Analyzing FXCM (OTCMKTS:GLBR) and MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX)

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) and FXCM (OTCMKTS:GLBR) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares MarketAxess and FXCM’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MarketAxess	26.16%	20.20%	14.51%
FXCM	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares MarketAxess and FXCM”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MarketAxess	$839.26 million	7.60	$274.18 million	$5.88	29.17
FXCM	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

MarketAxess has higher revenue and earnings than FXCM.

Risk & Volatility

MarketAxess has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FXCM has a beta of -2.38, meaning that its stock price is 338% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

99.0% of MarketAxess shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of MarketAxess shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 9.0% of FXCM shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for MarketAxess and FXCM, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MarketAxess	1	8	4	0	2.23
FXCM	0	0	0	0	0.00

MarketAxess currently has a consensus target price of $201.64, suggesting a potential upside of 17.56%. Given MarketAxess’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe MarketAxess is more favorable than FXCM.

Summary

MarketAxess beats FXCM on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates an electronic trading platform for institutional investor and broker-dealer companies worldwide. The company offers trading technology that provides liquidity access in U.S. high-grade bonds, U.S. high-yield bonds, emerging market debt, eurobonds, municipal bonds, U.S. government bonds, and other fixed-income securities; and executes bond trades between and among institutional investor and broker-dealer clients in an all-to-all anonymous trading environment for corporate bonds through its Open Trading protocols. It also provides trading-related products and services, including composite+ pricing and other market data products to assist clients with trading decisions; auto-execution and other execution services for clients requiring specialized workflow solutions; connectivity solutions that facilitate straight-through processing; and technology services to optimize trading environments. In addition, the company offers various pre-and post-trade services, such as trade matching, trade publication, regulatory transaction reporting, and market and reference data across a range of fixed-income and other products. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About FXCM

Global Brokerage, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides online foreign exchange (FX) trading, contracts for difference trading, spread betting, and related services to retail and institutional customers worldwide. Its proprietary trading platform presents its FX customers with the price quotations on various currency pairs from a range of global banks, financial institutions, and market makers. The company also acts as a credit intermediary and simultaneously entering into trades with the customer and the FX market maker. It offers its customers access to over-the-counter FX markets. The company was formerly known as FXCM Inc. and changed its name to Global Brokerage, Inc. in February 2017. Global Brokerage, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is based in New York, New York. On March 23, 2023, an involuntary petition for liquidation under Chapter 7 was filed against Global Brokerage, Inc. in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. On May 19, 2023, the involuntary petition was approved by the Court.