 44% to $955 million, with growth across every asset class and geography. Excluding OTC, revenues grew 23% to $817 million, which was also a record. Pre-tax earnings hit an all-time high, up more than 44%. Our ECS revenues more than doubled to $330 million, reinforcing our position as the world's largest energy broker. FMX posted its best-ever quarter, setting ADV records for U.S. Treasuries, FX, and futures. FMX UST ADV grew 51% in the first quarter to a record $90 billion, representing 41% market share. Thank you, Jason. thank you jason Good morning, and welcome to our first quarter 2026 conference call. good morning and welcome to our first quarter 2026 conference call With me today are my fellow Co-Chief Executive Officers, Sean Windeatt and J.P. with me today are my fellow co-chief executive officers sean windeatt and j.p Aubin, along with our Chief Financial Officer, Jason Hauf. aubin along with our chief financial officer jason hauf BGC delivered another record quarter. bgc delivered another record quarter Revenues increased 44% to $955 million, with growth across every asset class and geography. revenues increased 44% to $955 million with growth across every asset class and geography Excluding OTC, revenues grew 23% to $817 million, which was also a record. excluding otc revenues grew 23% to $817 million which was also a record Pre-tax earnings hit an all-time high, up more than 44%. pre-tax earnings hit an all-time high up more than 44% Our ECS revenues more than doubled to $330 million, reinforcing our position as the world's largest energy broker. our ecs revenues more than doubled to $330 million reinforcing our position as the world's largest energy broker FMX posted its best-ever quarter, setting ADV records for U.S. fmx posted its best-ever quarter setting adv records for u.s Treasuries, FX, and futures. treasuries fx and futures FMX UST ADV grew 51% in the first quarter to a record $90 billion, representing 41% market share. fmx ust adv grew 51% in the first quarter to a record $90 billion representing 41% market share We built on last year's $25 million cost reduction program, which is now expected to result in $35 million of annualized cost savings. We will continue to identify and execute cost savings throughout 2026 to drive further margin expansion. A final point on the macro backdrop. The Iran conflict, which began on February the 28th, drove elevated volatility across energy, rates, and FX through the final month of the quarter. Through February the 27th, before the conflict began, revenues were tracking up 41%. Finishing the full-quarter up 44% reinforces that our record results this quarter were driven primarily by our underlying business, with the conflict serving only as an incremental contributor. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Sean to go over the quarterly results of the business in more detail. We built on last year's $25 million cost reduction program, which is now expected to result in $35 million of annualized cost savings. we built on last year's $25 million cost reduction program which is now expected to result in $35 million of annualized cost savings We will continue to identify and execute cost savings throughout 2026 to drive further margin expansion. we will continue to identify and execute cost savings throughout 2026 to drive further margin expansion A final point on the macro backdrop. a final point on the macro backdrop The Iran conflict, which began on February the 28th, drove elevated volatility across energy, rates, and FX through the final month of the quarter. the iran conflict which began on february the 28th drove elevated volatility across energy rates and fx through the final month of the quarter Through February the 27th, before the conflict began, revenues were tracking up 41%. through february the 27th before the conflict began revenues were tracking up 41% Finishing the full- quarter up 44% reinforces that our record results this quarter were driven primarily by our underlying business, with the conflict serving only as an incremental contributor. finishing the full- quarter up 44% reinforces that our record results this quarter were driven primarily by our underlying business with the conflict serving only as an incremental contributor With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Sean to go over the quarterly results of the business in more detail. with that i'd like to turn the call over to sean to go over the quarterly results of the business in more detail
Speaker 7: Thank you, John. We delivered record revenues of $955.5 million, a 43.8% increase versus last year. Our total brokerage revenues grew by 46.7% to $895.8 million, driven by growth across all asset classes. ECS revenues grew by 120.1% to $330 million, driven by the acquisition of OTC and strong organic growth across our broader energy complex and shipping businesses. Rates revenues increased 27.5% to $256.2 million, reflecting strong growth across listed futures and options, interest rate swaps, and government bonds, supported by continued FMX UST market share gains. Thank you, John. thank you john We delivered record revenues of $955.5 million, a 43.8% increase versus last year. we delivered record revenues of $955.5 million a 43.8% increase versus last year Our total brokerage revenues grew by 46.7% to $895.8 million, driven by growth across all asset classes. our total brokerage revenues grew by 46.7% to $895.8 million driven by growth across all asset classes ECS revenues grew by 120.1% to $330 million, driven by the acquisition of OTC and strong organic growth across our broader energy complex and shipping businesses. ecs revenues grew by 120.1% to $330 million driven by the acquisition of otc and strong organic growth across our broader energy complex and shipping businesses Rates revenues increased 27.5% to $256.2 million, reflecting strong growth across listed futures and options, interest rate swaps, and government bonds, supported by continued FMX UST market share gains. rates revenues increased 27.5% to $256.2 million reflecting strong growth across listed futures and options interest rate swaps and government bonds supported by continued fmx ust market share gains Foreign exchange revenues were up 19.1% to $131 million, primarily due to strong volume growth in emerging market and G10 products. Credit revenues increased by 8.2% to $94.1 million, driven by higher emerging market credit, PortfolioMatch, and structured credit volumes. Equities grew by 34.3% to $84.5 million, reflecting strong market share gains across all major geographies and global equity volatility. Data, network, and post-trade revenues grew by 23.2% to $34.5 million, excluding KACE, which we sold in the fourth quarter of 2025. This growth was driven by Lucera and Fenics Market Data. Including KACE, data network and post-trade revenues grew by 6.1%. Now turning to Fenics. Foreign exchange revenues were up 19.1% to $131 million, primarily due to strong volume growth in emerging market and G10 products. foreign exchange revenues were up 19.1% to $131 million primarily due to strong volume growth in emerging market and g10 products Credit revenues increased by 8.2% to $94.1 million, driven by higher emerging market credit, PortfolioMatch, and structured credit volumes. credit revenues increased by 8.2% to $94.1 million driven by higher emerging market credit portfoliomatch and structured credit volumes Equities grew by 34.3% to $84.5 million, reflecting strong market share gains across all major geographies and global equity volatility. equities grew by 34.3% to $84.5 million reflecting strong market