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CME GROUP INC.

For the period ended Sep 30, 2026. Filed Oct 23, 2026.

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About this filing

A company's report for each of its first three quarters. The financial statements are not audited. It shows how the business has moved since the last annual report, and what management says changed.

Sep 30, 2026 · Filed Oct 23, 2026

CME$304.52-0.4%Stored close · as of Nov 9, 2026

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Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

  1. Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements consist of CME Group Inc. (CME Group) and its subsidiaries (collectively, the company), including Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (CME), Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. (CBOT), New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX), Commodity Exchange, Inc. (COMEX) and NEX Group Limited (NEX). The clearing house is operated by CME.

The accompanying interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared by CME Group without audit. Certain notes and other information normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States have been condensed or omitted. In the opinion of management, the accompanying consolidated financial statements include all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary to present fairly the financial position of the company at September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025 and the results of operations and cash flows for the periods indicated. Quarterly results are not necessarily indicative of results for any subsequent period.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto in CME Group’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 26, 2026.

  1. Accounting Policies

Newly Adopted Accounting Policies. In July 2025, the FASB issued an accounting standards update which provides a practical expedient when estimating the amount of expected credit losses on current accounts receivable and current contract assets. This update permits entities to assume that current conditions as of the balance sheet date do not change for the remaining life of the current accounts receivable and current contract assets. Therefore, entities will not need to develop reasonable and supportable forecasts of future economic conditions. The practical expedient must be applied consistently across all current accounts receivable and current contract assets. The company adopted this standard on January 1, 2026, and has elected to apply the practical expedient. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

  1. Revenue Recognition

The company generates revenue from customers from the following sources:

Clearing and transaction fees. Clearing and transaction fees include per-contract charges for trade matching, clearing, trading on the company's electronic trading platforms, portfolio reconciliation and compression services, risk mitigation, and other fees. Clearing and transaction fees are assessed upfront at the time of trade execution. As such, the company recognizes the majority of the fee revenue upon successful execution of the trade. The minimal remaining portion of the fee revenue related to settlement activities performed after trade execution is recognized over the short-term period that the contract is outstanding, based on management’s estimates of the average contract lifecycle. These estimates are based on various assumptions to approximate the amount of fee revenue to be attributed to services performed through contract settlement, expiration, or termination. For cleared trades, these assumptions include the average number of days that a contract remains in open interest, contract turnover, average revenue per day, and revenue remaining in open interest at the end of each period.

The nature of contracts gives rise to several types of variable consideration, including volume-based pricing tiers, customer incentives associated with market maker programs and other fee discounts. The company includes fee discounts and incentives in the estimated transaction price when there is a basis to reasonably estimate the amount of the fee reduction. These estimates are based on historical experience, anticipated performance, and best judgment at the time. Because of the company's certainty in estimating these amounts, they are included in the transaction price of contracts.

Market data and information services. Market data and information services represent revenue from the dissemination of market data to subscribers, distributors, and other third-party licensees of market data. Pricing for market data is primarily based on the number of reportable devices used as well as the number of subscribers enrolled under the arrangement. Fees for these services are generally billed monthly. Market data services are satisfied over time and revenue is recognized on a monthly basis as the customers receive and consume the benefit of the market data services. However, the company also maintains certain annual license arrangements with one-time upfront fees. The fees for annual licenses are initially recorded as a contract liability and recognized as revenue monthly over the term of the annual period.

Other. Other revenues include certain access and communication fees, fees for collateral management, equity membership subscription fees, and fees for trade order routing through agreements from various strategic relationships. Access and communication fees are charged to customers that utilize various telecommunications networks and communications services. Fees for these services are generally billed monthly and the associated fee revenue is recognized as billed. Collateral management fees are charged to clearing firms that have collateral on deposit with the clearing house to meet their minimum performance bond and guaranty fund obligations on the exchange. These fees are calculated based on daily collateral balances and are billed monthly. This fee revenue is recognized monthly as billed as the customers receive and consume the benefits of the services. The company also has an equity membership program which provides equity members the option to pay a monthly subscription fee in satisfaction of their existing requirement to hold CME Group Class A common stock. Choosing to pay this fee in lieu of holding Class A shares is entirely voluntary and the client's choice. Fee revenue under this program is earned monthly as billed over the contractual term. Pricing for strategic relationships may be driven by customer levels and activity. There are fee arrangements which provide for monthly as well as quarterly payments in arrears. Revenue is recognized monthly for strategic relationship arrangements as the customers receive and consume the benefits of the services.

