[Virtu Financial Reports Strong Q3 Earnings, Emphasizes Trading Diversification and Capital Growth][
Virtu Financial reported $704 million in adjusted net trading income for the third quarter of 2026, alongside $438 million in adjusted EBITDA at a 62% margin and adjusted EPS of $1.77.
Trading results and diversification
Adjusted net trading income averaged $11 million per day in the quarter, including $9 million from Market Making and $2 million from Execution Services, Lee said. For the trailing 12 months, Virtu reported record adjusted net trading income of $11.3 million per day, adjusted EBITDA of $1.8 billion and adjusted EPS of $7.69.
Execution Services and capital plans
Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer Joe Molluso declined to comment on media reports that Virtu could be exploring a sale of Execution Services. He described the unit as a strategic business with 1,400 clients and said its margins had more than doubled from those of ITG before Virtu acquired it.
Molluso said Virtu had accumulated approximately $900 million in trading capital during the year, roughly half organically and half through additional debt. He reiterated a near-term capital goal of around $4 billion or more, while saying asset sales were not needed to reach the company’s medium- to long-term goal.
Most of the July debt proceeds were deployed quickly, Molluso said, while Virtu maintained buffers for trading, usage and regulatory requirements. He said the company does not measure returns on incremental capital separately because capital is spread across businesses, entities and jurisdictions.
Hiring and technology spending
Simons said hiring remained on plan, with the company focused on trading, research and development. He said Virtu still had unmet hiring goals and did not expect a change in that effort into next year, though he cautioned that it was difficult to plan beyond roughly a year.
Molluso said the company had just under 1,100 employees and expected to move above that level in the near term. Expenses had risen, he said, but not more than the company expected. Lee said the year-to-date cash compensation ratio was 23% through September 30, while the total compensation ratio was 28%.
On technology, Simons said Virtu was incrementally investing more in computing, power, storage and other infrastructure. He characterized the increase as consistent with previously communicated plans rather than a major acceleration, and said the company did not see a need to spend beyond what it had signaled.
About Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT)
Virtu Financial, Inc is a global financial services company that provides liquidity, trading, and technology solutions to the financial markets. Through its market-making business, Virtu facilitates trading in a broad range of products, including equities, exchange-traded funds, options, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities, and certain digital assets.
The company also operates an execution services business that provides trading and workflow technology to institutional investors, asset managers, broker-dealers, and other financial institutions.
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The article “What Virtu Financial (VIRT) Said on Its Q3 Earnings Call” was originally published by MarketBeat.
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