Have you been eager to see how CME Group Inc. (CME - Free Report) , one of the largest futures exchanges in the world, performed in Q1 in comparison with the market expectations? Let’s quickly scan through the key facts from this Chicago, IL-based company’s earnings release this morning.

An Earnings Beat

CME Group reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.86, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.85.

CME Group Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

CME Group Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | CME Group Inc. Quote

How Was the Estimate Revision Trend?

You should note that the earnings estimate for CME Group depicted neutral stance prior to the earnings release. The Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged at $1.85 per share over the last 7 days.

Also, CME Group has a solid earnings surprise history.

Overall, the company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by an average of nearly 1.86% in the trailing four quarters.

Revenues Came in Lower Than Expected

CME Group’s revenues of $1.11 billion improved 19.3% year over year. However, the reported missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.12 billion.

Key Takeaways

Average daily volume (ADV) increased nearly 30% year over year to an all-time high of 22.2 million contracts, due to higher volumes across all the six product lines.

Total expenses increased 12.1% year over year at $368.1 million during the reported quarter.

Operating income improved 23.3% to $740.9 million from the prior-year quarter.

As of Mar 31, 2018, long-term debt of $2.2 billion remained flat with the level at year-end 2017.

What Zacks Rank Says

The estimate revisions that we discussed earlier have driven a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for CME Group. However, since the latest earnings performance is yet to be reflected in the estimate revisions, the rank is subject to change. Now it all depends on what sense the just-released report makes to the analysts.