The following table represents a disaggregation of revenue from contracts with customers by product line for the quarters and nine months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025:

Quarter Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
(in millions)2026202520262025
Interest rates$473.6$417.2$1,427.8$1,315.0
Equity indexes298.7261.9938.3867.7
Foreign exchange53.944.9160.5150.7
Energy195.6178.3646.3612.1
Agricultural commodities178.3155.9529.6495.0
Metals79.379.4274.4235.4
BrokerTec fixed income41.139.3121.4112.2
EBS foreign exchange32.930.5103.1103.2
Interest rate swap and other24.720.571.861.9
Total clearing and transaction fees1,378.11,227.94,273.23,953.2
Market data and information services243.1202.5705.3595.1
Other116.1107.2345.1323.6
Total revenues$1,737.3$1,537.6$5,323.6$4,871.9
Timing of Revenue Recognition
Services transferred at a point in time$1,350.5$1,201.1$4,190.9$3,871.9
Services transferred over time380.7331.31,115.3984.2
One-time charges and miscellaneous revenues6.15.217.415.8
Total revenues$1,737.3$1,537.6$5,323.6$4,871.9

The timing of revenue recognition, billings and cash collections results in billed accounts receivable, and customer advances and deposits (contract liabilities) on the consolidated balance sheets. Certain fees for transactions, annual licenses, and other revenue arrangements are billed upfront before revenue is recognized, which results in the recognition of contract liabilities. These liabilities are recognized on the consolidated balance sheets on a contract-by-contract basis upon commencement of services under the customer contract. These upfront customer payments are recognized as revenue over time as the obligations under the contracts are satisfied. Changes in the contract liability balances during the third quarter of 2026 were not materially impacted by any other factors. The balance of contract liabilities was$35.0 million and $16.7 million as of September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, respectively.

  1. Performance Bonds and Guaranty Fund Contributions

Performance Bonds and Guaranty Fund Contribution Reinvestment. CME reinvests cash performance bonds and guaranty fund contributions and distributes a portion of the interest earned back to the clearing firms. The reinvestment of cash can include certain commercial and central bank deposits, government securities, reverse repurchase agreements, and money market funds. CME has been designated as a systemically important financial market utility by the Financial Stability Oversight Council and is authorized to maintain cash accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. At September 30, 2026, CME maintained $139.1 billion within the cash account at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The cash deposit at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is included within performance bonds and guaranty fund contributions on the consolidated balance sheets. Cash performance bonds and guaranty fund contributions are included as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents on the consolidated statements of cash flows.

In the third quarter and first nine months of 2026, earnings from cash performance bond and guaranty fund contributions were $1,391.7 million and $4,151.5 million, respectively, compared with $1,514.1 million and $3,875.3 million in the third quarter and first nine months of 2025. In the third quarter and first nine months of 2026, expenses related to the distribution of interest earned on collateral reinvestments were $1,269.0 million and $3,783.9 million, respectively, compared with $1,399.2 million and $3,578.5 million in the third quarter and first nine months of 2025. The earnings from cash performance bonds and guaranty fund contributions are included in investment income and the expense related to the distribution of interest earned is included in other non-operating income (expense) on the consolidated statements of income.

