Investing.com延后改写Nasdaq 2026 Q3财报：Solutions有机增长18%、EPS软超预期，无新增事实

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Introduction & Market Context
Nasdaq Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) presented its third-quarter 2026 results on October 22, delivering its sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit organic growth in Solutions revenue as the company advances its strategic transformation toward higher-margin technology and data businesses. The presentation highlighted net revenue of $1.48 billion, up 14% organically year-over-year, alongside record performances across multiple business segments.
The results, which beat analyst estimates on both earnings per share and revenue, underscore Nasdaq’s positioning at the intersection of several transformative market trends, including artificial intelligence adoption, market tokenization, and the evolution toward always-on trading infrastructure. The company’s stock rose 1.84% in premarket trading to $97.89, approaching its 52-week high of $101.79.
Quarterly Performance Highlights
Nasdaq’s third-quarter performance demonstrated broad-based strength across its three operating divisions. As shown in the following summary of key financial metrics, the company achieved substantial growth in both top-line revenue and bottom-line profitability.
Net revenue reached $1.48 billion, representing 13% reported growth and 14% organic growth year-over-year. Solutions revenue, which comprises the Capital Access Platforms and Financial Technology segments, grew even faster at 18% organically to $1.17 billion, now representing 79% of total net revenue—a three percentage point increase from the prior year period.
The company’s profitability metrics also improved, with non-GAAP operating income rising 16% organically to $843 million and operating margin expanding one percentage point to 57%. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share increased 19% organically to $1.04, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.02.
The following detailed financial breakdown illustrates the performance across Nasdaq’s operating segments and key profitability measures.
Annualized recurring revenue (ARR), a critical metric for assessing the sustainability of Nasdaq’s business model, reached $3.37 billion, up 14% organically year-over-year. Annualized SaaS revenue grew even faster at 16% organically to $1.27 billion, now representing 38% of total ARR.
Revenue Growth Drivers
Nasdaq’s revenue bridge for the quarter reveals the underlying drivers of its 14% organic growth. The company attributed 3.5 percentage points of growth to macro and beta factors, reflecting favorable market conditions and asset price appreciation effects, particularly in its Index business.
The following waterfall chart breaks down the components of Nasdaq’s year-over-year revenue growth.
More significantly, the company generated 10.5 percentage points of "alpha growth" from business-specific factors, including 7.0 percentage points from existing client increases, 5.5 percentage points from new clients, cross-selling and innovation, partially offset by 2.0 percentage points of churn. This alpha-driven growth demonstrates the strength of Nasdaq’s client relationships and product innovation capabilities.
The company’s recurring revenue metrics continued their upward trajectory throughout the year, as illustrated in the following charts showing consistent quarterly progression.
Capital Access Platforms: Record Index Performance
The Capital Access Platforms division delivered exceptional performance with organic revenue growth of 20%, driven primarily by the Index business, which posted 39% organic growth. This surge reflected a record $141 billion of net inflows over the trailing twelve months, including $49 billion in the third quarter alone.
The following chart demonstrates the substantial acceleration in Index ETP net inflows and the corresponding growth in assets under management.
Average ETP AUM reached a record $1.108 trillion in the quarter, up $331 billion year-over-year. This growth was supported by Nasdaq’s leadership position in the listings market, where the company captured 8 of the 10 largest operating company IPOs during the quarter, achieving a 79% quarterly win rate and an 89% year-to-date share of total listings proceeds raised.
The division’s financial performance reflected this operational momentum, as shown in the following detailed breakdown.
Data and Listing Services revenue grew 10% organically to $224 million, driven by new listings, increased data usage, and enterprise license growth of 34% year-over-year. The company attributed this acceleration to international penetration and growing demand for AI-ready data products. Workflow and Insights revenue increased 5% organically to $131 million, with strength in Analytics products including eVestment, which expanded its private markets data coverage by 19% to more than 95,000 private funds.
Financial Technology: Accelerating ARR Growth
The Financial Technology segment achieved record ARR growth and delivered its third consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth across all three subdivisions. Total segment revenue increased 16% organically to $529 million, while ARR surged 18% organically to $1.95 billion.
The following summary highlights the segment’s strong client acquisition and upsell momentum.
During the quarter, Financial Technology signed 54 new clients, executed 5 cross-sells, and completed 135 upsells. Notably, cloud-based solutions accounted for 85% of annual contract value bookings, underscoring the segment’s successful transition to software-as-a-service delivery models.
