Nasdaq Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) shares rose Thursday after the exchange operator reported first-quarter 2026 results that exceeded Wall Street expectations.
Revenue increased 14% year over year to $1.407 billion, topping the analyst consensus estimate of $1.372 billion. Adjusted earnings were 96 cents per share, above estimates of 93 cents. Annualized recurring revenue rose 13% to $3.2 billion.
Solutions revenue climbed 14% to $1.08 billion, while Market Services net revenue increased 13% to $317 million. Financial Technology revenue rose 20% to $517 million, and Index revenue gained 14% to $220 million.
Operating cash flow totaled $689 million for the quarter. Cash and equivalents stood at $515 million as of March 31, 2026. Nasdaq returned $153 million to shareholders through dividends and repurchased $548 million of common stock.
The company raised its quarterly dividend to 31 cents per share from 27 cents.
Earnings Call Highlights
Nasdaq executives said the company entered 2026 with strong momentum, driven by broad client demand, record growth in financial technology, and rising activity across its core platforms.
CEO Adena Friedman said the company delivered “one of the strongest starts to the year in the company’s history”, with net revenue rising 13% to $1.4 billion, operating income up 17% to $799 million, diluted EPS up 21%, and annualized recurring revenue up 12% to $3.2 billion.
She pointed to Financial Technology, Capital Access, Market Services, AI-related client demand, always-on markets, tokenization, and infrastructure modernization as major growth drivers.
She also said Nasdaq remains encouraged by IPO engagement, improving second-quarter inflows in index products, and strong momentum in businesses like Verafin, AxiomSL, surveillance, and market technology.
CFO Sarah Youngwood said Nasdaq paired that growth with disciplined execution, delivering 57% operating margins, 60% EBITDA margins, and $629 million in first-quarter free cash flow.
She added that the company returned more than $700 million to shareholders through dividends and buybacks, maintained leverage at 2.8x, and modestly raised its full-year expense guidance due to stronger-than-expected revenue performance.
Youngwood also highlighted strong bookings, especially in cloud-based products, and said Nasdaq’s results show it has built a durable, profitable growth engine across market cycles.
2026 Outlook
For 2026, Nasdaq increased its adjusted operating expense outlook to $2.485 billion to $2.545 billion, up from a prior forecast of $2.455 billion to $2.535 billion. The company reiterated its adjusted tax rate guidance of 22.5% to 24.5%.
NDAQ Price Action: Nasdaq shares were up 1.81% at $87.93 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data
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