Clearing House Contract Settlement. The clearing house marks-to-market open positions at least once each business day (twice each business day for all futures and options contracts). Based on values derived from the mark-to-market process, the clearing house requires payments from clearing firms whose positions have lost value and makes payments to clearing firms whose positions have gained value. Under the extremely unlikely scenario of simultaneous default by every clearing firm who has open positions with unrealized losses, the maximum exposure at the time of default related to futures and options on futures positions would be one half of a business day of changes in fair value of all open positions, before considering the clearing house's ability to access defaulting clearing firms' collateral deposits. For cleared interest rate swap contracts, the maximum exposure at the time of default related to the clearing house's guarantee would be one full business day of changes in fair value of all open positions, before considering the clearing house's ability to access defaulting clearing firms' collateral.

During the first nine months of 2026, the clearing house transferred an average of approximately $8.2 billion a day through its clearing systems for settlement from clearing firms whose positions had lost value to clearing firms whose positions had gained value. The clearing house reduces its guarantee exposure through initial and maintenance performance bond requirements and mandatory guaranty fund contributions. Management has assessed the fair value of the company’s settlement guarantee liability by taking the following factors into consideration: the design and operations of the clearing risk management process, the financial safeguard packages in place, historical evidence of default by a clearing firm and the estimated probability of potential payouts by the clearing house. Based on the assessment performed, management estimates the guarantee liability to be nominal and therefore has not recorded any liability at September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025. The company does not have a history of significant losses recognized on performance bond collateral as posted by our clearing firms, and management currently does not anticipate any future credit losses on its performance bond assets. Accordingly, the company has not provided an allowance for credit losses on these performance bond deposits, nor has it recorded any liabilities to reflect an allowance for credit losses related to our off-balance sheet credit exposures and guarantees.

  1. Intangible Assets and Goodwill

Intangible assets consisted of the following at September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025:

September 30, 2026 · December 31, 2025
(in millions) · Assigned Value · AccumulatedAmortization · Net BookValue · Assigned Value · AccumulatedAmortization · Net BookValue
Amortizable Intangible Assets:
Clearing firm, market data and other customer relationships$4,697.1$(2,716.6)$1,980.5$4,703.0$(2,557.5)$2,145.5
Technology-related intellectual property62.5(62.5)—62.5(62.5)—
Other73.7(64.1)9.673.9(58.7)15.2
Total amortizable intangible assets$4,833.3$(2,843.2)$1,990.1$4,839.4$(2,678.7)$2,160.7
Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets:
Trade names450.0450.0
Total intangible assets – other, net$2,440.1$2,610.7
Trading products (1)$17,175.3$17,175.3

(1)Trading products represent futures and options products acquired in our business combinations with CBOT Holdings, Inc., NYMEX Holdings, Inc. and The Board of Trade of Kansas City, Missouri, Inc. Clearing and transaction fees are generated through the trading of these products. These trading products, most of which have traded for decades, require authorization from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Product authorizations from the CFTC have no term limits.

Total amortization expense for intangible assets was $56.0 million and $56.2 million for the quarters ended September 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively. Total amortization expense for intangible assets was $168.1 million and $167.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively. During the nine months ended September 30, 2026, the net book value of amortizable intangible assets included $2.5 million of foreign currency translation loss for the period.

As of September 30, 2026, the future estimated amortization expense related to amortizable intangible assets is expected to be as follows:

(in millions)Amortization Expense
Remainder of 2026$55.6
2027221.0
2028214.5
2029214.5
2030214.5
2031214.5
Thereafter855.5

Goodwill activity consisted of the following for the periods ended September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025:

(in millions)Goodwill
Balance at December 31, 2024$10,486.9
Foreign currency translation27.8
Balance at December 31, 202510,514.7
Foreign currency translation(8.8)
Balance at September 30, 2026$10,505.9
  1. Debt

Long-term debt consisted of the following at September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025:

(in millions)September 30, 2026December 31, 2025
$500.0 million fixed rate notes due June 2028, stated rate of 3.75%$499.3$498.9
$750.0 million fixed rate notes due March 2030, stated rate of 4.40%743.5742.1
$750.0 million fixed rate notes due March 2032, stated rate of 2.65%745.3744.6
$750.0 million fixed rate notes due September 2043, stated rate of 5.30% (1)744.8744.6
$700.0 million fixed rate notes due June 2048, stated rate of 4.15%692.2692.1
Total long-term debt$3,425.1$3,422.3

(1)The company maintained a forward-starting interest rate swap agreement that modified the interest obligation associated with these notes so that the interest payable on the notes effectively became fixed at a rate of 4.73%.

