The S&P 500 hasn’t made a new high since early June, and volatility looks poised to dominate the market narrative once again. Dispersion trading, that is, financial stocks rising when technology stocks fall, boosted the indices from sharp declines, but the market is starting to look disjointed as AI trading throws up hiccups.
Who benefits from the changes? Fee-based asset managers and market makers, with three key companies in the sector recently reporting earnings. If you’re considering betting on continued change, be sure to digest the Q2 reports from these three companies.
Which Market Tollbooth Is Best For Your Portfolio?
Markets are like interstate highways. Most roads are free to cross, but some charge tolls for various reasons (private ownership, to recover maintenance costs, etc.). In marketplaces, most sellers offer free equity trading, but some goods or services may incur fees.
Companies that provide these assets are often considered ‘market clearinghouses’ because investors must pay a fee to access them. But the offerings vary, and picking stocks this way means choosing which income you think will have the most value in the future.
MSCI: Dip Worth Buy as Premium Price Resets
MSCI Today
- 52 week interval
- $501.08
▼
$644.77
- Dividend Yield
- 1.49%
- The P/E ratio
- 30.13
- Target Value
- $709.50
MSCI Inc. NYSE: MSCI sold off sharply following its Q2 2026 financial results on July 21, experiencing a painful 12% pullback due to top- and bottom-line misses. Revenue grew more than 12% year-over-year (YOY), and the company reported a new record in assets under management (AUM). The criminals were small; earnings per share (EPS) beat analysts’ expectations by nearly 1%, and revenue fell 0.3%. Premium-rated stocks are generally penalized for a small error, and management expects costs to rise in the second half of 2026. But this seems like an overreaction to a business that is showing great fundamental strength across several key segments.
MSCI has a two-engine revenue model, fees generated by AUM and subscription revenue from its data and analytics streams. In addition to record AUM, MSCI also reported 8.1% growth in emerging organic subscriptions with a retention rate of over 95%. However, this highlights an important caveat. The company earns asset-based payments that increase with revenue and market appreciation, not volatility. In fact, continued downward pressure will hamper capital growth or trading activity remains high, so MSCI is looking for a stable, rising market over a volatile market.
Operating margin (56.2%) and adjusted EBITDA margin (61.4%) both improved from the previous quarter, and the company announced Q3 dividends. The valuation is still a premium to the market at 27 times forward earnings, but is down from historical highs and looks like a fair value for a company with 61% EBITDA margins and a 95% subscriber retention rate.
CME Group: Q2 Upside Surprise for Puest Volatility Tollbooth
CME Group Today
As of 07/24/2026 04:00 PM Eastern
- 52 week interval
- $218.31
▼
$329.16
- Dividend Yield
- 2.04%
- The P/E ratio
- 21.65
- Target Value
- $291.81
There is no better representation of the market tollbooth than CME Group Inc. NASDAQ: CMEthe holding company of the Chicago and New York Mercantile Exchanges. Unlike MSCI, which relies on subscriptions and AUM fees, CME Group generates revenue through trading fees, primarily in futures and options contracts. Derivatives trading rates tend to rise in line with market volatility, and CME Group makes money from that activity regardless of the market.
CME Group released its Q2 2026 results on July 22 and reported the second highest Q2 in the company’s history in terms of average daily trading volume, making the stock up 5% per day. Analysts pointed to a slight decline in YOY revenue, but CME surprised with a revenue increase of $1.71 billion, beating both expectations and estimates for Q2 2025. Market data revenue also rose 20% to a record $238 million.
Compared to MSCI, CME has better operating margins (69.5%), a cheaper price (21 times earnings), and a higher return on open capital (2% yield and special dividend). But with CME, the concern is a less active market, making profits more sensitive to volatility than MSCI’s pure participation model.
Nasdaq: A Strong Beat for a Very Different Market Maker with a Big Caveat
Nasdaq Today
As of 07/24/2026 04:00 PM Eastern
- 52 week interval
- $76.55
▼
$101.79
- Dividend Yield
- 1.35%
- The P/E ratio
- 26.85
- Target Value
- $109.73
The market saved the best report for last. Company Nasdaq Inc. NASDAQ: NDAQthe exchange support company we all know and love, is more than just a market tollbooth. It operates through three divisions: Capital Access Platform, Market Services, and Financial Technology. And in fiscal Q2 2026, all three posted double-digit growth, helping the company beat expectations.
Nasdaq reported quarterly revenue of $2.53 billion, up 14.9% YOY and above expectations of $1.46 billion. EPS of $1.07 also beat estimates by 9%, representing 25.9% growth from Q2 2025. Annualized recurring revenue (ARR) also jumped 12% organically.
Market Services revenue growth of 11% shows that Nasdaq is capitalizing on market volatility, but this only accounts for about 25% of total sales. Capital Access Platforms, which saw revenue growth of 19% YOY in Q2, was the group’s top performer, in part due to SpaceX Corp.’s unprecedented listing. NASDAQ: SPCX.
Of course, the keyword has never been seen before. This listing was the largest IPO in history, a once in ten event that will not be repeated in the near future. However, the FinTech category offers a revenue stream that MSCI and CME lack: business software and anti-crime tools sold to regulators and financial institutions.
Making sense of your portfolio
The Nasdaq reported the strongest hit of the three, but the market’s reaction was muted by the huge impact of the SpaceX IPO. CME shares had the biggest post-earnings pop after their beat, as investors bet volatility will continue, while MSCI shares declined after short-selling ratings.
The way forward depends on your market outlook. If volatility is here to stay, CME Group probably has the highest upside. MSCI is a bet on restoring stability, and you pay a recurring income fee. Ultimately, the Nasdaq is a middle ground, with high volatility and a healthy ARR and product mix.
Before you consider MSCI, you’ll want to hear this.
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