Nasdaq, Inc.
NDAQ · Nasdaq
Next quarter
Reports Oct 20, 2026.
Consensus is $1.02 EPS for Sep 2026 across 7 estimates, ranging $1.01 to $1.06.
NDAQ Jun 2026
- 9.18%
- +1.85%
- $0.98
- $1.07
- —
- $2.53B
Reported results
- $2.53B
- 59.24%
- $712.00M
- 28.12%
- $507.00M
- $0.89
Highlights
- Earnings beat: Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $1.07, 9.2% above the $0.98 consensus and up 25% year over year; GAAP diluted EPS was $0.89 versus $0.78 a year ago.
- Broad-based growth: Net revenue rose 15% year over year to $1.50 billion, with Solutions revenue up 17% to $1.16 billion and Market Services net revenue up 11% to $340 million.
- Recurring revenue: ARR reached $3.26 billion, up 11% reported and 12% organically; annualized SaaS revenue increased 12% reported and 15% organically, representing 38% of ARR.
- Index momentum: Index revenue increased 38% to $271 million, or 35% on an adjusted basis, as trailing-twelve-month net inflows reached $109 billion and period-end ETP AUM surpassed $1 trillion at $1.114 trillion.
- Financial Technology: Revenue grew 16% to $539 million, with all three subdivisions delivering double-digit growth and Financial Technology ARR up 16% to $1.87 billion.
- IPO franchise: Nasdaq listed SpaceX in an $86 billion offering, the largest IPO in exchange history, and captured 7 of the 10 largest operating-company IPOs in the quarter with a 74% win rate.
- Margin expansion: GAAP operating income rose 25% to $712 million and the operating margin expanded to 47% from 44% a year ago; non-GAAP operating margin increased to 57% from 55%.
- Capital returns: Nasdaq generated $711 million of quarterly operating cash flow, paid $174 million of dividends, repurchased $356 million of stock and net repaid $162 million of debt.
Analysis
Nasdaq’s second quarter was a broad-based growth print, led by recurring Solutions revenue, index monetisation and a stronger listings environment. Net revenue increased 15% year over year to $1.50 billion, while GAAP operating income rose 25% to $712 million and net income increased 12% to $507 million. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $1.07, above the $0.98 consensus and up 25% from $0.85 a year ago. Against the first quarter, total revenue increased to $2.53 billion from $2.14 billion and operating income rose to $712 million from $657 million, although net income declined to $507 million from $519 million and GAAP EPS fell to $0.89 from $0.91.
The defining feature was the quality and breadth of the growth. Solutions revenue rose 17% to $1.16 billion, ARR reached $3.26 billion and SaaS revenue grew 12% reported. Index revenue jumped 38% to $271 million, supported by $51 billion of quarterly net inflows and ETP AUM of $1.114 trillion, although the quarter included a $6 million one-time contract-modification benefit. Financial Technology grew 16% to $539 million, while Market Services net revenue rose 11% to $340 million on strong trading activity. Nasdaq also raised its 2026 non-GAAP operating-expense guidance to $2.53 billion-$2.57 billion.
Financial performance
Revenue growth translated into meaningful operating leverage despite higher investment in compensation, technology and marketing. Operating expenses increased 7% to $788 million, below the 15% increase in net revenue. The GAAP operating margin therefore expanded to 47% from 44%, while non-GAAP operating income rose 19% to $859 million and the non-GAAP margin reached 57% versus 55% a year ago. The tax rate increased to 22.4% from 17.5%, partly because the prior-year quarter benefited from a tax benefit related to payments to former Adenza employees.
- Earnings: GAAP net income was $507 million, up from $452 million, while non-GAAP net income was $605 million versus $492 million.
- Expense drivers: Compensation and benefits rose 9% to $383 million, technology and communication infrastructure increased 12% to $88 million, and marketing and advertising rose 69% to $24 million as Nasdaq invested behind growth and the stronger IPO market.
- Guidance: Nasdaq updated 2026 non-GAAP operating-expense guidance to $2.530 billion-$2.570 billion and maintained its non-GAAP tax-rate range of 22.5%-24.5%.