Long-term debt maturities, at par value, were as follows at September 30, 2026:

(in millions)Par Value
2027$—
2028500.0
2029—
2030750.0
2031—
Thereafter2,200.0
  1. Contingencies

Legal and Regulatory Matters. In the normal course of business, the company discusses matters with its regulators raised during regulatory examinations or otherwise subject to their inquiry and oversight. These matters could result in censures, fines, penalties or other sanctions. Management believes the outcome of any resulting actions will not have a material impact on the company's consolidated financial position or results of operations. However, the company is unable to predict the outcome or the timing of the ultimate resolution of these matters, or the potential fines, penalties or injunctive or other equitable relief, if any, that may result from these matters.

A putative class action complaint was filed January 15, 2014 in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division, against CME Group Inc. and the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. The plaintiffs, certain Class B shareholders of CME Group and Class B members of CBOT, allege breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing for violations of their core rights granted in the defendants’ respective Certificates of Incorporation. On December 2, 2021, the court granted the plaintiffs’ motion for certification of a damages-only class. In early 2024, the defendants moved for summary judgment on all claims. On April 16, 2025, the court granted the motion in part and denied the motion in part, and set the remaining claims for a jury trial. After a three week trial, on July 25, 2025, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the defendants on all counts. On June 15, 2026, the court denied the plaintiffs' post-trial motions. The plaintiffs have filed a notice of appeal.

In addition, the company is a defendant in, and has potential for, various other legal proceedings arising from its regular business activities. While the ultimate results of such proceedings against the company cannot be predicted with certainty, the company believes that the resolution of any of these matters on an individual or aggregate basis will not have a material impact on its consolidated financial position or results of operations. No accrual was required for contingent legal and regulatory matters as none were probable and estimable as of September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025.

Intellectual Property Indemnifications. Certain agreements with customers and other third parties related to accessing the CME Group platforms, utilizing market data services and licensing CME SPAN and SPAN 2 software may contain indemnifications from intellectual property claims that may be made against them as a result of their use of the applicable products and/or services. The potential future claims relating to these indemnifications cannot be estimated and therefore no liability has been recorded.

  1. Leases

The company has operating leases for corporate offices. The operating leases have remaining lease terms of up to 12 years, some of which include options to extend or renew the leases for up to an additional five years, and some of which include options to early terminate the leases in less than 12 months. Management evaluates whether these options are exercisable at least quarterly in order to determine whether the contract term must be reassessed. For a small number of the leases, primarily the international locations, management’s approach is to enter into short-term leases for a lease term of 12 months or less in order to provide for greater flexibility in the local environment. For certain office spaces, the company has entered into arrangements to sublease excess space to third parties, while the original lease contract remains in effect with the landlord.

The company also has one finance lease, which is related to the sale of our data center in 2016. In connection with the sale, the company leased back a portion of the property. The transaction was recognized under the financing method and not as a sale leaseback arrangement.

The right-of-use lease asset is recorded within other assets, and the present value of the lease liability is recorded within other liabilities (segregated between short term and long term) on the consolidated balance sheets. The discount rate applied to the lease payments represents the company’s incremental borrowing rate.

