Exchanges & brokers · head to head

CME vs ICE

CME GROUP INC. and Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., side by side on the measures that account for debt and cash — each built from filed accounts.

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Side by side

The two diverge most on net debt / ebitda: −0.5× for CME against 2.9× for ICE. Whether that gap is justified is a judgement this page does not make.

CME GROUP INC. compared with Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.
MeasureCMEICESector median
Net debt / EBITDA−0.5×2.9×1.4×
Return on capital15.9%10.0%13.6%
Operating margin64.9%39.0%35.1%
Free cash flow margin64.3%33.9%34.8%

Green marks the reading conventionally read as cheaper or stronger on that row — a direction, not a recommendation, and the two companies frequently win different rows. * Price-based multiples are a snapshot taken 2026-09-09; the rest come from filed accounts. A dash means the measure could not be computed — each company page says why.

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The full picture

This page compares two companies on ratios. Neither ratio table shows what it would cost to buy either business, how that cost is built, or which filing each term came from — those are on the company pages.