CBOE

Cboe is the kind of franchise that's hard to replicate: the 10-K spells out that ~68% of 2025 revenues-less-cost-of-revenue came from the options and futures segments, the bulk of it from exclusively licensed index products (SPX options) and its proprietary VIX methodology. That concentration is the risk, but it's also the moat — these are exclusive, regulated, network-effect businesses with pricing power, not commodity order flow. The FY2025 numbers show the moat translating into cash: revenue $4.71B (+15.1%), operating income $1.47B (+33.6%), net income $1.10B (+43.8%), and diluted EPS $10.42 (+44.5%). Operating margin of 31.1% and ROE of 21.4% confirm this is a high-return, capital-light model — capex was just $71M against $1.75B of operating cash flow (+59.2%).

The balance sheet backs the quality. Cash nearly doubled to $2.22B (+140.8%), long-term debt is flat at $1.44B, and liabilities/equity sits at a conservative 0.81x — leaving ample room for the $284M dividend and continued buybacks. The growth is real and broad: revenue has climbed from $3.49B (FY2021) to $4.71B (FY2025), and net income more than doubled over the same span (FY2021 $529M → FY2025 $1.10B). The MD&A also shows a management team actively pruning — winding down Cboe Japan, CEDX, and the U.S./European corporate-listings efforts, and selling Australia/Canada — which should concentrate capital on the high-margin SPX/VIX/Data Vantage core under new CEO Craig Donohue.