The components of lease costs were as follows:

Quarter Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
(in millions)2026202520262025
Operating lease expense:
Operating lease cost$16.2$12.6$41.7$26.4
Short-term lease cost0.10.10.30.3
Total operating lease expense included in other expense$16.3$12.7$42.0$26.7
Finance lease expense:
Interest expense$0.4$0.5$1.3$1.5
Depreciation expense2.22.26.56.5
Total finance lease expense$2.6$2.7$7.8$8.0
Sublease revenue included in other revenue$4.0$3.2$11.8$9.4

Supplemental cash flow information related to leases was as follows:

Quarter Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
(in millions)2026202520262025
Cash outflows for operating leases$18.4$14.5$48.3$44.8
Cash outflows for finance lease4.44.413.213.1

Supplemental balance sheet information related to leases was as follows:

Operating leases

(in millions)September 30, 2026December 31, 2025
Operating lease right-of-use assets$320.4$210.3
Operating lease liabilities:
Other current liabilities$53.2$46.8
Other liabilities330.7237.4
Total operating lease liabilities$383.9$284.2
Weighted average remaining lease term (in months)10299
Weighted average discount rate4.4%4.1%

Finance lease

(in millions)September 30, 2026December 31, 2025
Finance lease right-of-use assets$39.0$45.5
Finance lease liabilities:
Other current liabilities$9.2$9.0
Other liabilities34.841.7
Total finance lease liabilities$44.0$50.7
Weighted average remaining lease term (in months)5463
Weighted average discount rate3.5%3.5%

Future minimum lease payments were as follows as of September 30, 2026 for operating and finance leases:

(in millions)Operating Leases
Remainder of 2026$18.4
202766.2
202860.9
202950.6
203049.8
203148.2
Thereafter163.9
Total lease payments458.0
Less: imputed interest(74.1)
Present value of lease liability$383.9
(in millions)Finance Leases
Remainder of 2026$4.4
202717.8
202817.9
202918.1
203018.3
20314.6
Thereafter—
Total lease payments81.1
Less: imputed interest(37.1)
Present value of lease liability$44.0
  1. Guarantees

Mutual Offset Agreement. CME and Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) maintain a mutual offset agreement with a current term through April 2027. This agreement enables market participants to open a futures position on one exchange and liquidate it on the other. The term of the agreement will automatically renew for atwo-year period after April 2027 unless either party provides advance notice of their intent to terminate. CME can maintain collateral in the form of irrevocable, standby letters of credit. At September 30, 2026, CME was contingently liable to SGX on letters of credit totaling$450.0 million. CME also maintains a$350.0 million line of credit to meet any variation margin obligations, as well as an additional $250.0 million line of credit to meet any initial margin obligations under this agreement. Regardless of the collateral, CME guarantees all cleared transactions submitted through SGX and would initiate procedures designed to satisfy these financial obligations in the event of a default, such as the use of performance bonds and guaranty fund contributions of the defaulting clearing firm. Management has assessed the fair value of the company’s guarantee liability under this mutual offset agreement by taking the following factors into consideration: the design and operations of the clearing risk management process, the financial safeguard packages in place, historical evidence of default by a clearing firm and the estimated probability of potential payouts by the clearing house. Based on the assessment performed, management estimates the guarantee liability to be nominal and therefore has not recorded any liability at September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025.

Family Farmer and Rancher Protection Fund. In 2012, the company established the Family Farmer and Rancher Protection Fund (the Fund). The Fund is designed to provide payments, up to certain maximum levels, to family farmers, ranchers and other agricultural industry participants who use the company’s agricultural commodity products and who suffer losses to their segregated account balances due to their CME clearing firm becoming insolvent. Under the terms of the Fund, farmers and ranchers are eligible for up to $25,000 per participant. Farming and ranching cooperatives are eligible for up to $100,000 per cooperative. The Fund was established with a maximum of $100.0 million available for distribution to participants. Since its establishment, the Fund has made payments of approximately $2.0 million, which leaves $98.0 million available for future claims. If, at any time, payments due to participants were to exceed the amount remaining in the Fund, payments would be pro-rated. Clearing firms and customers must register with the company in advance and provide certain documentation in order to substantiate their eligibility. The company believes that its guarantee liability is nominal and therefore has not recorded any liability at September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025.

