May 1 (Reuters) – Cboe Global Markets’ CEO Craig Donohue on Friday outlined plans to sharpen the exchange operator’s focus on key businesses, including a 20% reduction in its global workforce.
The company’s shares jumped nearly 6% in premarket trading after it posted results that beat market expectations and said its strategic realignment would help it realize its full potential.
Exchange operators globally have been streamlining operations, cutting costs and pivoting to higher-growth areas such as prediction markets, as they navigate shifting trading patterns and intensifying competition.
“Following a thorough strategic review and the adoption of a more rigorous financial and strategic framework in the second half of 2025, we announced a realignment to increase focus and investment in the core businesses that drive our earnings,” Donohue said.
Last week, Cboe sold its Canadian and Australian businesses to TMX Group for $300 million, completing a divestment plan announced in the second half of 2025.
It had first announced plans to divest the businesses in October. The 20% workforce reduction will include Cboe’s previously announced plans to sell, wind down, and optimize certain businesses, the company said.
As of December 31, the company had 1,661 employees, according to its regulatory filing.
The exchange operator added it plans to add talent in emerging areas such as financial and economic event markets, tokenization initiatives, scaling and expanding its clearing services in the U.S. and Europe, among other efforts.
Cboe is also offering a voluntary retirement program to U.S. and Canadian employees aged 55 and above who have been with the company for at least five years and will not be affected by the layoffs, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
PROFIT SAILS PAST EXPECTATIONS
Cboe’s results capped a strong quarter for U.S. exchange operators, with volatility driving higher activity across the sector, including at Nasdaq and Intercontinental Exchange.
Market swings intensified during the quarter, driven by the capture of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife by U.S. forces in January, AI disruption concerns, and as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran heightened risks to oil supply.
The company’s options trading business revenue jumped 33% to $467.6 million, while Europe and Asia-Pacific revenue climbed 32% to $84.9 million.
Average daily volume in index options hit an all-time high of 6.1 million contracts during the quarter ended March 31, compared with 4.8 million a year earlier.
Periods of market turbulence tend to boost trading and hedging activity, lifting transaction and clearing fees for exchange operators such as Cboe.
Adjusted profit came in at $3.70 per share in the quarter ended March 31. Analysts on average had expected $3.29 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita and Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Writing by Manya Saini; Editing by Leroy Leo)
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