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Nasdaq, Inc. NDAQ

NasdaqExchanges and financial dataFinancials to Sep 30, 2026 · Updated Nov 11, 2026

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NDAQ financials
Moat score
73
ROIC
10.7%
P/E
29.3
EV/EBIT
25.4
FCF yield
3.7%
Dividend yield
1.1%
Market cap
$61.0B

Moat ranks

Score rankTied #222 of 396
Durabilitydurable
Market structureOligopoly
Pricing powermoderate

Balance sheet

9/30/26
$BDec 31Sep 30
Cash0.60.4
Securities0.00.0
Restricted cash0.20.2
Debt9.08.7
Net cash-8.4-8.4
Equity12.212.0
Leverage
Debt / EBITDA
2.58×
Debt / equity
0.73×
Leases (9/30/26)
$555M
Capital
Diluted shares
563M
Book value / share
$21.30
Price / book
5.1×
Net cash / share
−$14.87
Market cap
$61.0B
Enterprise value
$69.4B

Per-share record

Fiscal years and TTM
Scale
$0$5$10$15$20'16'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'2414.28'2516.31TTM
Revenue per shareCash flow per share

Key indicators

Latest: Q3 '26
IndicatorLatestVs year agoLast 8 quarters
Revenue growth22.2%+19.3 pts
Operating margin30.6%+0.7 pts
FCF margin19.2%+11.4 pts
Capex / revenue2.6%-0.9 pts
U.S. cash-equity matched share14.5%+0.4 pts
U.S. equity-options matched share28.1%-0.4 pts
Index ETP assets$1.16T+40%
Index ETP net inflows$141.0B+55%
Licensed index ETPs487+11%

Margins and growth from reported quarters; company KPIs as reported in results releases.

About NDAQ

Nasdaq combines regulated exchanges, listings, indexes, and financial-technology software. Its advantages are established compliance operations and liquidity networks, issuer preference shown by a 74% Q2 operating-company listing win rate, the Nasdaq-100 benchmark ecosystem, and implementation friction in Calypso workflows.

Revenue mix
Capital Access Platforms 40.7%Financial Technology 35.2%Market Services 22.9%
  • Compliance Advantage

    Nasdaq must maintain exchange registration, surveillance, rule enforcement and reliable systems.

  • Two Sided Network

    Liquidity attracts order flow and market makers; order flow in turn attracts more participants.

  • Brand Trust

    Issuer brand and distribution help Nasdaq win listings (especially growth/tech) and support recurring listing-related fees and issuer services attach.

  • De Facto Standard

    Nasdaq-branded indices (especially the Nasdaq-100 ecosystem) are widely used benchmarks for ETPs, supporting durable licensing and data demand.

Timeline
  1. Oct 2026

    Nasdaq completed the LeveL Markets acquisition, adding an alternative trading system with more than 2,500 buy-side and sell-side clients and broadening its off-exchange liquidity reach.

  2. Sep 24, 2026

    Nasdaq opened onboarding for dedicated overnight market-data feeds ahead of its planned December 6 extended-hours launch, giving customers time to connect and test the new session.

  3. Sep 17, 2026

    The SEC granted conditional relief for tokenized-stock venues and their liquidity providers, creating a new regulated entry path that can compete with established exchanges.

  4. Sep 15, 2026

    Nasdaq Verafin partnered with Stablecore to combine bank and digital-asset transaction monitoring. The beta integration is planned for Q4 2026 and Q1 2027 rollout; no contract value or revenue was disclosed.

  5. Sep 2, 2026

    Nasdaq completed the Dasseti acquisition, adding AI due diligence and monitoring to eVestment. The price was not disclosed.

Ownership

To 10/6/26
CEO
Adena Friedman
Since 2017 · 9 yrs
Professional CEOSingle share class
Insider trades63
Planned sales20