  1. Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)

The following tables present changes in the accumulated balances for each component of other comprehensive income (loss), including current period other comprehensive income (loss) and reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss):

(in millions)Investment SecuritiesDefined Benefit PlansDerivative InvestmentsForeign Currency TranslationTotal
Balance at December 31, 2025$—$0.3$56.2$25.4$81.9
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications and income tax benefit (expense)(0.1)(2.2)—(25.3)(27.6)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)—(0.2)(3.2)—(3.4)
Income tax benefit (expense)—0.60.83.24.6
Net current period other comprehensive income (loss)(0.1)(1.8)(2.4)(22.1)(26.4)
Balance at September 30, 2026$(0.1)$(1.5)$53.8$3.3$55.5
(in millions)Investment SecuritiesDefined Benefit PlansDerivative InvestmentsForeign Currency TranslationTotal
Balance at December 31, 2024$(0.3)$(14.1)$59.3$(150.4)$(105.5)
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications and income tax benefit (expense)0.3(1.2)—162.4161.5
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)—(0.2)(3.1)—(3.3)
Income tax benefit (expense)(0.1)0.30.9(10.4)(9.3)
Net current period other comprehensive income (loss)0.2(1.1)(2.2)152.0148.9
Balance at September 30, 2025$(0.1)$(15.2)$57.1$1.6$43.4
  1. Fair Value Measurements

The company uses a three-level classification hierarchy of fair value measurements for disclosure purposes:

Level 1 inputs, which are considered the most reliable evidence of fair value, consist of quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical assets or liabilities in active markets.

Level 2 inputs consist of observable market data, such as quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, or inputs other than quoted prices that are directly observable.

Level 3 inputs consist of unobservable inputs which are derived and cannot be corroborated by market data or other entity-specific inputs.

The company’s level 1 assets generally include investments in publicly traded mutual funds, equity securities and corporate debt securities with quoted market prices. In general, the company uses quoted prices in active markets for identical assets to determine the fair value of marketable securities.

The company’s level 2 assets and liabilities generally consist of long-term debt notes. The fair values of the long-term debt notes were based on quoted market prices in an inactive market.

The company’s level 3 assets and liabilities include certain investments that were adjusted to fair value.

Recurring Fair Value Measurements. Financial assets and liabilities recorded at fair value on the consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2026 were classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that was significant to each asset and liability’s fair value measurement. The following table presents financial instruments measured at fair value on a recurring basis:

(in millions)Level 1Level 2Level 3Total
Assets at Fair Value:
Marketable securities:
Corporate debt securities$6.5$—$—$6.5
Mutual funds123.6——123.6
Equity securities0.9——0.9
Total Marketable Securities131.0——131.0
Total Assets at Fair Value$131.0$—$—$131.0

Non-Recurring Fair Value Measurements. The company recognized impairment charges of $28.9 million related to two of its privately-held equity investments during the first nine months of 2026. The fair value of one of the investments was estimated to bezero at the impairment date and the fair value of the other investment was estimated to be $1.6 million at the impairment date. The company also recognized unrealized gains on investments of $7.6 million on equity investments without readily determinable fair values during the first nine months of 2026. The fair values of these investments were estimated to be $27.7 million at September 30, 2026. This fair value assessment was based on quantitative factors, including observable price changes. The fair value measurement of these investments are considered level 3 and non-recurring. These investments are included in other assets on the consolidated balance sheet.

Fair Values of Debt Notes. The follo wing presents the estimated fair values of long-term debt notes, which are carried at amortized cost on the consolidated balance sheets. The fair values below are classified as level 2 under the fair value hierarchy and were estimated using quoted market prices in inactive markets.

At September 30, 2026, the fair values were as follows:

(in millions)Fair ValueLevel
$500.0 million fixed rate notes due June 2028$489.9Level 2
$750.0 million fixed rate notes due March 2030727.8Level 2
$750.0 million fixed rate notes due March 2032649.7Level 2
$750.0 million fixed rate notes due September 2043685.3Level 2
$700.0 million fixed rate notes due June 2048549.7Level 2
  1. Earnings Per Share

The company calculates basic earnings per share for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 by dividing net income by the weighted average number of shares of all classes of common stock outstanding for each reporting period. Diluted earnings per share reflects the increase in shares using the treasury stock method to reflect the impact of an equivalent number of shares of common stock if restricted stock awards were converted into common stock.