share gains across all major geographies and global equity volatility Data, network, and post-trade revenues grew by 23.2% to $34.5 million, excluding KACE, which we sold in the fourth quarter of 2025. data network and post-trade revenues grew by 23.2% to $34.5 million excluding kace which we sold in the fourth quarter of 2025 This growth was driven by Lucera and Fenics Market Data. this growth was driven by lucera and fenics market data Including KACE, data network and post-trade revenues grew by 6.1%. including kace data network and post-trade revenues grew by 6.1% Now turning to Fenics. now turning to fenics Fenics revenues increased by 19.8% to a first quarter record of $206.9 million. Fenics Markets generated revenues of $176.7 million, an increase of 20.3%. This growth was driven by higher electronic trading volumes across rates, credit, foreign exchange, and increased Fenics Market Data revenues. On December 31, 2025, we completed the sale of our KACE business for up to $119 million. Excluding KACE, Fenics Markets grew by 24.1%. Fenics Growth Platforms revenues grew to $30.2 million, a 17.4% increase, primarily driven by FMX, PortfolioMatch, and Lucera. FMX UST generated record quarterly ADV of $89.7 billion, 51% higher compared to last year. Fenics revenues increased by 19.8% to a first quarter record of $206.9 million. fenics revenues increased by 19.8% to a first quarter record of $206.9 million Fenics Markets generated revenues of $176.7 million, an increase of 20.3%. fenics markets generated revenues of $176.7 million an increase of 20.3% This growth was driven by higher electronic trading volumes across rates, credit, foreign exchange, and increased Fenics Market Data revenues. this growth was driven by higher electronic trading volumes across rates credit foreign exchange and increased fenics market data revenues On December 31, 2025, we completed the sale of our KACE business for up to $119 million. on december 31 2025 we completed the sale of our kace business for up to $119 million Excluding KACE, Fenics Markets grew by 24.1%. excluding kace fenics markets grew by 24.1% Fenics Growth Platforms revenues grew to $30.2 million, a 17.4% increase, primarily driven by FMX, PortfolioMatch, and Lucera. fenics growth platforms revenues grew to $30.2 million a 17.4% increase primarily driven by fmx portfoliomatch and lucera FMX UST generated record quarterly ADV of $89.7 billion, 51% higher compared to last year. fmx ust generated record quarterly adv of $89.7 billion 51% higher compared to last year FMX UST grew its first quarter market share to 41%, up from 39% last quarter and 33% a year ago. In March, ADV reached $107 billion, the single highest month in the platform's history. FMX Futures Exchange delivered another quarter of significant growth. SOFR ADV climbed to more than 39,000 contracts in the first quarter of 2026, up from 2,200 contracts a year ago. While quarter-end open interest reached approximately 143,000 contracts compared to 8,000 in the prior year period. FMX's US Treasury Futures developed momentum in April, with volume building throughout the month to a new high of approximately 30,000 contracts on April 29th, 2026. FMX UST grew its first quarter market share to 41%, up from 39% last quarter and 33% a year ago. fmx ust grew its first quarter market share to 41% up from 39% last quarter and 33% a year ago In March, ADV reached $107 billion, the single highest month in the platform's history. in march adv reached $107 billion the single highest month in the platform's history FMX Futures Exchange delivered another quarter of significant growth. fmx futures exchange delivered another quarter of significant growth SOFR ADV climbed to more than 39,000 contracts in the first quarter of 2026, up from 2,200 contracts a year ago. sofr adv climbed to more than 39,000 contracts in the first quarter of 2026 up from 2,200 contracts a year ago While quarter- end open interest reached approximately 143,000 contracts compared to 8,000 in the prior year period. while quarter- end open interest reached approximately 143,000 contracts compared to 8,000 in the prior year period FMX's US Treasury Futures developed momentum in April, with volume building throughout the month to a new high of approximately 30,000 contracts on April 29th, 2026. fmx's us treasury futures developed momentum in april with volume building throughout the month to a new high of approximately 30,000 contracts on april 29th 2026 FMX FX average daily volumes increased by 42% to a record $20.5 billion, driven by strong growth across Spot FX and NDF volumes, resulting in continued market share gains. PortfolioMatch ADV grew by 42% in the first quarter, setting a new all-time high. Growth was driven by higher client activity across U.S. and EMEA corporate credit, reflecting new and deepening customer relationships and broad-based adoption of recently launched trading functionalities. Average trade size grew to record levels, supported by an increase in the platform's global maximum trade size. PortfolioMatch continues to capture market share in this critically important part of the credit market. Lucera, Fenics network business providing critical real-time trading infrastructure to the capital markets, grew revenues by 22.8% in the first quarter. FMX FX average daily volumes increased by 42% to a record $20.5 billion, driven by strong growth across Spot FX and NDF volumes, resulting in continued market share gains. fmx fx average daily volumes increased by 42% to a record $20.5 billion driven by strong growth across spot fx and ndf volumes resulting in continued market share gains PortfolioMatch ADV grew by 42% in the first quarter, setting a new all-time high. portfoliomatch adv grew by 42% in the first quarter setting a new all-time high Growth was driven by higher client activity across U.S. and EMEA corporate credit, reflecting new and deepening customer relationships and broad-based adoption of recently launched trading functionalities. growth was driven by higher client activity across u.s and emea corporate credit reflecting new and deepening customer relationships and broad-based adoption of recently launched trading functionalities Average trade size grew to record levels, supported by an increase in the platform's global maximum trade size. average trade size grew to record levels supported by an increase in the platform's global maximum trade size PortfolioMatch continues to capture market share in this critically important part of the credit market. portfoliomatch continues to capture market share in this critically important part of the credit market Lucera, Fenics network business providing critical real-time trading infrastructure to the capital markets, grew revenues by 22.8% in the first quarter. lucera fenics network business providing critical real-time trading infrastructure to the capital markets grew revenues by 22.8% in the first quarter Growth was led by continued momentum in its FX offering and increasing client adoption across fixed income solutions, including U.S. Treasuries and the futures. Looking ahead, a pipeline of new products across both FX and fixed income is set to come online, which is expected to provide meaningful sources of new incremental growth. With that, I'd now like to turn the call over to Jason. Growth was led by continued momentum in its FX offering and increasing client adoption across fixed income solutions, including U.S. growth was led by continued momentum in its fx offering and increasing client adoption across fixed income solutions including u.s Treasuries and the futures. treasuries and the futures Looking ahead, a pipeline of new products across both FX and fixed income is set to come online, which is expected to provide meaningful sources of new incremental growth. looking ahead a pipeline of new products across both fx and fixed income is set to come online which is expected to provide meaningful sources of new incremental growth With that, I'd now like to turn the call over to Jason. with that i'd now like to turn the call over to jason
