Nasdaq, Inc.

Nasdaq reported third-quarter net revenue of $1.5 billion, up 14% year over year, with solutions revenue of $1.2 billion, up 18%. Diluted EPS was $1.04, up 19%, net income was $588 million, operating margin was 57%, and EBITDA margin was 60%, both up one percentage point from the prior year period. Operating expense was $638 million, up 12%, and ARR rose 14% to $3.4 billion. By segment, Capital Access Platforms revenue was $641 million, up 20%, Financial Technology revenue was $529 million, up 16%, and Market Services net revenue was $309 million, up 2%. For full-year 2026, Nasdaq raised non-GAAP expense guidance to $2.550 billion-$2.580 billion from $2.530 billion-$2.570 billion and kept tax rate guidance at 22.5%-24.5%. Management said LeveL’s revenue contribution for the fourth quarter is expected to be $7 million-$8 million.

Adena Friedman framed the quarter as evidence that Nasdaq is benefiting from structural shifts in markets, including passive investing, direct retail ownership, always-on trading, and AI adoption. She repeatedly positioned the company as a transformation partner and said demand across data, workflow, fintech, and market infrastructure remains strong. Her tone was confident and strategic, especially around tokenization, 23/5 trading, cloud migration, and agentic AI as long-duration opportunities.

Sarah Youngwood highlighted broad-based financial strength, citing diluted EPS growth of 19%, solutions revenue growth of 18%, and ARR growth of 14%. She detailed margins and cash generation, including a 57% operating margin, 60% EBITDA margin, $616 million of quarterly free cash flow, $2.3 billion of free cash flow over the last 12 months, and a 98% conversion ratio. She also noted the company returned nearly $500 million to shareholders in the quarter through a $0.31 per share dividend and $323 million of buybacks, finished with gross leverage of 2.5x, and raised full-year expense guidance due to M&A and stronger year-to-date revenue.

Analysts focused heavily on AI monetization, tokenization, the durability of Fintech and Capital Markets Technology growth, and the implications of cloud migration. Management said AI is driving demand more than immediate upsell expansion right now, but Nasdaq is already seeing 70 paying Verafin clients, over 850 users of agentic workers, and upcharges for data delivered through MCP connectors. On tokenization, Friedman said Nasdaq opposes the SEC’s innovation exemption structure, but sees better commercial opportunity in its own equity token approach, collateral mobility, and partnerships with DTCC, Kraken, and others; she also said some issuers are interested in becoming early adopters.