At a glance
Nasdaq Inc is worth $60.28B, about 35 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 11.6% to $8.26B in fiscal 2025, with 21.6% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 8.0% a year. It pays a 1.07% dividend yield, raised every year for at least 9 years, and returned $4.12B to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +28.7% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +10.6% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 37.1% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 29.6% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 2 months and 6 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
Nasdaq, Inc. runs stock and options exchanges and sells the data, index licenses and software that financial markets rely on. The largest of its three segments, Market Services, earns revenue from trading on its exchanges and from clearing (processing and settling trades). Its revenue therefore rises and falls with market activity. It produced 51% of Nasdaq's $8.26 billion of revenue in 2025.
Capital Access Platforms (25.9% of revenue) serves listed companies and investors. Companies pay to list their shares. As of December 31, 2025, 4,480 companies were listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market and 5,599 across its U.S., Nordic and Baltic markets. The segment also sells market data such as Nasdaq TotalView and licenses Nasdaq indexes to fund issuers. It offers tools like the eVestment research platform for institutional investors and Boardvantage for corporate boards. On the same date, 451 exchange-traded products tracked a Nasdaq index, with $882 billion in assets, 73% of it tied to the Nasdaq-100.
Financial Technology (22.4%) sells software to financial institutions and market operators for spotting financial crime, meeting regulatory reporting rules and running trading marketplaces. Nasdaq built up its technology business through acquisitions, including Verafin in 2021 and Adenza, with its AxiomSL and Calypso products, in 2023. By region, the United States supplied 72% of 2025 revenue and other countries 28%.
Price history
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NDAQ +28.7% over the year to Nov 2, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By business segment
| Market Services | $4.21B | 51% |
| Capital Access Platforms | $2.14B | 25.9% |
| Financial Technology | $1.85B | 22.4% |
By geography
| United States | $5.95B | 72% |
| All other countries | $2.31B | 28% |
Latest results
- In Q3 FY2026 (ended Sep 30, 2026), revenue was $2.39B, up 20.9% from a year earlier, and net income was $540.0M (+27.7%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $8.26B (+11.6% year over year; +8.0% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 21.6% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +8.0% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 28.2% good |
| Free cash flow margin | 24.1% good |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 14.6% watch |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 5.8% watch |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $5.63B | $933.0M | $1.06B |
| FY2021 | $5.89B | $1.19B | $920.0M |
| FY2022 | $6.23B | $1.13B | $1.55B |
| FY2023 | $6.06B | $1.06B | $1.54B |
| FY2024 | $7.40B | $1.12B | $1.73B |
| FY2025 | $8.26B | $1.79B | $1.99B |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $60.28B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 35.2 |
| Dividend yield | 1.07% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Nasdaq’s market value went from $11.09B at the end of 2016 to $60.28B on Nov 2, 2026, about 5.4 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is up 9%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2, 2026 | $60.28B | +8.7% |
| 2025 | $55.46B | +24.8% |
| 2024 | $44.43B | +32.5% |
| 2023 | $33.54B | +11.3% |
| 2022 | $30.14B | -14.2% |
| 2021 | $35.12B | +61.3% |
| 2020 | $21.77B | +24.0% |
| 2019 | $17.56B | +31.3% |
| 2018 | $13.37B | +4.7% |
| 2017 | $12.77B | +15.2% |
| 2016 | $11.09B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NDAQ price data to Nov 2, 2026 | +13.0% | +28.7% | +31.4% | +10.6% | +19.6% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +12.9% |
| 2025 | +27.2% |
| 2024 | +34.9% |
| 2023 | -3.7% |
| 2022 | -11.2% |
| 2021 | +60.1% |
| 2020 | +26.1% |
| 2019 | +33.9% |
| 2018 | +8.2% |
| 2017 | +16.8% |
| 2016 | +17.5% |
| 2015 | +23.4% |
| 2014 | +22.2% |
| 2013 | +61.8% |
| 2012 | +3.7% |
| 2011 | +3.3% |
| 2010 | +19.7% |
| 2009 | -19.8% |
| 2008 | -50.1% |
| 2007 | +60.7% |
| 2006 | -12.5% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 53% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 68.5%, back to its old high 72.9 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 36.5% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 37.1%, back to its old high 2.1 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 13.8% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 29.6%, back to its old high 6.2 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-30 to 2026-10-30 (25 read): 1 open-market purchases ($4.9M) and 17 sales ($8.0M), 8 of them under pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans.
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 11, 2026 | Ab Investor 10% owner | buy | $4.9M |
| Jul 24, 2026 | Bradley J Peterson EVP, CIO | sell | $1.2M |
| Oct 23, 2026 | Cohen Tal Pres. Market Platforms | sell | $1.1M |
| Jul 29, 2026 | PC Nelson Griggs Pres. Capital Access Platforms | sell | $1.1M |
| Jul 27, 2026 | PC Nelson Griggs Pres. Capital Access Platforms | sell | $1.0M |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| Vanguard Capital Management | 6.29% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| BlackRock, Inc. | 6.2% | Sep 30, 2026 |
| Wellington Management Group LLP | 5.4% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Massachusetts Financial Services Company | 4.1% | Jun 30, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in NDAQ
| BCDF Horizon Kinetics Blockchain Development ETF | 4.78% |
| IAI iShares U.S. Broker-Dealers & Securities Exchanges ETF | 3.85% |
| AIVL WisdomTree U.S. AI Enhanced Value Fund | 2.01% |
| SRHQ SRH U.S. Quality GARP ETF | 1.89% |
| KCE SPDR S&P Capital Markets ETF | 1.72% |
| RSPF Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Financials ETF | 1.37% |
| CHGX Stance Sustainable Beta ETF | 0.96% |
| SPLV Invesco S&P 500® Low Volatility ETF | 0.88% |
What could go wrong
- Half of revenue rides on trading activity. Market Services, 51% of fiscal 2025 revenue, depends on trading and clearing activity. Lower volumes, lost market share to rival exchanges or problems among its relatively few financial-industry customers would cut revenue.
