CME Group Hits Estimates, But GAAP Results Lag Last Year's

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

CME Group (NAS: CME) reported earnings on Oct. 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Sep. 30 (Q3), CME Group met expectations on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped significantly and GAAP earnings per share dropped significantly.


Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
 CME Group booked revenue of $683.2 million. The 15 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected to see revenue of $687.3 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 22% lower than the prior-year quarter's $874.2 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
 EPS came in at $0.70. The 19 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.70 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.66 for Q3 were 31% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.95 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
 For the quarter, gross margin was 97.2%, 20 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 58.0%, 740 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 31.9%, 430 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $681.4 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.68.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.95 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.05.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 763 members out of 813 rating the stock outperform, and 50 members rating it underperform. Among 214 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 199 give CME Group a green thumbs-up, and 15 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on CME Group is outperform, with an average price target of $58.94.

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The article CME Group Hits Estimates, But GAAP Results Lag Last Year's originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool owns shares of CME Group. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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