At a glance
Virtu Financial Inc is worth $8.60B, about 11 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 26.2% to $3.63B in fiscal 2025, with 12.9% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 2.3% a year. It pays a 1.73% dividend yield, and returned $1.89B to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +63.8% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +20.7% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 21.7% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 44.4% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high within a month and 25 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
Virtu Financial is a market maker: a firm that stands ready at any time to trade with others, using its own money. It posts a bid (the price it will pay) and an ask (the price it will accept) and keeps the small gap, called the spread, across huge volumes. It trades over 50,000 listed and over-the-counter securities on seventeen SEC-registered U.S. exchanges and many overseas venues, covering stocks, ETFs, options, currencies, futures, bonds, commodities and cryptocurrencies. Its counterparties range from retail brokers and banks to mutual funds, pension plans and hedge funds.
Market Making produced $2.95 billion, or 81.2%, of fiscal 2025 revenue of $3.63 billion (the year ended December 31, 2025). Virtu says trading volume, volatility and retail investor activity matter most. When markets turn jumpy, spreads tend to widen, so it earns more per trade.
Execution Services brought in 18.4%, or $668 million. Here Virtu acts as an agent for institutions, banks and brokers, routing their orders in stocks, ETFs, bonds, currencies and commodities and earning commissions. It also offers trading analytics, data and compliance tools. By region, the United States produced 80.9% of revenue, Ireland 10.7% and other countries 8.4%.
Price history
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VIRT +63.8% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By business segment
| Market Making | $2.95B | 81.2% |
| Execution Services | $668.2M | 18.4% |
By geography
| United States | $2.94B | 80.9% |
| Ireland | $387.0M | 10.7% |
| Others | $305.2M | 8.4% |
Latest results
- In Q2 FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $1.19B, up 19% from a year earlier, and net income was $150.9M (-0.2%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $3.63B (+26.2% year over year; +2.3% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 12.9% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +2.3% watch |
|---|---|
| Return on equity | 29.6% good |
| Net income / revenue | 12.9% weak |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $3.24B | $649.2M | — |
| FY2021 | $2.81B | $476.9M | — |
| FY2022 | $2.36B | $265.0M | — |
| FY2023 | $2.29B | $142.0M | — |
| FY2024 | $2.88B | $276.4M | — |
| FY2025 | $3.63B | $468.4M | — |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $8.60B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 10.8 |
| Dividend yield | 1.73% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIRT price data to Oct 28, 2026 | +68.7% | +63.8% | +49.2% | +20.7% | +20.1% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +68.8% |
| 2025 | -4.3% |
| 2024 | +83.0% |
| 2023 | +4.6% |
| 2022 | -26.5% |
| 2021 | +18.6% |
| 2020 | +64.2% |
| 2019 | -35.0% |
| 2018 | +45.9% |
| 2017 | +21.4% |
| 2016 | -25.5% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Before this security existed |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Gained 16.7% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 21.7%, back to its old high 0.9 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 21.9% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 44.4%, back to its old high 25.3 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-31 to 2026-10-31 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 15 sales ($14.9M).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 19, 2026 | Joseph Molluso Co-President & Co-COO | sell | $7.8M |
| Feb 17, 2026 | Stephen Cavoli EVP | sell | $1.1M |
| May 8, 2026 | Brett Fairclough Co-President & Co-COO | sell | $773K |
| May 8, 2026 | Brett Fairclough Co-President & Co-COO | sell | $729K |
| Feb 13, 2026 | Stephen Cavoli EVP | sell | $595K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 11.1% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 6.4% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| FMR LLC | 5.7% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 4.98% | Sep 30, 2026 |
| Douglas A. Cifu | 4.67% | Sep 30, 2025 |
ETFs with the most weight in VIRT
| NEWZ StockSnips AI-Powered Sentiment US All Cap ETF | 2.98% |
| KCE SPDR S&P Capital Markets ETF | 1.76% |
| XSMO Invesco S&P SmallCap Momentum ETF | 1.35% |
| SIXS ETC 6 Meridian Small Cap Equity ETF | 1.17% |
| FDFF Fidelity Disruptive Finance ETF | 1.13% |
| FDLS Inspire Fidelis Multi Factor ETF | 1.02% |
| LSAF LeaderShares AlphaFactor US Core Equity ETF | 0.97% |
| PSCF Invesco S&P SmallCap Financials ETF | 0.89% |
What could go wrong
- Profits rise and fall with market activity. Virtu earns more when trading volume, volatility and retail participation are high, and less when markets are calm. Net income fell from $649 million in fiscal 2020 to $142 million in fiscal 2023.
