Published
# CME Group Inc. - Recent Events (through the third quarter of 2026) ## Filings that contain financial statements - **Form 8-K filed October 21, 2026 (accession 0001156375-26-000065), Exhibit 99.1:** earnings release for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2026, with a consolidated balance sheet, income statement for the quarter and nine months (2026 and 2025), and non-GAAP reconciliations. - **Form 8-K filed July 22, 2026 (accession 0001156375-26-000042), Exhibit 99.1:** earnings release for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, with the same set of statements. - **Form 8-K filed April 22, 2026 (accession 0001156375-26-000016), Exhibit 99.1:** earnings release for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. - **Form 8-K filed February 4, 2026 (accession 0001156375-26-000006), Exhibit 99.1:** earnings release for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025. ## Earnings releases - **October 21, 2026 (0001156375-26-000065), third quarter 2026:** revenue $1.74 billion (third quarter 2025: $1.54 billion); operating income $1.14 billion; net income $1.04 billion; diluted EPS $2.89 (adjusted $3.02). Nine-month revenue $5.32 billion and diluted EPS $8.96. Average daily volume was a third-quarter record of 29.4 million contracts; market data revenue was a record $243 million, up 20%. At September 30, 2026 the company held $2.4 billion in cash (including $225 million deposited with Fixed Income Clearing Corporation, which is carried in other current assets) and $3.4 billion of debt; the balance sheet line for cash and cash equivalents is $2,198.5 million. It returned nearly $1 billion to shareholders in the quarter: $465 million in regular dividends and $524 million of share repurchases. The release gives no forward guidance. - **July 22, 2026 (0001156375-26-000042), second quarter 2026:** revenue of about $1.7 billion, net income about $1.0 billion, diluted EPS $2.88 (adjusted $2.99). Average daily volume was 29.8 million contracts; market data revenue was a record $238 million. - **April 22, 2026 (0001156375-26-000016), first quarter 2026:** record revenue of $1.9 billion, up 14%; diluted EPS $3.18 (adjusted $3.36), up 20%. Average daily volume rose 22% to a record 36.2 million contracts. - **February 4, 2026 (0001156375-26-000006), fourth quarter and full year 2025:** full-year revenue a record $6.5 billion, up 6%; full-year diluted EPS $11.16 (adjusted $11.20). Fourth-quarter diluted EPS was $3.24. ## Leadership changes - **June 17, 2026 (0001193125-26-273442):** the board approved a succession plan on June 16. Terrence Duffy, Chairman and CEO, becomes Executive Chairman, and Lynne Fitzpatrick, President and CFO, becomes CEO and joins the board. The change takes effect on the later of March 1, 2027 and the date the 2026 Form 10-K is filed. Mr. Duffy serves as Executive Chairman through December 31, 2027. Ms. Fitzpatrick's CEO agreement sets a $1.2 million base salary, a bonus opportunity of 200% of base and a long-term incentive opportunity of 700% of base. A search for a new CFO was to begin. - **September 9, 2026 (0001193125-26-386091):** Jack Tobin, the Chief Accounting Officer, will become Deputy CFO on November 2, 2026 and CFO in March 2027, when Ms. Fitzpatrick becomes CEO. Matthew Render becomes Chief Accounting Officer on November 2, 2026. John Marchese was named General Counsel, per the attached press release. Mr. Tobin had announced his retirement effective October 30, 2026 (8-K filed September 11, 2025, accession 0001156375-25-000190); the new appointments supersede that plan. ## Financing and capital structure - **April 27, 2026 (0001156375-26-000022):** effective April 22, 2026, Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. entered Amendment No. 11 to its 364-day multi-currency secured credit facility with Bank of America, N.A. as Administrative Agent. The facility is $7 billion, eligible to increase to $10 billion. It provides temporary liquidity if a clearing firm fails to meet an obligation or a depositary defaults. - **September 25, 2026 (0001156375-26-000060):** on September 24, 2026 the company filed a certificate of elimination removing the Series G Non-Voting Convertible Preferred Stock from its certificate of incorporation. No Series G shares were outstanding. The earnings release notes that all 4,584,000 preferred shares converted to Class A common stock on March 5, 2026. - The share repurchase program authorizes up to $3.0 billion; $1.0 billion remained at September 30, 2026 (Form 10-Q for the quarter, accession 0001156375-26-000068). ## Governance and shareholder votes - **May 19, 2026 (0001156375-26-000028) and June 10, 2026 (0001156375-26-000035):** at the May 14 annual meeting, Class B-1 to B-4 holders did not reach quorum, so the proposals on Class B director rights were adjourned to June 9. At the reconvened meeting, the proposals to eliminate the Class B-1 and Class B-2 holders' rights to elect directors did not pass. The Class B-3 proposal (Item 6) did not reach quorum. The related charter amendment (Item 7) passed, with 80.29% of Classes A and B voting together in favor, but it will not be filed because its approval was contingent on Items 4, 5 and 6, none of which passed. Equity directors were re-elected, and Ernst & Young LLP was ratified as auditor for 2026. ## Legal - **July 25, 2025 (0001156375-25-000184):** a Cook County jury returned a unanimous verdict for CME Group and CBOT in the putative class action brought in 2014 by certain Class B shareholders and members. The plaintiffs alleged breach of contract and of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. - **June 15, 2026 (Form 10-Q, accession 0001156375-26-000068, Note 7 Contingencies; no 8-K):** the court denied the plaintiffs' post-trial motions, and the plaintiffs have filed a notice of appeal. No accrual is recorded for contingent legal and regulatory matters. ## Other filings - Special Executive Report pricing-change notices were furnished on February 2, 2026 (0001156375-26-000002) and August 11, 2026 (0001156375-26-000051); the filings give no financial detail. ## Mergers and acquisitions - **October 2025 (Form 10-K, accession 0001156375-26-000009, Note 7 Long-Term Investments; no 8-K was filed):** CME Group and S&P Global completed (closed) the sale of OSTTRA, in which CME Group owned a 50% equity interest, to investment funds managed by KKR & Co. Inc. The carrying amount of the investment was about $1.2 billion at September 30, 2025. CME Group recognized a net gain of $306.1 million in investment income in 2025. The sale price is not disclosed. - **December 2025 (same source):** CME Group and FanDuel (part of Flutter Entertainment plc) formed FanDuel Prediction Markets Holdings LLC. CME Group owns 51% and accounts for the investment under the equity method; it contributed $10.2 million in cash to capitalize the venture. - No acquisition or divestiture was signed or closed during 2026 through the third-quarter Form 10-Q (accession 0001156375-26-000068).