# CME Group Inc. (CME) — Stock CV

CME Group Inc. is a $101B financial services company. Revenue grew 5.1% over the last year, and it keeps 64¢ of every dollar of sales as profit. It trades at 23.5× earnings — in the cheapest third of its own history.

> Based in Chicago, CME Group operates exchanges giving investors, suppliers, and businesses the ability to trade futures and derivatives based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, energy, metals, and commodities. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange was founded in 1898 and in 2002 completed its IPO.

## Identity

- **Ticker**: CME
- **Sector**: Financial Services
- **Industry**: Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services
- **Headquarters**: CHICAGO, IL
- **Employees**: 3 875
- **Website**: https://www.cmegroup.com
- **Market cap**: $101B
- **Last price**: $280.57
- **Financial profile**: Mixed

## Vitals (TTM)

- **Revenue**: $6.77B
- **Net income**: $4.31B
- **Free cash flow**: $4.21B
- **Net cash**: $4.54B
- **P/E**: 23.5
- **Revenue growth (YoY)**: 5.1%

## Skills (profile scores, 0–100)

| Pillar | Score |
|---|---|
| Valuation | 74 |
| Growth | 64 |
| Profitability | 90 |
| Health | 62 |
| Quality | 68 |
| Moat | 75 |

## Qualifications (beginner checklist) — 10 of 11 passed

- [x] Revenue growing — +5.1% YoY
- [x] Profitable — $4.31B TTM
- [x] Profit growing — +14.7% YoY
- [x] Generates cash — $4.21B TTM
- [x] Debt under control — more cash than debt
- [x] Established company — $101B market cap
- [x] Not printing shares — +0.5% shares over ~5y
- [x] Proven track record — 10/10 profitable years
- [ ] Financially stable — health score 37/100
- [x] Pays a dividend — yield 4.04%
- [x] Valuation not extreme — P/E 23.5

## Experience (career milestones)

- **FY2025** — Best year on record: $4.07B net income
- **2024** — The company launched trading in spot Bitcoin
- **2018** — CME Group acquired London-based NEX Group for $5.5 billion
- **FY2016** — Profitable every year on record: 10 consecutive profitable years in our data
- **FY2016** — Revenue already above $1B: $3.60B in first reported year
- **FY2016** — Positive free cash flow every year since: 10-year streak
- **2013** — CME Group purchased the Dow Jones & Company interest for $80 million, increasing CME Group's interest…
- **2012** — CME Group acquired the Kansas City Board of Trade, the dominant venue for the sale of hard red…
- **2008** — CME Group acquired New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), owner of both the NYMEX exchange and the…
- **2007** — CME merged with the holding company for the Chicago Board of Trade, founded in 1848, in an $8 billion…
- **2007** — The company, in partnership with Dubai Holding and Oman Investment Authority, launched the Dubai…
- **2002** — CME Holdings Company, the parent company of CME, became a public company via an initial public offering
- **2000** — CME demutualized and became a joint stock company
- **1982** — CME introduced the first successful stock index futures contract, helping change equity risk management and…

## Strengths

- High gross margin (96.0%)
- Strongly profitable — 63.7% net margin
- Strong cash conversion — FCF is 62.2% of revenue
- Net cash position after subtracting debt from cash
- Interest covered 2242.3× by operating earnings

## Watch-outs

- None stand out in the data.

## Track record

| Year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | $4.69B | $2.64B | $2.28B |
| FY2022 | $5.02B | $2.69B | $2.97B |
| FY2023 | $5.58B | $3.23B | $3.38B |
| FY2024 | $6.13B | $3.53B | $3.60B |
| FY2025 | $6.52B | $4.07B | $4.19B |

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Source: https://stockcv.com/CME — derived from company filings; may be delayed or incomplete. Information, not investment advice.