CME Group, the second largest futures exchange in the world in terms of trading volume, recently issued solid financials for the second quarter of 2016. Revenues grew 10.5% y-o-y to a record $906.4 mn (although missed consensus estimate of $911 mn). The improvement was mainly driven by 12.6% higher clearing and transaction fees and 3.7% increase in access and communication fees. The company’s average daily volume was 15.1 mn contracts, up 13% y-o-y, and included a quarterly record for agricultural commodities. Besides, total average rate per contract of 78.2 cents was higher than 77.7 cents in the year-ago quarter. Operating income jumped 13.8% to $563.3 mn, and operating margin expanded 70 basis points to 62.1%. Adjusted earnings per share improved 15.2% to $1.14 and surpassed analysts’ average projection by 3 cents.CME ended Q2 with $1.2 bn in cash and marketable securities and long-term debt of $2.2 bn. During the quarter, the company paid dividends worth $202 mn, bringing the amount paid in dividends to shareholders to date in 2016 to $1.4 bn.I believe that growth in average daily volumes along with improvement in rate per contract and prudent expense management will continue to boost CME’s revenues and operating leverage going forward. I expect CME's shares to continue to rise, with medium-term target at $110. $CME, CME Group Inc. / 1440