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Financial record

Fiscal year2016201720182019202020212022202320242025TTMTrendChange 2016–25
Per share ($)
Revenue7.317.768.508.5011.2311.6512.5111.9312.7814.2816.31+7.7%/yr
Cash flow1.531.792.041.922.502.143.433.343.353.904.52+10.9%/yr
Earnings0.211.430.911.551.862.352.262.081.933.093.70+34.9%/yr
Free cash flow1.271.501.821.672.121.823.123.032.993.444.01+11.7%/yr
Capex0.260.280.220.250.380.320.310.310.360.460.51+6.3%/yr
Dividends0.390.480.560.610.640.690.770.870.931.041.16+11.3%/yr
Book value10.7211.5610.8311.2612.8512.6612.3521.2719.3221.1321.30+7.8%/yr
Diluted shares (M)506509503501501505498508579579563+1.5%/yr
Totals ($B)
Revenue3.73.94.34.35.65.96.26.17.48.39.2+9.3%/yr
Operating income0.81.01.01.01.21.41.61.61.82.32.7+12.1%/yr
Net income0.10.70.50.80.91.21.11.11.11.82.1+36.9%/yr
Free cash flow0.60.80.90.81.10.91.61.51.72.02.3+13.4%/yr
Buybacks0.10.20.40.20.20.50.30.30.10.61.5+22.4%/yr
Dividends0.20.20.30.30.30.40.40.40.50.60.7+13.0%/yr
Net cash-3.2-3.8-3.3-3.1-2.8-5.4-4.9-10.0-8.9-8.4-8.4−$5.2B
Margins & returns (%)
Gross margin61.461.159.159.551.658.157.564.262.863.562.9+2.1 pts
Operating margin22.625.124.023.921.924.525.126.024.328.229.7+5.6 pts
Net margin2.918.510.718.216.620.218.117.515.121.622.7+18.8 pts
FCF margin17.319.421.419.618.915.625.025.423.424.124.6+6.7 pts
ROIC7.78.19.49.310.79.711.36.07.19.010.7+1.3 pts
Return on equity2.012.48.413.714.518.618.39.810.014.617.4+12.7 pts
Stock pay % of revenue2.31.81.61.91.51.51.72.01.92.01.9-0.3 pts
Capex % of revenue3.63.62.63.03.32.82.42.62.83.23.1-0.4 pts

Change uses 2016 and 2025 only: compound annual growth for amounts, points for margins and returns, and the change in amount for net cash. A dash means no 2016 base. Trend shows the fiscal years.

TTM = four quarters to Sep 30, 2026. Per-share values use diluted weighted shares.ROIC = operating income × (1 − 20.3% tax rate, the company's own over three fiscal years excluding one-offs) ÷ (equity + debt − cash and current securities). Returns show a dash when their base is negative or under 10% of revenue. Free cash flow = operating cash flow − capex. Debt is all borrowings; net cash counts long-term securities and excludes leases.

Moat

Moat scorecard

Moat score73
Strength
Confidence
Structure
Oligopoly
Durability
durable
Trajectory
narrowing
Pricing power
moderate
Segments
  • Market Services22.9%
    2 claims
  • Capital Access Platforms40.7%
    2 claims
  • Financial Technology35.2%
    1 claim

Moat claims

Applies to
Market Services
Confidence
Durability
durable
Trajectory
narrowingas of Oct 6, 2026
Why it holds

Nasdaq must maintain exchange registration, surveillance, rule enforcement and reliable systems. That operating burden slows entry, but its SEC registration is not an exclusive concession: other exchanges and alternative venues compete for the same orders.

Why narrowing

The SEC granted conditional relief for tokenized-stock venues in September 2026. Compliance remains costly, but this new entry path weakens the protection offered by exchange registration.

Indicators
  • Regulatory operating expense$11M-8%
Risks
  • Regulatory changes to market structure or fee models
  • License penalties/sanctions from compliance failures
  • Policy shifts that favor alternative trading systems

Profile change log

  1. Nov 11, 2026 · business change

    Nasdaq completed the LeveL Markets acquisition, adding an alternative trading system with more than 2,500 buy-side and sell-side clients and broadening its off-exchange liquidity reach.

  2. Oct 6, 2026 · analyst revision

    The listing win-rate series now follows the new operating-company definition, including direct listings and SPAC combinations. Approximate recast annual rates and separate quarterly rates show issuer choice without mixing the old IPO denominator.

  3. Oct 6, 2026 · business change

    Nasdaq opened onboarding for dedicated overnight market-data feeds ahead of its planned December 6 extended-hours launch, giving customers time to connect and test the new session.

  4. Oct 6, 2026 · business change

    Nasdaq Verafin partnered with Stablecore to combine bank and digital-asset transaction monitoring. The beta integration is planned for Q4 2026 and Q1 2027 rollout; no contract value or revenue was disclosed.

  5. Oct 6, 2026 · analyst revision

    The FY2025 revenue series uses the original quarterly statement presentation consistently with the annual report. Newer comparative reclassifications are documented separately. The $27 million former-Adenza-employee tax benefit stays in reported earnings because its size does not materially change the quarter's operating earnings.

  6. Oct 6, 2026 · analyst revision

    Nasdaq reports R&D investment but no separate expense amount, so the unsupported zero is removed. Restricted cash now includes the securities identified as regulatory capital, keeping them separate from money available to shareholders. Fiscal-year segment weights use FY2025 net revenue; profit shares that excluded Corporate costs are removed.

  7. Oct 6, 2026 · business change

    The SEC granted conditional relief for tokenized-stock venues and their liquidity providers, creating a new regulated entry path that can compete with established exchanges.

  8. Oct 6, 2026 · business change

    Nasdaq completed the Dasseti acquisition, adding AI due diligence and monitoring to eVestment. The price was not disclosed.

  9. Oct 6, 2026 · business change

    Nasdaq raised its 2026 adjusted operating-expense guidance to $2.530 billion to $2.570 billion as strong revenue raised compensation and IPO marketing costs.

