NYSE Euronext eported higher-than-expected hird-quarter earnings on Tuesday but revenue missed as global trading activity remained weak.
Oliver Quilla for CNBC.com
After the earnings announcement, shares of the exchange operator gained 1.2 ercent in trading before the opening bell. (Click here to get real-time quotes for NYSE Euronext.)
The company reported third-quarter earnings excluding items of 44 cents a share, higher than a forecast of 41 cents per share and below ast year's 71 cents per share.
But revenue dropped 21 percent to $559 million from $704 million a year ago.
Analysts had expected NYSE Euronext to post revenue of $569 million, according to a Thomson Reuters estimate.
The company cited lower average daily trading volumes for the decline in revenue.
It also said revenue and earnings in the year-ago period had been boosted by extreme market volatility.
"Third quarter of 2011 financial results benefited from extreme market volatility in Europe and the U.S. driven by the European sovereign debt crisis and the U.S. debt ceiling issue," NYSE Euronext said in a statement.
"Market volatility since the third quarter of 2011 has significantly declined, reaching multi-year lows in August of 2012."
Chief Executive Duncan Niederauer said the company was seeking to boost growth by launching new futures contracts and would continue to cut costs.
"We are continuing to return capital to our investors through dividends and share repurchases," he said in the earnings release.