Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.09 EPS

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.09, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. Nasdaq’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from Nasdaq’s conference call:

• Nasdaq reported a strong second quarter with net revenue up 15%, solutions revenue up 17%, and diluted EPS up 25% to $1.07, while operating and EBITDA margins both expanded by two points.
• The company highlighted major milestones in its growth businesses, including index AUM surpassing $1 trillion, record quarterly inflows of $51 billion, and Verafin crossing $13 trillion in combined assets across more than 2,800 financial institutions.
• Capital Access Platforms benefited from a very strong listings environment, led by the SpaceX IPO and other marquee deals, while Nasdaq said the U.S. listings franchise had its strongest first half ever with $111 billion in operating company proceeds raised.
• Financial Technology continued to post robust momentum, with 15% revenue growth and 16% ARR growth; management pointed to strong demand in Verafin, regulatory tech, and capital markets tech, plus growing adoption of its AI-driven tools.
• Management is leaning into AI, tokenization, always-on markets, and 24/7 trading as long-term opportunities, but it also warned that these areas are still early and may require significant regulatory and infrastructure changes before they materially scale.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $92.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $52.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.99. Nasdaq has a 12 month low of $76.55 and a 12 month high of $101.79. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 37.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on NDAQ shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $113.00 target price (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price target on Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.73.

Nasdaq News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Nasdaq this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Nasdaq delivered a solid Q2 beat on both earnings and revenue, with strong growth in index and FinTech driving better-than-expected results and record Market Services performance. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, which may appeal to income-focused investors and signals continued shareholder returns. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted its price target to $102, indicating improved valuation expectations even though the rating remained market perform. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Nasdaq’s July short-interest report showed 0 shares short and a 0.0-day days-to-cover figure, which appears more like a data anomaly than a meaningful trading signal. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also ended its Miami case and sold its fund secondaries business, a portfolio move that may be viewed as strategic housekeeping rather than a major earnings driver. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total transaction of $1,408,258.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 215,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,530,126. This represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor purchased 56,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,439,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,369,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $521,517,000 after buying an additional 324,743 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 210,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,392,000 after acquiring an additional 45,705 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,270,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,368,000 after purchasing an additional 37,858 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its stake in Nasdaq by 72.0% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 4,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 150,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,554,000 after buying an additional 17,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.