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Virtu Financial (VIRT) is not a well-known name, but we wanted to write a quick profile as it sits atop our latest YIELD Leaders rankings. That's because the company has been buying back shares at a good clip, plus it pays a decent dividend. Also, we wanted to provide some color ahead of its Q3 earnings report later this week (Thursday Oct 24, before the open).

• The company is primarily a market maker, it buys or sells a broad range of securities and generates revenue through market making activities, commission and fees on execution service activities. Investors should understand that Virtu's earnings can be a bit volatile because they depend in large part on volatility in trading markets generally.
• With the Fed cutting rates, with geopolitical issues on the rise, with an election around the corner, and with earnings season ready to kick into full gear this week, Virtu should benefit from some near term volatility.
• In Q2, VIRT beat handily on both EPS and revenue. What stood out about last quarter was its Market Making segment. Despite a muted background, its business performed very well. Also, an area that VIRT has been expanding into is options. The company said its growing options business delivered stronger performance than the prior quarter despite lower addressable opportunities.
• Building its global options capabilities continues to be a top priority and the company expects this to be a significant part of its future as its global footprint grows.
• Virtu also remains optimistic about its growth potential in the fixed income markets. Virtu said its opportunity in fixed income is especially exciting when combined with the synergistic benefits from its growing ETF block desk. Also, crypto Market Making was a meaningful contributor in Q2 despite spot Bitcoin ETF volumes being down over 30% compared to Q1. Virtu is expanding its crypto venue footprint.

Finally, the stock has been making a nice move in recent months and traded to a new 52-week high last week. We suspect investor sentiment is running high heading into its Q3 report this week given its impressive results last quarter and that was when volatility was pretty subdued. Also, share buybacks by the company are a good sign.