The company uses the two-class method for calculating basic EPS and the if-converted method for diluted EPS for the nine months ended September 30, 2026. This reflects the Series G preferred stock’s status as participating securities until their 1:1 conversion into 4.6 million Class A common shares on March 5, 2026. The Series G preferred stock designation was eliminated as of September 24, 2026. Under the two-class method, undistributed or overdistributed earnings are allocated to common stock and participating securities according to their respective rights in undistributed or overdistributed earnings, as if all the earnings for the period had been distributed. Basic earnings per common share is computed by dividing the net income attributable to common shareholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Net income attributable to common shareholders is reduced for preferred stock dividends earned during the period. Preferred stock also receives a proportionate allocation of undistributed or overdistributed earnings for the period because the shares of the Series G preferred stock have a contractual obligation to share in profits and losses of the company. Diluted earnings per share is computed using the if-converted method for the Series G preferred stock which assumes the conversion of all preferred shares into common shares at the beginning of the period. Accordingly, net income attributable to common shareholders is adjusted to add back the dividends and undistributed or overdistributed earnings previously allocated to the preferred stock, and the weighted average number of common shares outstanding is increased by the number of shares that would have been issued upon conversion of the preferred stock as of the beginning of the period plus potentially dilutive common shares. Anti-dilutive stock awards were as follows for the periods presented:

Quarter Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
(in thousands)2026202520262025
Stock awards296—1579
Total296—1579

The following table presents the earnings per share calculation for the periods presented:

Quarter Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
2026202520262025
Net Income (in millions)$1,036.9$908.0$3,233.0$2,889.3
Less: preferred stock dividends—(5.7)—(17.2)
Add: overdistributed earnings allocated to preferred stock——1.2—
Less: undistributed earnings allocated to preferred stock—(5.7)—(19.1)
Net Income Attributable to Common Shareholders of CME Group - Basic$1,036.9$896.6$3,234.2$2,853.0
Less: overdistributed earnings allocated to preferred stock——(1.2)—
Net Income Attributable to Common Shareholders of CME Group - Diluted$1,036.9$896.6$3,233.0$2,853.0
Weighted Average Number of Common Shares (in thousands):
Basic358,019359,686359,336359,653
Effect of restricted stock and performance shares622736624677
Effect of convertible preferred shares——1,058—
Diluted358,641360,422361,018360,330
Earnings per Common Share Attributable to Common Shareholders of CME Group:
Basic$2.90$2.49$9.00$7.93
Diluted2.892.498.967.92
  1. Segment Reporting

The company's business is conducted throughone reportable business segment, CME Group consolidated. The company hasone operating segment as this is the level at which resource allocation and operating decisions regarding company performance are evaluated and determined by the senior leadership team.

The chief operating decision maker (CODM) reviews the financial results of CME Group consolidated on an ongoing basis throughout the year. As a single segment, the segment profitability measure is consolidated net income. Consolidated net income informs key operating decisions as made by the CODM, which include bonus allocation, discretionary share-based awards, liquidity and cash needs, new product development, existing product expansion and product discontinuation. Consolidated net income is deemed the best indicator of segment performance. Segment assets are not reported to, or used by, the CODM to allocate resources or to assess performance.

The CODM evaluates current period consolidated net income performance as compared to prior periods, budgeted results and forecasts. The CODM reviews consolidated revenues as disaggregated by the following: clearing and transaction fees as a combination of rate per contract and average daily volume for each major asset class, market data fee revenue and other revenue. The significant expense categories are consistent with those presented on the face of the consolidated statements of income. The components of non-operating income are also reviewed by the CODM. It is noted that the level of financial information provided to the CODM is consistent with the financial statement line items as disclosed in our consolidated statements of income.

  1. Subsequent Events

The company has evaluated subsequent events through the date the financial statements were issued. The company has determined that there were no subsequent events that met the requirement for recognition or disclosure in the consolidated financial statements.

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