OTC Markets Group (OTCMKTS:OTCM) reported record results for the fourth quarter and full year 2025, driven by double-digit revenue growth across its business lines and margin expansion as revenue growth outpaced expense increases.
Full-year results: Revenue tops $125 million as margins expand
President and CEO Cromwell Coulson said gross revenues rose 13% in 2025 to more than $125 million for the first time in the company’s history, while net revenues increased 12%. The company posted double-digit gains in each quarter of the year, with contributions from OTC Link, market data, and corporate services.
Chief Financial Officer Antonia Georgieva provided additional detail, stating that for 2025 OTC Markets generated gross revenues of $125.3 million, up 13%. For the full year, income from operations rose 19% and net income increased 14%, while operating margin expanded to 31.5% from 29.9% in the prior year. Diluted earnings per share increased to $2.58 from $2.26.
Georgieva also highlighted non-GAAP measures used by management, saying adjusted EBITDA was $47.6 million and adjusted diluted earnings were $3.94 per share, each up 15% year-over-year. Cash flows from operating activities were $48.6 million and free cash flow was $48.4 million, compared with $32.9 million and $31.6 million in the prior year, respectively. The company returned $32.6 million to investors during 2025 through dividends and its stock buyback program, up 10% from the prior year, which Georgieva said was primarily tied to a higher special dividend.
Fourth-quarter performance: Operating margin reaches 36.3%
For the fourth quarter, Georgieva said gross revenues were $32.7 million, up 15% from the prior-year period, with revenues less transaction-based expenses also up 15%. Operating expenses increased 6% year-over-year for the quarter, driven by higher compensation and benefits and increases in IT infrastructure and information services costs as well as professional and consulting fees.
Income from operations in the quarter increased 32%, while net income and diluted EPS each rose 28%. Operating profit margin expanded to 36.3% from 31.6% a year earlier, according to Georgieva.
OTC Link and market data: Volume-driven gains, pricing tailwinds, and MOON traction
Management said OTC Link’s performance in 2025 was primarily tied to increased trading volume across the company’s markets. In the fourth quarter, OTC Link gross revenues increased 7%, driven by a 12% increase in transaction-based revenues from OTC Link ECN and OTC Link NQB, with MOON ATS contributing as the company benefited from a higher number of shares traded on those platforms. Transaction-based expenses rose 12% in the quarter, and Georgieva cautioned that trading volumes remain unpredictable and could decline in the future.
In subscriber metrics, OTC Link ended the fourth quarter with 117 subscribers on OTC Link ECN and 77 on OTC Link ATS, compared with 114 and 82, respectively, at the end of the prior year. The company had 145 unique subscribers to its ATSs at the end of 2025, up four from the end of 2024.
Market data licensing revenues rose 17% in the fourth quarter. Georgieva attributed the increase to a 25% rise in distributor-based revenues, a 14% increase in direct sold licenses, and 3% growth in data and compliance solutions. Within distributor-based revenues, professional user revenues increased 32%, which she said primarily reflected price increases implemented at the beginning of 2025 along with a 3% increase in professional user counts. Non-professional user revenues declined 4% due to an 18% reduction in reported non-professional users, which more than offset pricing effects. Georgieva noted that non-professional user counts can shift significantly as market volumes and retail participation fluctuate, and she said further declines are possible.
Coulson said the company’s OTC Link and market data teams established the foundation of its overnight trading business during 2025. He said MOON ATS, which facilitates overnight trading in exchange-listed securities, gained traction in the fourth quarter as the company onboarded subscribers and educated the global trading community. Coulson also described a competitive landscape, citing an established competitor with majority market share and listing exchanges that may enter the space as early as 2026. In a later Q&A, Coulson said the company would begin providing more information on MOON volume “in the near term,” while characterizing platform build-outs as a multi-year process.