Recurring solutions growth
The quarter reinforced Nasdaq’s shift toward subscription and technology-led revenue. Solutions revenue grew 17% on both reported and adjusted bases, with Capital Access Platforms revenue up 19% to $621 million and Financial Technology revenue up 16% to $539 million. ARR reached $3.258 billion, supported by double-digit growth in each major Financial Technology subdivision and an 8% increase in Capital Access Platforms ARR.
- ARR mix: Financial Technology ARR increased 16% to $1.870 billion, while Capital Access Platforms ARR rose 8% to $1.388 billion.
- SaaS: Annualized SaaS revenue increased 12% reported and 15% organically, and accounted for 38% of total ARR.
- Sales execution: Financial Technology signed 58 new clients, 7 cross-sells and 107 upsells; cross-sells remained above 15% of the sales pipeline.
- Financial crime technology: Verafin signed 47 new SMB clients and 6 enterprise deals, while 750 clients were using its Agentic Workforce platform.
Index and listings
Capital Access Platforms benefited from an unusually strong index and IPO backdrop. Index revenue rose 38% to $271 million, or 35% on an adjusted basis excluding a $6 million one-time contract-modification benefit. Higher average ETP AUM, volume-based revenue and strong fund flows were the main drivers.
- Index scale: Average ETP AUM tracking Nasdaq indexes reached $1.014 trillion and period-end AUM reached $1.114 trillion, up from $745 billion a year ago.
- Flows: Nasdaq recorded $51 billion of index ETP net inflows in the quarter and $109 billion over the trailing twelve months; it launched 34 new index products.
- Listings: The U.S. listings franchise hosted 26 operating-company IPOs raising more than $105 billion, including SpaceX’s $86 billion offering.
- Franchise strength: Nasdaq won 74% of eligible U.S. operating-company, direct-listing and SPAC opportunities and hosted 7 of the quarter’s 10 largest operating-company IPOs.
Market Services activity
Market Services delivered record quarterly net revenue as elevated industry volumes and stronger cash-equity activity more than offset pressure in some options capture metrics. Net revenue rose 11% to $340 million, with cash-equity trading up 19% to $160 million and U.S. equity-derivatives trading up 8% to $123 million. U.S. tape-plan revenue declined 11% to $33 million because the prior-year period included an industry-wide audit adjustment.
- Cash equities: U.S. industry average daily share volume increased to 20.2 billion from 18.4 billion, while Nasdaq’s matched market share rose to 14.7% from 13.9%.
- Options: U.S. equity-options industry average daily volume increased to 66.5 million from 52.5 million; Nasdaq’s combined matched market share was 29.1% versus 29.4%.
- Execution records: The Closing Cross handled $334 billion of notional value during Russell reconstitution and $296 billion during June Triple Witch.
- Product innovation: Index-options revenue more than doubled year over year for the fourth consecutive quarter, and Nasdaq received approval to launch Nasdaq-100 event options in the fourth quarter.
Cash returns and balance sheet
Strong operating cash generation supported substantial shareholder returns while Nasdaq continued to reduce debt. Quarterly operating cash flow was $711 million, and the company ended June with $520 million of cash and $8.761 billion of total debt obligations. The balance sheet also reflected the wind-down of the Nordic power futures business, which generated an $88 million incremental divestiture gain in the first quarter and reduced clearing-related collateral balances.
- Shareholder returns: Nasdaq paid $174 million of dividends and repurchased $356 million of common stock in the quarter; $2.5 billion remained under the repurchase authorization at June 30.
- Debt: The company net repaid $162 million of debt during the quarter and maintained compliance with all debt covenants.
- Liquidity: Six-month operating cash flow was $1.40 billion, essentially unchanged from $1.409 billion a year ago despite higher shareholder distributions.
- Portfolio actions: Nasdaq agreed to sell Nasdaq Fund Secondaries to Nasdaq Private Market and acquire Dasseti, an AI-powered due-diligence platform to be integrated with eVestment.