- Index fees hinge on the Nasdaq-100. Many license fees depend on assets in funds tracking Nasdaq indexes. Nasdaq-100 funds held 73% of the $882 billion tracking its indexes at December 31, 2025, so a market slump could shrink these fees.
- Running markets while also regulating them. Nasdaq oversees trading on its exchanges while running them for profit, which can create conflicts. Rule changes affecting market structure or its market-data business could cut revenue, and compliance failures can bring fines.
- A prime target for cyberattacks and outages. As a central market operator, Nasdaq faces higher cyberattack risk. A breach or system failure could disrupt trading, expose client data, draw regulatory fines and damage trust in its exchanges and software.
- Fewer listings when economies weaken. Weak economies can mean fewer initial public offerings (IPOs), more delistings and fewer data subscribers as financial firms cut staff. IPOs rose in 2025 from 2024, but Nasdaq says that may not continue.
- Sizable debt and acquisition risk. Nasdaq had $8.74 billion of debt and $516 million of cash as of September 30, 2026. That leverage limits flexibility, and acquired businesses such as Adenza could disappoint, forcing write-downs of what Nasdaq paid.
Recent events
- Executive or board change
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement; Other company announcement
- Major agreement signed; Major agreement ended; New debt or financial obligation
- Shareholder vote results
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement; Other company announcement
- Bylaws or fiscal year changed
- Other company announcement
- Other company announcement
For income and retirement investors
Nasdaq pays a modest, rising dividend and has raised it at least nine years in a row through fiscal 2025. Regular dividends grew from $0.65 a share in fiscal 2020 to $1.05 in fiscal 2025, about 10% a year. The fiscal 2025 dividend used 33.6% of earnings and 30.2% of free cash flow (cash left after running and investing in the business). The yield was 1.1% as of October 28, 2026, which is low for income seekers. Buybacks (share repurchases) totaled $1.8 billion over fiscal 2021–2025, yet the share count rose 10.6% from October 2021 to October 2026.
The stock has fallen hard in crashes. It dropped 68.5% between December 2007 and November 2008 and did not recover until December 2014. It fell 37.1% in the 2020 COVID crash but recovered in about two months. It fell 29.6% from January to May 2022 before recovering that November. Single stocks carry more risk than diversified funds that spread money across many companies.
Questions investors ask
How does Nasdaq make money?
Nasdaq makes money from three businesses. Market Services earns revenue from trading and clearing on its exchanges and brought in 51% of the $8.26 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue. Capital Access Platforms (25.9%) charges listing fees, sells market data and licenses indexes such as the Nasdaq-100. Financial Technology (22.4%) sells software for fighting financial crime, regulatory reporting and running marketplaces. The United States supplied 72% of revenue.
Does Nasdaq raise its dividend every year?
Yes, at least through fiscal 2025. Nasdaq has raised its regular dividend in each of at least nine straight years, and the streak may be longer. Dividends per share rose from $0.65 in fiscal 2020 to $1.05 in fiscal 2025, about 10% a year. The yield was 1.1% as of October 28, 2026. The board decides each payment, and Nasdaq says future dividends are not guaranteed.
Is buying Nasdaq stock the same as investing in the Nasdaq-100?
No. The ticker NDAQ is a single company, Nasdaq, Inc., which runs exchanges and sells data and software. The Nasdaq-100 is an index of the top 100 non-financial companies listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market. Nasdaq, Inc. develops the index and licenses it to fund issuers. As of December 31, 2025, funds tracking Nasdaq-100 core indexes held $640 billion, and Nasdaq earns license fees that can depend on those assets.
Is Nasdaq's business growing?
Revenue has grown, though not every year. Sales rose from $5.63 billion in fiscal 2020 to $8.26 billion in fiscal 2025, about 8% a year, with a dip in fiscal 2023. Fiscal 2025 revenue grew 11.6%, and net income jumped 60.1% to $1.79 billion. In the quarter ended September 30, 2026, revenue was $2.39 billion, up 20.9% from a year earlier, and net income rose 27.7%.
How has Nasdaq stock performed over the long term?
Over the 10 years to October 28, 2026, Nasdaq's share price rose about 19.2% a year, though with deep drops along the way. The five-year figure was 10.4% a year and the one-year gain 21.6%. The stock lost 68.5% in the 2008 financial crisis and fell as much as 23.4% in the 12 months to that date. Its price-to-earnings ratio was 34.2, meaning investors paid about $34 for each $1 of fiscal 2025 earnings.