Corporate services: OTCID launch, subscriber churn dynamics, and “connecting companies” focus
Corporate services revenue increased 17% in the fourth quarter, and Coulson said the segment posted 17% growth in the quarter to end the year. Georgieva said OTCQX revenues increased 8% in the quarter due to pricing adjustments effective January 1, 2025 and improved sales alongside a steady average number of OTCQX companies. OTCQB revenues rose 11% due to similar factors and a higher number of OTCQB companies. In the quarter, the company added 41 OTCQX companies (versus 22 a year earlier) and ended with 574 OTCQX companies, up 1%. It added 71 OTCQB companies (versus 61 a year earlier) and ended with 1,106 OTCQB companies, up 5%.
Management repeatedly pointed to the July 2025 launch of the OTCID basic market as a major driver. Georgieva said OTCID led to a substantial number of Pink companies upgrading to OTCID and receiving access to the company’s Disclosure & News Service (DNS), while select Pink Limited companies also subscribed to DNS. Those dynamics, combined with price increases, drove a 55% increase in related DNS revenues in the fourth quarter. As of December 31, 2025, 1,052 companies traded on the OTCID basic market, compared with 1,035 at launch on July 1, 2025. Overall, OTC Markets ended the quarter with a combined 1,508 OTCID companies and Pink Limited subscribers to DNS and other products, up 13% from 1,338 a year earlier.
On churn, Coulson told analysts that every subscription business faces turnover driven by factors such as acquisitions, competitive moves, and financial distress. He said the company’s strategy includes targeting companies with an existing foothold of U.S. trading and liquidity and encouraging them to use OTC Markets’ corporate services tools to improve information and functionality for investors and brokers. He also said OTCID helps address churn at the low end by providing an option for companies willing to publish and certify information. Georgieva added that month-to-month variability in OTCID can reflect automated tagging processes and reporting cycles, and she said it was too early to draw conclusions about longer-term subscriber trends.
Coulson said “connecting companies” on OTCQX, OTCQB, and OTCID represented about 25% of securities traded on the company’s platforms at the end of 2025 and contributed roughly 31% of dollar volume traded during the fourth quarter. He said a key focus is increasing the percentage of connecting companies and related dollar volume as a way to improve overall market quality and further differentiate premium markets from Pink Limited securities.
2026 priorities and capital allocation: Tokenization preparation, international growth, and dividend increase
Looking ahead, Coulson said strategic priorities for 2026 include preparing for the introduction of tokenized and digital asset securities, expanding overnight trading, continuing to build OTCID, and growing the company’s international presence. On tokenization, Coulson said the company is actively involved in discussions with regulators and market participants, while noting that there are “not many lawful tokenized securities yet.” He said OTC Markets intends to support broker-dealers, market data customers, and issuers when tokenized securities are “free trading and lawful,” and emphasized a technology-neutral approach rooted in existing regulatory principles.
Coulson also said regulatory priorities include capital formation, state blue sky laws, and disclosure-based initiatives. He noted the company has achieved 50-state blue sky compliance for its own shares and plans to use that experience to “map the path to national compliance” for corporate clients.
On shareholder returns, Coulson said the company decided to increase its quarterly dividend to better balance the relationship between quarterly and special dividends, while also looking to opportunistically resume share repurchases in the public market. He said the board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share on March 2, payable later in the month. In Q&A, Coulson said management remains conservative on leverage, indicating that taking on debt simply to boost near-term metrics is not part of the company’s outlook, though he left open the possibility of using debt in connection with an acquisition of a “durable cash flow asset.” Georgieva also noted that the company’s cash balance tends to be seasonal, typically peaking in the fourth quarter due to the annual OTCQX renewal cycle and then declining in the first quarter due to incentive compensation and tax payments.
About OTC Markets Group (OTCMKTS:OTCM)
OTC Markets Group operates a network of electronic trading platforms that provide real-time quotes, trading, and market data for over-the-counter (OTC) securities. Through its tiered marketplaces—OTCQX for established companies, OTCQB for early-stage and developing firms, and OTC Pink for less transparent issuers—the company connects broker-dealers, institutional investors, and retail participants. Its platforms facilitate price discovery and liquidity for a wide range of securities, including foreign issuers, micro-caps, and funds.
The company’s product suite extends beyond trading venues to encompass market data services, corporate disclosure tools, and compliance solutions.
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