- Losing key clients or order flow. Order flow means customer orders that brokers route to Virtu. Losing a large client or order source, access to a key exchange, or failing to adapt to proposed market rules could cut revenue.
- Heavy reliance on U.S. stock trading. The market making business is concentrated in U.S. equities, and 80.9% of fiscal 2025 revenue came from the United States. Rule changes, falling volumes or new competition there could hurt results.
- Trading system failures can cause big losses. In market making, Virtu trades with its own money. A failure of its custom trading platform, a systems outage or a cyber-attack could produce large losses and harm its reputation.
- Founder control and a holding-company structure. Virtu is a "controlled company" under NYSE rules: an entity tied to its founder controls the vote, and some governance protections do not apply. The listed company owns only 57.2% of its operating business.
- Substantial debt and lender covenants. Total debt was about $2.38 billion, against $1.07 billion of cash and investments, as of June 30, 2026. Loan covenants (conditions set by lenders) could restrict how the company runs its business.
Recent events
- Executive or board change
- Quarterly results released
- Major agreement signed; New debt or financial obligation
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
- Shareholder vote results
- Executive or board change
- Quarterly results released
- Quarterly results released
For income and retirement investors
Virtu pays a dividend, but it has not grown. The regular dividend has stayed at $0.24 per share, with no increase from fiscal 2020 through fiscal 2025, and the yield was 1.73% as of October 28, 2026. Dividends paid equaled about 74.6% of fiscal 2025 earnings, a high payout ratio (the share of profit paid out) for a business whose profits swing widely. Because Virtu is a holding company, the dividend depends on cash passed up from its operating business. Share repurchases (buybacks) were small: about $15 million over fiscal 2021–2025, against roughly $1.88 billion in dividends.
In the 2020 COVID crash, the shares fell 21.7% in one week but recovered within a month, and gained 16.7% over the market's decline. The 2022 bear market was harsher: a 44.4% drop that took about 25 months to recover. Its price record does not cover 2008. A single stock carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
How does Virtu Financial make money?
Mostly from market making, which produced 81.2% of its $3.63 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue. Virtu quotes a bid (the price it will pay) and an ask (the price it will accept) in stocks, ETFs, options, currencies, bonds, commodities and cryptocurrencies, and keeps the small gap, or spread, on very large volumes. Another 18.4% came from Execution Services, where Virtu handles orders for institutions as an agent and earns commissions.
Does Virtu Financial raise its dividend?
No. The regular dividend has held at $0.24 per share from fiscal 2020 through fiscal 2025, with no increases in that span. The yield was 1.73% as of October 28, 2026. Dividends paid equaled about 74.6% of fiscal 2025 earnings. Virtu is a holding company, so the dividend depends on distributions from its operating business, and the 10-K warns that contractual and regulatory limits could restrict payments.
Does Virtu stock do well when the stock market falls?
Sometimes, but not reliably. Choppy markets tend to widen spreads, so Virtu can earn more per trade. During the 2020 COVID crash, its shares gained 16.7% while the broader market fell. In the 2022 bear market, though, they dropped 44.4% and took about 25 months to recover. The stock's one-year beta, a measure of how closely it tracks market swings, was 0.5 as of October 28, 2026, yet its one-year volatility was 37.2%.
What is Virtu Financial's P/E ratio?
About 10.8 as of October 28, 2026, based on fiscal 2025 diluted earnings of $5.13 per share. The P/E (price-to-earnings) ratio compares the share price with a year of profit. Virtu's profits swing widely, so one year's P/E can mislead: diluted earnings per share fell from $5.16 in fiscal 2020 to $1.42 in fiscal 2023 before rebounding. In the quarter ended June 30, 2026, revenue rose 19% from a year earlier while net income was roughly flat.
Who controls Virtu Financial?
An entity tied to the company's founder, called the Founder Post-IPO Member in the 10-K, controls the company. That makes Virtu a "controlled company" under NYSE rules, exempt from certain corporate governance requirements, and the 10-K notes its interests may differ from other shareholders'. BlackRock reported an 11.1% stake as of March 31, 2025. Insider filings from October 29, 2025 to October 29, 2026 included 15 share sales worth about $14.9 million and no purchases.