Speaker 3: Thank you, Sean. Hello, everyone. BGC generated record revenues of $955.5 million during the quarter, reflecting growth across all of our geographies. EMEA revenues increased by 56.7%, Americas revenues increased by 29.9%, and Asia Pacific revenues increased by 31.1%. Turning to expenses. Compensation and employee benefits under GAAP and for adjusted earnings increased by 57.3%, 51.5%, respectively. The increase in compensation and employee benefits under GAAP was related to the acquisition of OTC, higher commissionable revenues, charges incurred as part of the cost reduction program, and the weaker U.S. dollar. The increase in compensation and employee benefits for adjusted earnings was driven by OTC, higher commissionable revenues, and the weaker U.S. dollar. Thank you, Sean. thank you sean Hello, everyone. hello everyone BGC generated record revenues of $955.5 million during the quarter, reflecting growth across all of our geographies. bgc generated record revenues of $955.5 million during the quarter reflecting growth across all of our geographies EMEA revenues increased by 56.7%, Americas revenues increased by 29.9%, and Asia Pacific revenues increased by 31.1%. emea revenues increased by 56.7% americas revenues increased by 29.9% and asia pacific revenues increased by 31.1% Turning to expenses. turning to expenses Compensation and employee benefits under GAAP and for adjusted earnings increased by 57.3%, 51.5%, respectively. compensation and employee benefits under gaap and for adjusted earnings increased by 57.3% 51.5% respectively The increase in compensation and employee benefits under GAAP was related to the acquisition of OTC, higher commissionable revenues, charges incurred as part of the cost reduction program, and the weaker U.S. dollar. the increase in compensation and employee benefits under gaap was related to the acquisition of otc higher commissionable revenues charges incurred as part of the cost reduction program and the weaker u.s dollar The increase in compensation and employee benefits for adjusted earnings was driven by OTC, higher commissionable revenues, and the weaker U.S. dollar. the increase in compensation and employee benefits for adjusted earnings was driven by otc higher commissionable revenues and the weaker u.s dollar Non-compensation expenses under GAAP and for adjusted earnings increased by 33.4% and 27.4% respectively, primarily driven by the acquisition of OTC. Excluding OTC, non-compensation expenses under GAAP and for adjusted earnings increased by 19.3% and 12.7% respectively. During the quarter, we realized an additional $10 million of savings and now expect our cost reduction plan to result in $35 million of annualized savings. We remain committed to continuing our cost reduction initiative throughout 2026, with the goal of achieving further margin expansion. Moving on to our record adjusted earnings. Our pre-tax adjusted earnings grew by 44.9% to $232.1 million, representing a pre-tax margin of 24.3%. Non-compensation expenses under GAAP and for adjusted earnings increased by 33.4% and 27.4% respectively, primarily driven by the acquisition of OTC. non-compensation expenses under gaap and for adjusted earnings increased by 33.4% and 27.4% respectively primarily driven by the acquisition of otc Excluding OTC, non-compensation expenses under GAAP and for adjusted earnings increased by 19.3% and 12.7% respectively. excluding otc non-compensation expenses under gaap and for adjusted earnings increased by 19.3% and 12.7% respectively During the quarter, we realized an additional $10 million of savings and now expect our cost reduction plan to result in $35 million of annualized savings. during the quarter we realized an additional $10 million of savings and now expect our cost reduction plan to result in $35 million of annualized savings We remain committed to continuing our cost reduction initiative throughout 2026, with the goal of achieving further margin expansion. we remain committed to continuing our cost reduction initiative throughout 2026 with the goal of achieving further margin expansion Moving on to our record adjusted earnings. moving on to our record adjusted earnings Our pre-tax adjusted earnings grew by 44.9% to $232.1 million, representing a pre-tax margin of 24.3%. our pre-tax adjusted earnings grew by 44.9% to $232.1 million representing a pre-tax margin of 24.3% Post-tax adjusted earnings increased by 40.6% to $201.1 million, resulting in a post-tax adjusted earnings per share of $0.41, 41.4% higher versus last year. Post-tax adjusted earnings increased by 40.6% to $201.1 million, resulting in a post-tax adjusted earnings per share of $0.41, 41.4% higher versus last year. post-tax adjusted earnings increased by 40.6% to $201.1 million resulting in a post-tax adjusted earnings per share of $0.41, 41.4% higher versus last year Our adjusted EBITDA increased by 26.7% to $253.2 million. Turning to share count. BGC's fully diluted weighted average share count for adjusted earnings was 495.2 million shares during the period, a 1% increase compared to the last quarter and a 1.3% decrease compared to last year. As of March 31st, our liquidity was $878.4 million compared with $979.1 million as of year-end 2025. The change in our liquidity reflects payments for year-end bonuses, tax payments, and timing differences between commissions earned in the seasonally busier first quarter and commissions collected from the seasonally slower fourth quarter. Our adjusted EBITDA increased by 26.7% to $253.2 million. our adjusted ebitda increased by 26.7% to $253.2 million Turning to share count. turning to share count BGC's fully diluted weighted average share count for adjusted earnings was 495.2 million shares during the period, a 1% increase compared to the last quarter and a 1.3% decrease compared to last year. bgc's fully diluted weighted average share count for adjusted earnings was 495.2 million shares during the period a 1% increase compared to the last quarter and a 1.3% decrease compared to last year As of March 31st, our liquidity was $878.4 million compared with $979.1 million as of year-end 2025. as of march 31st our liquidity was $878.4 million compared with $979.1 million as of year-end 2025 The change in our liquidity reflects payments for year-end bonuses, tax payments, and timing differences between commissions earned in the seasonally busier first quarter and commissions collected from the seasonally slower fourth quarter. the change in our liquidity reflects payments for year-end bonuses tax payments and timing differences between commissions earned in the seasonally busier first quarter and commissions collected from the seasonally slower fourth quarter As cash uses are generally the greatest in the first quarter, we typically repurchase fewer shares during this period, and we expect share repurchases to increase throughout the remainder of the year. With that, I'd like to turn the call back to John to go over our second quarter outlook. As cash uses are generally the greatest in the first quarter, we typically repurchase fewer shares during this period, and we expect share repurchases to increase throughout the remainder of the year. as cash uses are generally the greatest in the first quarter we typically repurchase fewer shares during this period and we expect share repurchases to increase throughout the remainder of the year With that, I'd like to turn the call back to John to go over our second quarter outlook. with that i'd like to turn the call back to john to go over our second quarter outlook