Financial Crime Management Technology led the segment with 23% organic revenue growth, bolstered by Nasdaq Verafin’s addition of 45 new small-and-medium bank clients and three enterprise deals. The company’s Agentic AI Workforce, which automates anti-money laundering and fraud detection processes, is now deployed across more than 850 client institutions. Two new AI workers—the Agentic AML Analyst and Agentic Fraud Analyst—became generally available during the quarter.
The segment’s financial performance trajectory is illustrated in the following detailed breakdown.
Regulatory Technology delivered its fifth consecutive quarter of accelerating ARR growth, with revenue increasing 13% organically to $123 million. AxiomSL signed an expansion with a Global Systemically Important Bank for a Basel III implementation, demonstrating the platform’s capabilities in complex regulatory compliance scenarios.
Capital Markets Technology grew 14% organically to $303 million, driven by higher client demand and price increases. The division signed two new clients and 48 upsells, and partnered with HSBC to co-develop comprehensive exchange-traded derivatives clearing capabilities in Calypso.
Market Services: Leadership Across Asset Classes
Market Services delivered a record third-quarter net revenue of $309 million, up 2% organically year-over-year, reflecting Nasdaq’s leadership positions across U.S. cash equities, U.S. equity derivatives, and European cash equities markets.
The following chart illustrates Nasdaq’s market share trends and revenue capture rates across key asset classes.
U.S. cash equities delivered particularly strong performance with a near-record capture rate of $0.72 per thousand shares traded, supported by healthy institutional and retail participation. The company maintained its #1 position as the single venue of liquidity for trade-listed U.S. cash equities.
In U.S. equity options, Nasdaq held a 28% market share in multi-listed options and a commanding 75% share in European cash equities markets. While U.S. equity derivatives revenue declined 12% organically to $110 million due to lower capture and share, U.S. cash equities revenue increased 15% organically to $114 million, and European cash equities revenue grew 10% organically to $30 million.
Strategic Initiatives & Market Evolution
Nasdaq’s third-quarter presentation emphasized the company’s strategic positioning for what management describes as an "AI-driven, Always-On future that is increasingly integrated across asset classes and geographies."
The company’s strategic pillars and recent accomplishments are outlined in the following framework.
A key development was the formation of Digital Liquidity Networks (DLN) within Market Services to advance leadership in digital assets and market modernization. Nasdaq also signed an Eqlipse Trading technology deal to power the first 24/7 U.S. equities trading ecosystem, positioning the company at the forefront of the always-on markets trend.
Management highlighted three core strategic themes: enhancing liquidity through market modernization, providing transparency and access to capital markets, and ensuring market integrity through regulatory compliance and financial crime management technology.
Financial Position & Capital Allocation
Nasdaq’s balance sheet and cash flow generation continued to strengthen during the quarter. The company generated $616 million in free cash flow during the third quarter and $2.3 billion over the last twelve months, representing a 98% free cash flow conversion ratio.
The following summary illustrates Nasdaq’s deleveraging progress and capital return activities.
Gross leverage declined to 2.5x at quarter-end from 2.6x in the prior quarter, driven by EBITDA growth of $119 million. Net debt stood at $8.4 billion, with a well-laddered maturity profile and a pre-tax weighted average cost of debt of 3.7%.
The company returned $496 million to shareholders during the quarter through $323 million in share repurchases (3.6 million shares) and $173 million in dividends ($0.31 per share). Year-to-date, Nasdaq repurchased 14.0 million shares for $1.23 billion and paid $653 million in dividends, representing a 30% annualized payout ratio.
Forward-Looking Outlook
Nasdaq raised its 2026 non-GAAP operating expense guidance to $2.55 billion to $2.58 billion from a previous range of $2.53 billion to $2.57 billion, reflecting costs associated with recently closed acquisitions and strong year-to-date revenue performance. The company reiterated its non-GAAP tax rate guidance of 22.5% to 24.5%.
For the medium term (3-5 years), Nasdaq provided organic revenue growth targets of 6-10% for Capital Access Platforms, 10-14% for Financial Technology, and 9-12% for total Solutions revenue. The company expects non-GAAP operating expenses to grow at a slower rate of 5-8%, implying continued operating leverage expansion.
Management emphasized that operating expenses are growing at a 12% organic rate in the third quarter compared to 18% organic Solutions revenue growth and 14% organic net revenue growth, demonstrating the scalability of Nasdaq’s business model as it invests in long-term growth initiatives while maintaining disciplined cost management.
The company’s strategic focus on AI-ready data products, tokenization infrastructure, and always-on market capabilities positions it to capitalize on structural shifts in financial market infrastructure, though execution risk remains as these initiatives are still in early stages of commercialization.
Full presentation:
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