Record Quarterly Revenue
Tradeweb delivered record revenues of $618 million in Q1 2026, up 21.2% year-over-year on a reported basis and 17.5% on a constant currency basis; first time surpassing $600 million in a quarter.
Tradeweb Markets
· TW
April 29th, 2026
Summary
- Earnings Call Date:
- 2026-04-29
- Change Since:
- -18.57%
- Next Earnings Date:
- 2026-07-30
Earnings Call Sentiment
PositiveThe call was broadly positive: the company reported a record quarter with strong, broad-based revenue growth across swaps, ETFs, rates, credit and money markets, meaningful international momentum, expanded adjusted EBITDA margins, strong cash generation and continued shareholder returns. Key near-term headwinds include elevated expense growth (including FX and occupancy), variability from digital asset mark-to-market items, some retail/wholesale channel softness, and timing-related Market Data revenue effects. Management reiterated investment for growth while guiding expenses toward the top half of the prior range and expecting margin expansion, indicating confidence in durable long-term growth despite near-term variability.
Company Guidance
Tradeweb guided 2026 adjusted expenses to trend toward the top half of its initial $1.10–$1.16 billion range while still expecting adjusted EBITDA and operating margin expansion versus 2025 (though incremental margin improvement may be more muted as it continues to invest in Credit, Rates, international markets, ICD, digital assets and technology); Q1 adjusted EBITDA margin was 55%, up 101 bps versus 2025. The company ended Q1 with approximately $1.9 billion of cash and cash equivalents, trailing‑12‑month free cash flow exceeding $1 billion (up ~31% YoY), holds $1.6 billion of Canton coins (fair value ≈ $243 million), declared a $0.14 quarterly dividend (+17% YoY), repurchased ~483k shares for $51 million and has ~$523 million of repurchase authority remaining, and expects Other revenues in 2026 to be roughly in line with 2025.
Strong Adjusted EBITDA and Margin Expansion
Adjusted EBITDA margin was 55% in the quarter. Management noted margin expansion versus 2025 (CEO cited a ~40 basis-point expansion; CFO reported an increase of ~101 basis points versus 2025 full-year margins).
Robust International Growth
International revenues grew 29% year-over-year, international clients accounted for ~44% of Q1 revenues and contributed nearly 60% of overall revenue growth; international clients drove 60% of dollar swap growth.
Swaps: Exceptional Performance
Global swaps revenues were up over 45% year-over-year with total market share rising from 21% to 24.1%; quarterly core risk market share increased ~190 basis points; RFM protocol average daily volume grew over 150% year-over-year.
ETF and Equities Momentum
ETF revenues grew in excess of 35% year-over-year; the ETF franchise surpassed $4 trillion in notional traded since launch (including $1 trillion in the past 12 months); AIX-driven ETF average daily trades increased over 70% year-over-year; institutional equity derivative revenues up nearly 20%.
Broad Product Strength (Rates, Credit, Money Markets)
Rates, Credit, Money Markets and Equities each produced record or near-record revenues: rates saw organic growth across swaps, government bonds and mortgages; global credit delivered double-digit growth (EM credit +40% YoY); money markets had record repo and ICD results.
Balance Sheet and Cash Generation
Cash and cash equivalents of approximately $1.9 billion and trailing twelve-month free cash flow exceeding $1 billion (up ~31% year-over-year).
Capital Returns
Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share (up 17% year-over-year) and repurchased ~483,000 shares for $51 million in the quarter with $523 million of repurchase authorization remaining.
Digital Asset and Frontier Market Progress
Other revenues increased ~56% year-over-year driven by digital assets initiatives (Canton network relationship); continued strategic partnerships in tokenization (Canton), prediction markets (Kalshi), and crypto execution (Crossover Markets) to expand future addressable markets.
Operator
Good morning, and welcome to Tradeweb Markets Inc.'s First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded and will be available for playback. To begin, I will turn the call over to Head of Treasury, FP&A, and Investor Relations, Ashley Neil Serrao. Please go ahead.
Ashley Neil Serrao
Thank you, and good morning. Joining me today for the call are our CEO, William E. Hult, who will review our business results and key growth initiatives, and our CFO, Sara Hassan Furber, who will review our financial results. We intend to use the website as a means of disclosing material, nonpublic information and complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. I would like to remind you that certain statements in this presentation and during the Q&A may relate to future events and expectations, and as such constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements related to, among other things, our guidance are forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements is contained in our earnings release, earnings presentation, and periodic reports filed with the SEC.
In addition, on today's call, we will reference certain non-GAAP measures as well as certain market and industry data. Information regarding these non-GAAP measures, including reconciliations to GAAP measures, is in our earnings release and earnings presentation. Information regardi...
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