Speaker 4: Thank you, Jason. I'm pleased to provide the following guidance for the second quarter of 2026. We expect to generate revenues of between $785 million and $845 million compared to $784 million in the second quarter of 2025, which at the midpoint of our guidance, would represent a 4% revenue growth increase for the second quarter and 22% revenue growth for the first half of the year, or 13% organically. We anticipate pre-tax adjusted earnings to be in the range of $178 million to $196 million versus $173.6 million last year, which at the midpoint of guidance, would represent 8% earnings growth for the second quarter and 26% earnings growth for the first half of the year. Thank you, Jason. thank you jason I'm pleased to provide the following guidance for the second quarter of 2026. i'm pleased to provide the following guidance for the second quarter of 2026 We expect to generate revenues of between $785 million and $845 million compared to $784 million in the second quarter of 2025, which at the midpoint of our guidance, would represent a 4% revenue growth increase for the second quarter and 22% revenue growth for the first half of the year, or 13% organically. we expect to generate revenues of between $785 million and $845 million compared to $784 million in the second quarter of 2025 which at the midpoint of our guidance would represent a 4% revenue growth increase for the second quarter and 22% revenue growth for the first half of the year or 13% organically We anticipate pre-tax adjusted earnings to be in the range of $178 million to $196 million versus $173.6 million last year, which at the midpoint of guidance, would represent 8% earnings growth for the second quarter and 26% earnings growth for the first half of the year. we anticipate pre-tax adjusted earnings to be in the range of $178 million to $196 million versus $173.6 million last year which at the midpoint of guidance would represent 8% earnings growth for the second quarter and 26% earnings growth for the first half of the year We expect our adjusted earnings tax rate to be between 11% and 14% for the full-year 2026. With that, operator, we would like to open the call for questions. We expect our adjusted earnings tax rate to be between 11% and 14% for the full- year 2026. we expect our adjusted earnings tax rate to be between 11% and 14% for the full- year 2026 With that, operator, we would like to open the call for questions. with that operator we would like to open the call for questions
Speaker 5: Thank you. If you want to ask a question please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you want to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipments, you may need assistance to pick up your handset before pressing the star key. Our first question comes from the line of Patrick Moley with Piper Sandler. Please proceed with your question. Thank you. If you want to ask a question please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you want to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipments, you may need assistance to pick up your handset before pressing the star key. Our first question comes from the line of Patrick Moley with Piper Sandler. thank you. if you want to ask a question please press star one on your telephone keypad. a confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. you may press star two if you want to remove your question from the queue. for participants using speaker equipments, you may need assistance to pick up your handset before pressing the star key. our first question comes from the line of patrick moley with piper sandler Please proceed with your question. please proceed with your question
Speaker 6: Yes, good morning. Thanks for taking the question and congrats on the record quarter. I wanted to ask about energy, commodity, and shipping revenues. They were very strong this quarter. In the release, you noted that total revenues, though, were already tracking up 41% year-over-year before the Iran conflict broke out. Finished at 44% increase in the quarter year-over-year. How much of that growth do you view as structural versus cyclical? Then I'm just curious, you know, how do you think investors should think about the ECS revenue run rate from here as you lap the OTC Global Holdings acquisition in April of last year and as we think about maybe some of the geopolitical-driven volatility normalizing from here? Thanks. Yes, good morning. yes good morning Thanks for taking the question and congrats on the record quarter. thanks for taking the question and congrats on the record quarter I wanted to ask about energy, commodity, and shipping revenues. i wanted to ask about energy commodity and shipping revenues They were very strong this quarter. they were very strong this quarter In the release, you noted that total revenues, though, were already tracking up 41% year-over-year before the Iran conflict broke out. in the release you noted that total revenues though were already tracking up 41% year-over-year before the iran conflict broke out Finished at 44% increase in the quarter year-over-year. finished at 44% increase in the quarter year-over-year How much of that growth do you view as structural versus cyclical? how much of that growth do you view as structural versus cyclical Then I'm just curious, you know, how do you think investors should think about the ECS revenue run rate from here as you lap the OTC Global Holdings acquisition in April of last year and as we think about maybe some of the geopolitical-driven volatility normalizing from here? then i'm just curious you know how do you think investors should think about the ecs revenue run rate from here as you lap the otc global holdings acquisition in april of last year and as we think about maybe some of the geopolitical-driven volatility normalizing from here Thanks. thanks
Speaker 7: Morning, Patrick. I think in terms of structural, as John said in his prepared remarks, we pointed out that the business was up 41% pre the start of the conflict and ended up 44%. If you do the maths on that, you'll see, you know, our opinion is that around about, call it $20 million of incremental revenue, one could ascribe to the conflict. But most of the growth in Q1 was part of our normal business. That's incredibly positive. I think with ECS in particular, I don't think anything has changed between Q1 and Q2, and therefore the rest of the year. You know, we've now owned OTC for one year. Morning, Patrick. morning patrick I think in terms of structural, as John said in his prepared remarks, we pointed out that the business was up 41% pre the start of the conflict and ended up 44%. i think in terms of structural as john said in his prepared remarks we pointed out that the business was up 41% pre the start of the conflict and ended up 44% If you do the maths on that, you'll see, you know, our opinion is that around about, call it $20 million of incremental revenue, one could ascribe to the conflict. if you do the maths on that you'll see you know our opinion is that around about call it $20 million of incremental revenue one could ascribe to the conflict But most of the growth in Q1 was part of our normal business. but most of the growth in q1 was part of our normal business That's incredibly positive. that's incredibly positive I think with ECS in particular, I don't think anything has changed between Q1 and Q2, and therefore the rest of the year. i think with ecs in particular i don't think anything has changed between q1 and q2 and therefore the rest of the year You know, we've now owned OTC for one year. you know we've now owned otc for one year The integration of that business is virtually complete. Therefore, I think we'll continue. What you'll now see is growth across the ECS spectrum for our multi-brands. We won't be breaking it out between OTC and our core business. The integration of that business is virtually complete. the integration of that business is virtually complete Therefore, I think we'll continue. therefore i think we'll continue What you'll now see is growth across the ECS spectrum for our multi-brands. what you'll now see is growth across the ecs spectrum for our multi-brands We won't be breaking it out between OTC and our core business. we won't be breaking it out between otc and our core business