  10. Oct 6, 2026 · business change

    Nasdaq Private Market acquired Nasdaq Fund Secondaries, concentrating private secondary-market execution in a separately owned platform; Nasdaq retains a minority stake.

  11. Oct 6, 2026 · business change

    Nasdaq stopped providing commodities clearing and trading services, reducing its exposure to Nordic power-market default risk as the business winds down.

  12. Oct 6, 2026 · business change

    Nasdaq completed the migration of Nordic power-futures positions, earning an additional $88 million divestiture gain and moving toward a release of regulatory capital.

  13. Oct 6, 2026 · business change

    Nasdaq sold Solovis, reducing its portfolio-monitoring software scope; historical revenue is presented in Other to preserve comparisons.

  14. Oct 6, 2026 · business change

    Nasdaq announced the AxiomSL switch to recognizing on-premises subscription revenue over the contract term, including a $32 million Q3 catch-up reduction that changes the timing of software earnings.

  15. Oct 6, 2026 · business change

    Nasdaq bought Adenza for $9.984 billion, including cash and stock, adding Calypso and AxiomSL while increasing debt, amortization and share count.

  16. Oct 6, 2026 · analyst revision

    Moat trajectories, the investment debate and management record now distinguish benchmark inflows, exchange share and software adoption from market-cycle gains. Capital Access Platforms links to index licensing, its largest Q2 revenue business; listings and workflow data remain separate opportunities.

  17. Oct 6, 2026 · analyst revision

    Exchange registration is a compliance barrier, not an exclusive concession. The legal claim changes from concession licence strength 5 to compliance advantage strength 3; liquidity protection remains separate. The listing win rate moves to an operating KPI because it is not a share of all listings.

Industry & peers

Peer map

0%10%20%30%40%50%60708090100Moat scoreIndustry medianNDAQICECBOEMSCISSNCORCL

Hover a point for its values; click a peer to compare. Dashed lines: industry medians.

Investment indices and benchmarks

As of Oct 7, 2026
OligopolyMedium cyclicalityUSD 7B in 2025

Global providers of investable financial indices, benchmark licences and related index services across asset classes. Market size is provider revenue, not assets tracking the indices.

  1. FTSE Russell
  2. MSCI
  3. Bloomberg Indices
  4. ICE
  5. Nasdaq
  6. ISS STOXX
2025 leaders, no comparable shares · Burton-Taylor Index Industry Benchmark Report 2026
StocksMoatGross m.Op. m.
NDAQ7362.9%29.7%
Industry median178262.9%41.6%
Sector median497361.5%35.0%
All stocks median3987653.1%20.0%

Moat medians cover every stock. Margin medians count only stocks with collected numbers and need at least three.

Drivers & risks

Demand drivers
  • Passive investing, new ETFs and customised mandates expand benchmark adoption.
  • Rising asset prices and net fund inflows enlarge the base for asset-linked fees; derivatives volatility can raise transaction royalties.
  • Mandates, product documents and investor expectations make established benchmarks costly to replace.
  • Interest-rate changes can shift money between equity, bond and cash products; fee growth depends on which benchmark families attract the flows. Currency translation changes provider revenue even when underlying fund adoption is unchanged.
Risks
  • Falling markets reduce asset-linked income even if existing clients stay.
  • Large fund issuers can negotiate lower fees, use competing families or create their own benchmarks.
  • Regulatory requirements, methodology disputes and index errors can damage trust and increase compliance cost.
  • New products have no incumbent benchmark, so established adoption does not guarantee new launches.

Bulls & bears

Key question · as of Nov 11, 2026

Can Nasdaq sustain software renewals and index inflows while reducing Adenza debt, without relying on rising technology-stock prices or unusually active trading?

Arguments

3 forFaded: weakening or settled3 against

What to watch

  1. 1Capital Markets Technology ARR and organic growth
  2. 2Financial Technology renewals, new clients, cross-sells and upsells
  3. 3Index ETP net inflows separately from market appreciation
  4. 4U.S. matched cash-equity and equity-options share
  5. 5Operating-company listing win rate on an unchanged eligibility basis
  6. 6Debt, interest expense and operating cash flow

Next check: Review Q4 and FY2026 results when announced and the planned December 6, 2026 23/5 trading start.

Sources: company filings and dated sources collected for Find My Moat; market cap as of Nov 10, 2026. Not investment advice.

Cite or reuse this data

Free to reuse, commercially too, with a credit link. See the data license.

Moat Score 73/100 by <a href="https://www.findmymoat.com/stocks/XNAS:NDAQ">Find My Moat</a> (as of September 2026)

Curation & Accuracy

This directory blends AI‑assisted discovery with human curation. Entries are reviewed, edited, and organized with the goal of expanding coverage and sharpening quality over time. Your feedback helps steer improvements (because no single human can capture everything all at once).

Details change. Pricing, features, and availability may be incomplete or out of date. Treat listings as a starting point and verify on the provider’s site before making decisions. If you spot an error or a gap, send a quick note and I’ll adjust.