Interactive Brokers IBKR and BGC Group BGC are prominent players in the brokerage and financial services sector, offering trade execution, clearing and related services to institutional clients.
While IBKR is renowned for its advanced electronic trading platforms and global market access, BGC Group provides a broad range of brokerage services, including fixed-income and derivatives trading. Amid the current market turmoil caused by Trump’s tariff plans, both benefited from increased trading activities. However, as the market participants expect tariffs to inflict lasting damage on the U.S. economy, trading activity will likely weaken going forward.
As such, Interactive Brokers and BGC Group are anticipated to witness subdued trading-related income in the quarters ahead. This is reflected through bearish investor sentiments, with IBKR stock losing 9.7% this year and BGC’s shares falling 6.6%.
Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Hence, the question arises: Which brokerage firm — IBKR or BGC — is a better pick for investors amid the challenging macroeconomic backdrop? Let’s find out.
The Case for IBKR Stock
Interactive Brokers is a fintech leader driven by automation, innovation and scale, evolving from electronic market-making into a tech-first brokerage offering efficient, global and advanced trading tools. At its core, the company leverages proprietary systems to automate nearly every aspect of the brokerage process — from trade execution and risk management to compliance and customer onboarding —enabling it to operate with minimal human intervention and significantly lower costs than traditional brokers.
This has enabled IBKR to keep the compensation expenses at a low level. The company consistently lowered its compensation expenses relative to net revenues for the last three years --- 14.8% in 2022, 12.1% in 2023 and 11.1% in 2024. In the first quarter of 2025, the company’s compensation expenses were 9.3% of net revenues. This shows that the company is taking prudent measures to keep compensation levels within limits through technological excellence.
Interactive Brokers has been actively expanding its global presence and enhancing its offerings. Recent initiatives include launching a prediction markets hub in Canada and Plan d’Epargne en Actions accounts in France. It introduced IBKR GlobalTrader for mobile stock trading worldwide and was among the first to offer nearly 24/5 Overnight Trading on U.S. stocks and ETFs. The commission-free IBKR Lite aims to grow its market share, while the Impact Dashboard supports sustainable investing. The company also expanded into cryptocurrency trading through Paxos, offering competitive fees and adding four new cryptocurrencies, bringing the total to 11. It also launched IBKR Desktop, a new advanced trading platform.
All these initiatives have supported Interactive Brokers and resulted in a steady improvement in client accounts, total client Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) and revenues. In the last five years (2019-2024), client accounts, total client DARTs and net revenues witnessed a CAGR of 37%, 26% and 22%, respectively.
Further, last week, IBKR announced a 28% hike in its quarterly dividend to 32 cents per share. This followed a whopping 150% jump in the dividend in April 2024. Additionally, it has announced a four-for-one forward split of its common stock to make shares more accessible to investors. The company expects the trading to commence on a split-adjusted basis at market open on June 18, 2025.
The Case for BGC Stock
BGC Group is a global financial services firm specializing in brokerage and financial technology. It offers voice/hybrid and fully electronic brokerage services. The company’s proprietary Fenics platform powers its electronic trading operations, enabling faster, more efficient transactions. The platform provides trading solutions, market data and analytics to institutional clients.
Following the 2023 spin-off of its commercial real estate arm, Newmark, BGC has sharpened its focus on its capital markets and fintech operations. This shift toward technology-driven services allows the company to enhance margins and reduce dependence on traditional, labor-intensive models.
BGC Group acquired OTC Global Holdings, LP, one of the fastest-growing energy and commodities brokerage firms, in April for $325 million. Moreover, it acquired Sage Energy Partners, LP, an energy and environmental brokerage firm, last year. These buyouts represent an advancement in the company's growth strategy, solidifying the Energy, Commodities and Shipping (ECS) business as the largest asset class within BGC. These acquisitions are expected to contribute more than $450 million in annual revenues and have positioned the company as a major player in the energy sector.
BGC Group is well-positioned to capitalize on growing environmental and energy transition trends and will keep benefiting from consistent global demand for oil, the single largest source of energy. As such, the company’s top-line growth is anticipated to be impressive. Over the last five years (ended 2024), the company’s revenues recorded a CAGR of 1.5%.
Other than the above-mentioned buyouts, BGC Group acquired ContiCap, Open Energy Group and Trident in 2023. These deals positioned the company as one of the leading global brokerage firms and bolstered its market share.
BGC Group has been prioritizing share repurchases over dividend payouts. The company pays 2 cents per share as a quarterly dividend, which was increased 100% in February 2024. Additionally, in October 2024, the company re-authorized a $400 million share repurchase program. As of Dec. 31, 2024, approximately $350.0 million remained under this authorization.
How Do Estimates Compare for IBKR & BGC?
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IBKR’s 2025 and 2026 revenue implies year-over-year growth of 4.5% and 6.1%, respectively. Further, the consensus estimate for earnings indicates a 1% and 4.2% rise for 2025 and 2026, respectively. The earnings estimates for both years have moved lower over the past week. (Stay up-to-date with all quarterly releases: See Zacks Earnings Calendar.)
Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
On the contrary, analysts are more bullish on BGC Group’s prospects. The consensus mark for BGC’s 2025 and 2026 revenues suggests a year-over-year jump of 20.4% and 14%, respectively. Also, the consensus estimate for earnings suggests a 23.3% and 18.4% surge for 2025 and 2026, respectively. The earnings estimates for both years have remained unchanged over the past seven days.
Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
IBKR & BGC: Valuation & Other Comparisons
Valuation-wise, IBKR is currently trading at the 12-month trailing price-to-tangible book (P/TB) of 1.00X, higher than its three-year median. The BGC stock, on the other hand, is currently trading at the 12-month trailing P/TB of 13.60X, lower than its three-year median.
Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
While BGC Group commands a premium over Interactive Brokers, its valuation is justified, given its superior growth trajectory.
Additionally, BGC Group’s return on equity (ROE) of 47.55% is way higher than IBKR’s 4.97%. BGC also outscores the industry’s ROE of 11.95% and the S&P 500’s 31.11.%. This reflects BGC’s efficient use of shareholder funds in generating profits.
Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
BGC’s dividend yield of 0.95% is higher than IBKR’s 0.63%.
Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
IBKR or BGC: Which Stock is a Smart Investment Option?
Interactive Brokers and BGC Group operate within the financial services sector, offering electronic trading platforms and brokerage services. They cater to institutional and retail clients, focusing on technological advancements to enhance trading efficiency and market access.
However, given the current challenging operating environment, BGC Group seems to be better placed to confront it and offer robust returns to investors. This makes it a better investment choice. While BGC stock might seem pricey against IBKR, its premium valuation is justifiable considering the higher growth expectations.
Currently, BGC Group sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), making the stock a must-pick compared with Interactive Brokers, which has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