Speaker 6: Okay, that's helpful. As a follow-up, you know, you expanded the cost reduction program this quarter. In the press release, I think you said that you were gonna continue to identify and execute cost savings throughout 2026 to drive further margin expansion. Could you walk us through what's driving that incremental $10 million, how much additional runway you see beyond the $35 million now? How should we just think about the pace of margin expansion flowing through the P&L over the remainder of the year? Okay, that's helpful. okay that's helpful As a follow-up, you know, you expanded the cost reduction program this quarter. as a follow-up you know you expanded the cost reduction program this quarter In the press release, I think you said that you were gonna continue to identify and execute cost savings throughout 2026 to drive further margin expansion. in the press release i think you said that you were gonna continue to identify and execute cost savings throughout 2026 to drive further margin expansion Could you walk us through what's driving that incremental $10 million, how much additional runway you see beyond the $35 million now? could you walk us through what's driving that incremental $10 million how much additional runway you see beyond the $35 million now How should we just think about the pace of margin expansion flowing through the P&L over the remainder of the year? how should we just think about the pace of margin expansion flowing through the p&l over the remainder of the year
Speaker 7: Yeah, I like that. You see, we, you know, we increase our cost reduction program in the Q1 by 40%, and you ask for what we're gonna do next after that. I like that. Yeah. Look, I think as you know, having, you know, having covered us for a while, you know, as a result of the OTC acquisition, we identified, you know, that we should be able to save, you know, $25 million in cost reduction. Once we started on that journey, we of course we wanted to exceed that. We found an additional $10 million, so we're now up at $35 million. You know, the bulk of that is within the compensation lines. Yeah, I like that. yeah i like that You see, we, you know, we increase our cost reduction program in the Q1 by 40%, and you ask for what we're gonna do next after that. you see we you know we increase our cost reduction program in the q1 by 40% and you ask for what we're gonna do next after that I like that. i like that Yeah. yeah Look, I think as you know, having, you know, having covered us for a while, you know, as a result of the OTC acquisition, we identified, you know, that we should be able to save, you know, $25 million in cost reduction. look i think as you know having you know having covered us for a while you know as a result of the otc acquisition we identified you know that we should be able to save you know $25 million in cost reduction Once we started on that journey, we of course we wanted to exceed that. once we started on that journey we of course we wanted to exceed that We found an additional $10 million, so we're now up at $35 million. we found an additional $10 million so we're now up at $35 million You know, the bulk of that is within the compensation lines. you know the bulk of that is within the compensation lines There are some infrastructure lines as well. You know, for example, we closed one of the non-profit making businesses that OTC had in its logistics business, which resulted in decreases in compensation and a small amount of non-comp as well. I think once you do these exercises, we will continue to do that across the business. You know, will we expect to get more than the 35? Of course, that's why we said it in our prepared remarks. I think having just done that incremental 40%, we'll perhaps update you on what we think and an updated thing in the next quarter. There are some infrastructure lines as well. there are some infrastructure lines as well You know, for example, we closed one of the non-profit making businesses that OTC had in its logistics business, which resulted in decreases in compensation and a small amount of non-comp as well. you know for example we closed one of the non-profit making businesses that otc had in its logistics business which resulted in decreases in compensation and a small amount of non-comp as well I think once you do these exercises, we will continue to do that across the business. i think once you do these exercises we will continue to do that across the business You know, will we expect to get more than the 35? you know will we expect to get more than the 35 Of course, that's why we said it in our prepared remarks. of course that's why we said it in our prepared remarks I think having just done that incremental 40%, we'll perhaps update you on what we think and an updated thing in the next quarter. i think having just done that incremental 40% we'll perhaps update you on what we think and an updated thing in the next quarter
Speaker 6: Okay. That's helpful. I'm looking forward to that. I got another question, but I'm gonna hop back in the queue. Thanks. Okay. okay That's helpful. that's helpful I'm looking forward to that. i'm looking forward to that I got another question, but I'm gonna hop back in the queue. i got another question but i'm gonna hop back in the queue Thanks. thanks
Speaker 5: Thank you. As a reminder, if you'd like to join the question queue, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Our next question comes from the line of Elias Abboud with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question. Thank you. thank you As a reminder, if you'd like to join the question queue, please press star one on your telephone keypad. as a reminder if you'd like to join the question queue please press star one on your telephone keypad Our next question comes from the line of Elias Abboud with Bank of America. our next question comes from the line of elias abboud with bank of america Please proceed with your question. please proceed with your question
