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what it is
Virtu stands in markets all day, buying from sellers and selling to buyers, then sells trading tools to banks and brokers.
how it gets paid
Last year Virtu Financial made $617M in revenue.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 19.4% last year. EDGAR shows revenue rose 198% vs. prior year.
what just happened
Virtu's was a plain old blowout: revenue hit $460M and EPS landed at $3.59.
At a glance
B balance sheet — gets the job done, barely
30/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
6.9x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
2.9% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
16.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 52/100 — below average
What they do
Virtu stands in markets all day, buying from sellers and selling to buyers, then sells trading tools to banks and brokers.
Market making → posting buy and sell prices all day → so what: when you hit sell and want cash now, a firm like Virtu is often there. That business was 83% of 2024 revenue, and the company still produced a 50.0% operating margin with just 969 employees. Your edge as an owner is scale you can’t see: speed, global reach, and enough volume to make tiny spreads add up.
How they make money
$617M
annual revenue · their business grew +19.4% last year
total revenue
$617M
+19.4%
The products that matter
electronic trading and liquidity provision
Market Making
$617M revenue · whole business
it's the entire reported revenue base at $617M. if trading activity stays healthy, this machine can mint cash. if markets go quiet, you feel it everywhere at once.
100% of revenue
Key numbers
50.0%
operating margin
Operating margin → money left after running the business → so what: Virtu keeps about 50 cents of every revenue dollar before interest and taxes.
6.9x
trailing p/e
P/E → price versus annual profit → so what: you are paying a single-digit multiple for a business expected to earn $5.35 a share in FY2026.
$2.0B
long-term debt
Debt → money owed → so what: the balance sheet is not broken, but leverage matters when your earnings depend on trading conditions.
16.0%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit from each dollar invested → so what: this business clears the bar most companies miss, even before a rerating.
Financial health
B
strength
- balance sheet grade B — adequate — nothing special
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 60 / 100
- long-term debt $2.0B (29% of capital)
- net profit margin 17.5% — keeps 18 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 20% — $0.20 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in VIRT 3 years ago → it's now worth $18,110.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Virtu's was a plain old blowout: revenue hit $460M and EPS landed at $3.59.
EDGAR shows quarterly revenue rose 198% vs. prior year. Yahoo Finance says the last report delivered $1.85 versus a $1.21 estimate, a 52.89% surprise, which fits the pattern of stronger trading conditions in 2025.
$460M
revenue
$3.59
eps
50.0%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The number that mattered was the 198% revenue jump, because this model gets absurdly powerful when market activity wakes up.
-
virtu financial likely posted strong results in 2025.
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the company recorded impressive gains across its operating segments over the last few months.
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in fact, during the first three quarters, trading income jumped 23% from the year-ago figure, spurred by the uptick in market volatility.
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moreover, during the first nine months of 2025, revenues at its market making unit increased 29% year to year, while the top line at its execution services arm jumped 38% from the year-ago figure.
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plus, management’s ongoing expense controls probably bolstered profits.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is low-volatility markets starving the trading engine.
med
low-volatility markets
Virtu's reported revenue base is $617M, and the page gives you one dominant economic driver: trading activity. If spreads compress and volumes cool, the whole income statement feels it.
impact: this risk reaches essentially all of the current $617M revenue base.
med
$2.0B of long-term debt
A B balance sheet is manageable, not bulletproof. Debt equal to 29% of capital is fine while profits are strong. It gets less comfortable if a soft trading environment lasts longer than expected.
impact: weaker trading periods matter more when $2.0B of long-term debt is sitting on the balance sheet.
med
earnings that do not repeat cleanly
Earnings predictability is 30/100. That's a polite way of saying quarterly results can swing hard. A stock can look very cheap right before the denominator changes.
impact: the 6.9x trailing p/e only looks safe if earnings stay closer to current levels than the market expects.
Low-volatility conditions expose nearly all of the current $617M revenue base, and $2.0B of long-term debt reduces how much earnings slippage the business can shrug off.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
net margin after a blowout quarter
Last quarter hit 50.3% net margin. If that starts fading fast, the low multiple will make more sense than the bull case wants to admit.
trend
revenue growth after +19.4%
The business grew 19.4% last year. You want to know whether that was a new level or a volatility spike wearing a suit.
risk
earnings predictability staying at 30/100
Cheap stocks with noisy earnings stay cheap. If predictability does not improve, valuation expansion becomes a tougher sell.
calendar
the next earnings print
Another quarter near the recent $0.86 EPS pace keeps the rerating story alive. A sharp step down would remind you why market makers rarely get premium multiples.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3. in human-speak, analysts see a stock acting mostly like the market rather than breaking away on its own.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 means a middle-of-the-pack risk profile. Not a bunker stock. Not a disaster magnet.
chart momentum
top 20%
technical score 2 means analysts expect better price performance than most stocks over the next year. They like the setup more than the business quality.
earnings predictability
30 / 100
The translation is simple: expect uneven quarters. That matters because low-multiple stocks only rerate when investors believe the earnings base is real.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
206 buyers vs. 206 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 75.2M shares.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$26
$68
$33
current price
$47
target midpoint · +41% from current · 3-5yr high: $70 (+110% · 23% ann'l return)
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