LONDON, July 2, 2026, 18:02 (BST)
- CMC Markets was quoted up 50p, or 7.69%, after the London close; the same pricing page showed the FTSE 250 up 0.38%.
- The new FY2027 net operating income guide of at least £550 million is about 43% above the company-compiled analyst consensus shown in April.
- The FY2027 EBITDA guide of £250 million is more than double FY2026 EBITDA, while guidance for operating expenses excluding variable pay stayed near £280 million.
CMC Markets Plc (LON:CMCX) shares rose for a second session on Thursday after the online trading and investment platform lifted its FY2027 outlook, turning a stock already at a record into one of the sharper UK financials moves of the week. Hargreaves Lansdown quoted CMC at 692p/693p sell-buy, up 50p, or 7.69%, with the London market closed and prices delayed by at least 15 minutes.
The driver was the size of the reset. CMC said on July 1 it now expects FY2027 net operating income of at least £550 million, up from a prior range of £460 million to £480 million, and EBITDA of £250 million. Reuters reported on Wednesday that the shares had risen as much as 25.3% after the upgrade.
The gap is below. The consensus figure is the company-compiled analyst consensus shown by CMC as of April 2026; the FY2026 figures come from the June preliminary results.
| CMC measure | Base figure | New FY2027 guide | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net operating income vs FY2026 actual | £392.6 mln | At least £550 mln | At least +£157.4 mln, +40.1% |
| Net operating income vs April FY2027 consensus | £385.5 mln | At least £550 mln | At least +£164.5 mln, +42.7% |
| Net operating income vs prior guide midpoint | £470 mln | At least £550 mln | At least +£80 mln, +17.0% |
| EBITDA vs FY2026 actual | £117.8 mln | £250 mln | +£132.2 mln, +112.2% |
| EBITDA margin on net operating income | 30.0% in FY2026 | 45.5% on the FY2027 NOI floor | +15.5 percentage points |
That is why the stock reaction matters. If CMC hits the new guide, the income base in FY2027 would be far above the old broker model, while the EBITDA guide implies that more of each pound of added income falls through to profit.
The peer screen looked different. CMC’s Thursday move was about 20 times the FTSE 250 gain shown on the same delayed pricing feed and ahead of listed trading peers IG Group Holdings Plc LON:IGG and Plus500 Ltd (LON:PLUS).
| Stock | HL sell/buy quote | Day change | Market cap | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CMC Markets Plc (LON:CMCX) | 692p / 693p | +50p, +7.69% | £1.89 bln | 2,621,002 |
| IG Group Holdings Plc LON:IGG | 1,854p / 1,855p | +7p, +0.38% | £6.08 bln | 1,539,210 |
| Plus500 Ltd (LON:PLUS) | 5,040p / 5,050p | +126p, +2.56% | £3.50 bln | 95,626 |
The upgrade puts the focus on CMC’s business-to-business shift rather than the old retail-trading cycle. CMC said the income momentum was driven by B2B, with platforms adding scale against a largely fixed cost base. It also kept FY2027 operating expenses, excluding variable remuneration, at about £280 million.
RBC Capital Markets called the B2B wording “upbeat” in a note cited by Reuters, which also said CMC has been trying to grow higher-margin B2B work with banks, brokers and fintechs. Reuters
Lord Peter Cruddas, CMC’s chief executive, had framed that shift in the June results, saying “a majority of our income” was from institutional and B2B platform partnerships. He said CMC was “operating an exchange-level service to our partners.” CMC Markets
The pipeline is now part of the valuation call. CMC said its Australian stockbroking partnerships with Westpac and ASB Bank were on track for launch within 12 months, with Westpac tied to about A$39 billion of assets under administration across roughly 500,000 share-trading accounts. It also cited a neobank API partnership, a UK agreement with Currys and a Tier 1 institutional partnership with a major international bank.
Based on Hargreaves Lansdown’s £1.89 billion market-cap figure, CMC’s equity value is about 7.6 times the new £250 million EBITDA guide. Trading Economics put the stock’s four-week gain at 90.22% and the 12-month rise at 172.37%, so the next leg needs delivery, not just a fresh guide.
CMC’s next scheduled update is the HY2027 interim results on Nov. 19, 2026.