Speaker 1: Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. You pointed out a moment ago to Patrick that revenues were tracking 41% higher year-on-year before the Liberation Day even began. My question is, if the Liberation Day was not a major tailwind for you guys in 1Q 2026, how do I bridge the 31% organic revenue growth in 1Q 2026 with the 4% revenue growth implied by the guide for 2Q 2026? Good morning. good morning Thanks for taking the question. thanks for taking the question You pointed out a moment ago to Patrick that revenues were tracking 41% higher year-on-year before the Liberation Day even began. you pointed out a moment ago to patrick that revenues were tracking 41% higher year-on-year before the liberation day even began My question is, if the Liberation Day was not a major tailwind for you guys in 1Q 2026, how do I bridge the 31% organic revenue growth in 1Q 2026 with the 4% revenue growth implied by the guide for 2Q 2026? my question is if the liberation day was not a major tailwind for you guys in 1q 2026 how do i bridge the 31% organic revenue growth in 1q 2026 with the 4% revenue growth implied by the guide for 2q 2026
Speaker 7: Thanks, Eli. Why don't I take that one? It's interesting actually, you know, John, JP, and I when doing guidance, I'd probably say it was one of the more challenging times to give you guidance. That's really for two reasons. Firstly, as we pointed out in Q1 this year, around $20 million of incremental revenue was there in Q1 in our estimate as a result of the Iran conflict. Thanks, Eli. thanks eli Why don't I take that one? why don't i take that one It's interesting actually, you know, John, JP, and I when doing guidance, I'd probably say it was one of the more challenging times to give you guidance. it's interesting actually you know john jp and i when doing guidance i'd probably say it was one of the more challenging times to give you guidance That's really for two reasons. that's really for two reasons Firstly, as we pointed out in Q1 this year, around $20 million of incremental revenue was there in Q1 in our estimate as a result of the Iran conflict. firstly as we pointed out in q1 this year around $20 million of incremental revenue was there in q1 in our estimate as a result of the iran conflict Last year, you of course remember that April is an interesting month in the U.S. because April 25 was, I think it was called Liberation Day, and therefore, it was the introduction of the tariffs which had significant increases in volumes and trading in the month of April. If you put the $20 million of Q1 this year and circa $20 million of Q2 last year, that will help you bridge. I think also, look, we didn't mention it in our numbers, in our prepared remarks, I apologize. You know, we did sell the KACE business and we did also, you know, close down the logistics business. Last year, you of course remember that April is an interesting month in the U.S. because April 25 was, I think it was called Liberation Day, and therefore, it was the introduction of the tariffs which had significant increases in volumes and trading in the month of April. last year you of course remember that april is an interesting month in the u.s because april 25 was i think it was called liberation day and therefore it was the introduction of the tariffs which had significant increases in volumes and trading in the month of april If you put the $20 million of Q1 this year and circa $20 million of Q2 last year, that will help you bridge. if you put the $20 million of q1 this year and circa $20 million of q2 last year that will help you bridge I think also, look, we didn't mention it in our numbers, in our prepared remarks, I apologize. i think also look we didn't mention it in our numbers in our prepared remarks i apologize You know, we did sell the KACE business and we did also, you know, close down the logistics business. you know we did sell the kace business and we did also you know close down the logistics business That's $10 million of quarterly revenue. If you add those three things together, you know, that's $50 million difference. That's why also we gave you the six-month, in John's prepared remarks, he gave you the six-month numbers, which said that organically, we're growing at 12.7%, assuming mid-guidance, organically. You know, April was in giving our guidance, April, of course, therefore was challenged by comparison to last year. What we've seen and of course, you know, today is May 7th, and, you know, what we've seen is we've started to see trading levels return back to what I would call normality and try to reflect that in our guidance. That's $10 million of quarterly revenue. that's $10 million of quarterly revenue If you add those three things together, you know, that's $50 million difference. if you add those three things together you know that's $50 million difference That's why also we gave you the six-month, in John's prepared remarks, he gave you the six-month numbers, which said that organically, we're growing at 12.7%, assuming mid-guidance, organically. that's why also we gave you the six-month in john's prepared remarks he gave you the six-month numbers which said that organically we're growing at 12.7% assuming mid-guidance organically You know, April was in giving our guidance, April, of course, therefore was challenged by comparison to last year. you know april was in giving our guidance april of course therefore was challenged by comparison to last year What we've seen and of course, you know, today is May 7th, and, you know, what we've seen is we've started to see trading levels return back to what I would call normality and try to reflect that in our guidance. what we've seen and of course you know today is may 7th and you know what we've seen is we've started to see trading levels return back to what i would call normality and try to reflect that in our guidance
Speaker 1: Got it. In the deck, you gave us some new data that shows your listed revenues are actually outpacing exchange volumes. I think conventional wisdom is that electronification is a one-way trend and that your business, which is primarily voice, should be actually slower growth than that of the exchanges. These numbers, obviously, they suggest that maybe that isn't true. I was hoping you could help us understand why. Why does it make sense for the high touch flow that BGC does to be higher growth than the fully electronic low touch flow that comprises the majority of listed volume? Got it. got it In the deck, you gave us some new data that shows your listed revenues are actually outpacing exchange volumes. in the deck you gave us some new data that shows your listed revenues are actually outpacing exchange volumes I think conventional wisdom is that electronification is a one-way trend and that your business, which is primarily voice, should be actually slower growth than that of the exchanges. i think conventional wisdom is that electronification is a one-way trend and that your business which is primarily voice should be actually slower growth than that of the exchanges These numbers, obviously, they suggest that maybe that isn't true. these numbers obviously they suggest that maybe that isn't true I was hoping you could help us understand why. i was hoping you could help us understand why Why does it make sense for the high touch flow that BGC does to be higher growth than the fully electronic low touch flow that comprises the majority of listed volume? why does it make sense for the high touch flow that bgc does to be higher growth than the fully electronic low touch flow that comprises the majority of listed volume
Speaker 7: Okay. I think two things. As my Co-CEO, J.P., pointed out in the last quarter, what we were trying to explain is we are an exchange. You know, we act like an exchange except for we do it not just for electronic marketplace, but for voice, for hybrid, and for electronic. The interesting point was, you know, when there's volatility in the marketplace, we couldn't understand why the exchanges, of course, you know, the exchange share prices would do well and ours not so much. We're pointing out that we act like an exchange. The difference is the clients can come to us and execute their business in one of three ways. Okay. okay I think two things. i think two things As my Co-CEO, J.P., pointed out in the last quarter, what we were trying to explain is we are an exchange. as my co-ceo j.p pointed out in the last quarter what we were trying to explain is we are an exchange You know, we act like an exchange except for we do it not just for electronic marketplace, but for voice, for hybrid, and for electronic. you know we act like an exchange except for we do it not just for electronic marketplace but for voice for hybrid and for electronic The interesting point was, you know, when there's volatility in the marketplace, we couldn't understand why the exchanges, of course, you know, the exchange share prices would do well and ours not so much. the interesting point was you know when there's volatility in the marketplace we couldn't understand why the exchanges of course you know the exchange share prices would do well and ours not so much We're pointing out that we act like an exchange. we're pointing out that we act like an exchange The difference is the clients can come to us and execute their business in one of three ways. the difference is the clients can come to us and execute their business in one of three ways It shouldn't be surprising, therefore, that when electronic volumes that, for example, you know, CME and ICE are up, of course, the trading that's going to be happening in both voice hybrid and electronic with the intermediaries like BGC, that's going to be positive as well. That's why there is a correlation between the two. Again, you've seen that very much in April, where the exchange volumes were lower, we still grew. Why are we outperforming them? I think we're outperforming them for two reasons. You know, number one is because of what's led to our market share gains in multiple asset classes. You know, number one, obviously our acquisitions It shouldn't be surprising, therefore, that when electronic volumes that, for example, you know, CME and ICE are up, of course, the trading that's going to be happening in both voice hybrid and electronic with the intermediaries like BGC, that's going to be positive as well. it shouldn't be surprising therefore that when electronic volumes that for example you know cme and ice are up of course the trading that's going to be happening in both voice hybrid and electronic with the intermediaries like bgc that's going to be positive as well That's why there is a correlation between the two. that's why there is a correlation between the two Again, you've seen that very much in April, where the exchange volumes were lower, we still grew. again you've seen that very much in april where the exchange volumes were lower we still grew Why are we outperforming them? why are we outperforming them I think we're outperforming them for two reasons. i think we're outperforming them for two reasons You know, number one is because of what's led to our market share gains in multiple asset classes. you know number one is because of what's led to our market share gains in multiple asset classes You know, number one, obviously our acquisitions you know number one obviously our acquisitions Yeah, and secondly, just overall increased volume. I think that's why, that's why we continue to outperform the market. Yeah, and secondly, just overall increased volume. yeah and secondly just overall increased volume I think that's why, that's why we continue to outperform the market. i think that's why that's why we continue to outperform the market
Speaker 1: Got it. I'll squeeze one more in here before I hand it back to Patrick. Could you help us understand the decline in FMX futures open interest quarter to date versus 1Q? What can be done to course-correct there? Got it. got it I'll squeeze one more in here before I hand it back to Patrick. i'll squeeze one more in here before i hand it back to patrick Could you help us understand the decline in FMX futures open interest quarter to date versus 1Q? could you help us understand the decline in fmx futures open interest quarter to date versus 1q What can be done to course-correct there? what can be done to course-correct there
Speaker 4: Hey, it's John. The drop in OI on the futures it's just simply a reflection of a risk-off mentality in terms of what's going on in the market. OI, as you know, is just standing orders. That is, you know, something that we would expect to happen as the conflict starts and something that we are seeing now, start to recover in the same way that, you know, you're seeing those volumes start to recover. Hey, it's John. hey it's john The drop in OI on the futures it's just simply a reflection of a risk-off mentality in terms of what's going on in the market. the drop in oi on the futures it's just simply a reflection of a risk-off mentality in terms of what's going on in the market OI, as you know, is just standing orders. oi as you know is just standing orders That is, you know, something that we would expect to happen as the conflict starts and something that we are seeing now, start to recover in the same way that, you know, you're seeing those volumes start to recover. that is you know something that we would expect to happen as the conflict starts and something that we are seeing now start to recover in the same way that you know you're seeing those volumes start to recover I guess the way that we think of it is it kind of in general, in nascent exchange, is that it, you know, of course, we're always looking at, you know, you never wanna see volumes go down for any reason, but this is exactly what we saw in the UST cash platform when that was in nascent exchange, and obviously now it's not. You saw our cash platform perform beautifully when the conflict started. I think that this is what, you know, we would have expected. I guess the way that we think of it is it kind of in general, in nascent exchange, is that it, you know, of course, we're always looking at, you know, you never wanna see volumes go down for any reason, but this is exactly what we saw in the UST cash platform when that was in nascent exchange, and obviously now it's not. i guess the way that we think of it is it kind of in general in nascent exchange is that it you know of course we're always looking at you know you never wanna see volumes go down for any reason but this is exactly what we saw in the ust cash platform when that was in nascent exchange and obviously now it's not You saw our cash platform perform beautifully when the conflict started. you saw our cash platform perform beautifully when the conflict started I think that this is what, you know, we would have expected. i think that this is what you know we would have expected Clearly, you know, if there was ever an opportunity where, you know, the climb back to the market share that we had before and we're, you know, we're virtually there now, and you'll see that the next time we speak, we believe we'll be there and above, proves, you know, what the, what the participants in the market and the partners have been telling us, which is you need a second player in this market. We are that second player. You know, that's why we believe that, you know, we're seeing our market share and volumes, you know, climb back to where they were, and it'll be, you know, higher than that, we're quite confident of the next time we speak. Clearly, you know, if there was ever an opportunity where, you know, the climb back to the market share that we had before and we're, you know, we're virtually there now, and you'll see that the next time we speak, we believe we'll be there and above, proves, you know, what the, what the participants in the market and the partners have been telling us, which is you need a second player in this market. clearly you know if there was ever an opportunity where you know the climb back to the market share that we had before and we're you know we're virtually there now and you'll see that the next time we speak we believe we'll be there and above proves you know what the what the participants in the market and the partners have been telling us which is you need a second player in this market We are that second player. we are that second player You know, that's why we believe that, you know, we're seeing our market share and volumes, you know, climb back to where they were, and it'll be, you know, higher than that, we're quite confident of the next time we speak. you know that's why we believe that you know we're seeing our market share and volumes you know climb back to where they were and it'll be you know higher than that we're quite confident of the next time we speak You know, the risk parameters in the market are changing, but our place in the market has only been reinforced by the recovery in our volumes and our OI that you're starting to see. You know, the risk parameters in the market are changing, but our place in the market has only been reinforced by the recovery in our volumes and our OI that you're starting to see. you know the risk parameters in the market are changing but our place in the market has only been reinforced by the recovery in our volumes and our oi that you're starting to see
Speaker 1: Got it. Thanks, guys. Got it. got it Thanks, guys. thanks guys
Speaker 5: Thank you. Our next question is a follow-up from the line of Patrick Moley with Piper Sandler. Please proceed with your question. Thank you. thank you Our next question is a follow-up from the line of Patrick Moley with Piper Sandler. our next question is a follow-up from the line of patrick moley with piper sandler Please proceed with your question. please proceed with your question
Speaker 6: Thanks for taking the follow-up. Just a quick one. I don't have the live transcript in front of me, but in your prepared remarks, you said something about new products that you were looking forward to launching. I think you might have said FX. Could you just elaborate on what those are and then any way to quantify, you know, maybe from a revenue or top-line perspective, what sort of impact that could have and the timing of those launches? Thanks. Thanks for taking the follow-up. thanks for taking the follow-up Just a quick one. just a quick one I don't have the live transcript in front of me, but in your prepared remarks, you said something about new products that you were looking forward to launching. i don't have the live transcript in front of me but in your prepared remarks you said something about new products that you were looking forward to launching I think you might have said FX. i think you might have said fx Could you just elaborate on what those are and then any way to quantify, you know, maybe from a revenue or top-line perspective, what sort of impact that could have and the timing of those launches? could you just elaborate on what those are and then any way to quantify you know maybe from a revenue or top-line perspective what sort of impact that could have and the timing of those launches Thanks. thanks
Speaker 4: You know, as you and I have discussed, Lucera is a gem within the BGC portfolio. I think in terms of quantifying that, you'll continue to see it grow, you know, around the rates that it has grown historically despite, you know, the larger revenue size. You know, it grows at 20%+. In terms of new products, you know, the single thing that is most important in the Lucera world and growing importance in our world is connectivity. Lucera is constantly rolling out other products within asset classes. You know, as you and I have discussed, Lucera is a gem within the BGC portfolio. you know as you and i have discussed lucera is a gem within the bgc portfolio I think in terms of quantifying that, you'll continue to see it grow, you know, around the rates that it has grown historically despite, you know, the larger revenue size. i think in terms of quantifying that you'll continue to see it grow you know around the rates that it has grown historically despite you know the larger revenue size You know, it grows at 20%+ . you know it grows at 20%+ In terms of new products, you know, the single thing that is most important in the Lucera world and growing importance in our world is connectivity. in terms of new products you know the single thing that is most important in the lucera world and growing importance in our world is connectivity Lucera is constantly rolling out other products within asset classes. lucera is constantly rolling out other products within asset classes The way to think about it is, yes, you know, Lucera is dominant in FX and to a slightly lesser extent, but growing in rates, but there are other parts of a rates complex where Lucera is growing in and getting more buy-in from existing and from new customers. As Lucera's connectivity within big clients continues to grow, it continues to expand in other asset classes, and the trust factor and white glove service that come along with Lucera is really genuinely taking hold. We're pleased to see it. They're doing a great job. The way to think about it is, yes, you know, Lucera is dominant in FX and to a slightly lesser extent, but growing in rates, but there are other parts of a rates complex where Lucera is growing in and getting more buy-in from existing and from new customers. the way to think about it is yes you know lucera is dominant in fx and to a slightly lesser extent but growing in rates but there are other parts of a rates complex where lucera is growing in and getting more buy-in from existing and from new customers As Lucera's connectivity within big clients continues to grow, it continues to expand in other asset classes, and the trust factor and white glove service that come along with Lucera is really genuinely taking hold. as lucera's connectivity within big clients continues to grow it continues to expand in other asset classes and the trust factor and white glove service that come along with lucera is really genuinely taking hold We're pleased to see it. we're pleased to see it They're doing a great job. they're doing a great job
Speaker 6: Okay, great. That's it for me. Okay, great. okay great That's it for me. that's it for me
Speaker 5: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Abularrage for final comments. Thank you. thank you Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question- and- answer session. ladies and gentlemen that concludes our question- and- answer session I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Abularrage for final comments. i'll turn the floor back to mr abularrage for final comments
Speaker 4: Thanks very much, everyone. As always, we appreciate your time and look forward to speaking to you next quarter. Thanks very much, everyone. thanks very much everyone As always, we appreciate your time and look forward to speaking to you next quarter. as always we appreciate your time and look forward to speaking to you next quarter
Speaker 5: Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation. Thank you. thank you This concludes today's conference. this concludes today's conference You may disconnect your lines at this time. you may disconnect your lines at this time Thank you for your participation. thank you for your participation