Nasdaq, Inc. · NDAQ · FY2026 Q1 · Calendar Q2 2026
Nasdaq Q1 2026: net revenue +13% to $1.4B, EPS $0.96 beats on AI-led growth
Nasdaq's Q1 2026 results describe a business compounding on AI-led, high-margin growth. Net revenue rose 13% YoY to $1.4B with EPS and revenue both beating consensus, and management said AI- and cloud-based solutions now account for 80% of ACV bookings toward a $100M expense-efficiency target by 2027. The narrative extends to new revenue avenues: always-on 24/5 market infrastructure launching December 6, 2026, outcome-oriented options, and tokenized securities after FCC approval, alongside record index and data licensing growth (partnerships with BlackRock, State Street, Invesco). Capital return is active ($548M buybacks, a $0.04 dividend increase) and the tone is confident. Key risks are regulatory timing for tokenization and always-on trading and a mix shift in derivative volumes.
Earnings scorecard
Reported versus consensusMarket reaction
prior-close to event-session closeAsk FN2 about NDAQ FY2026 Q1
Transcript, numbers and history already loadedFree account. Your question opens in FN2 with this report's transcript and numbers attached.
Transcript intelligence
What changed
Versus the prior quarter (a record $5.2B 2025, +12% YoY, with record index inflows and a credit-rating upgrade), Q1 2026 shows continued acceleration: net revenue reached $1.4B, up 13% YoY, with EPS beating consensus, operating margin expanding to 57%, and record 18%/20% growth in Financial Technology and Capital Markets technology. New formal commitments were added — a $100M expense-efficiency target by 2027, always-on 24/5 trading on December 6, 2026, and a Nasdaq equity token design with expected benefits in H1 2027 — while the dividend was raised $0.04 and $548M of stock was repurchased.
Guidance delta
Maintained. Management reaffirmed its outlook with a confident tone, flagging no change to full-year targets. New forward commitments include always-on (24/5) market operations effective December 6, 2026, growth of the agentic AI workforce, and Nasdaq equity token design with benefits expected in H1 2027.
Key takeaways
- Net revenue rose 13% YoY to $1.4B; EPS of $0.96 beat consensus by roughly 3.2%, with revenue beating by about 2.6%
- Operating margin expanded to 57%
- AI- and cloud-based solutions now represent 80% of ACV bookings, underpinning a $100M expense-efficiency target by 2027
- Financial Technology revenue grew 18% and Capital Markets technology grew 20%, both record levels
- Dividend increased by $0.04 per share and $548M of share repurchases were executed in Q1
- New growth avenues: always-on 24/5 markets, outcome-oriented options, and tokenized securities after FCC approval
Management priorities
- Scale AI-enabled analytics and automation (agentic AI) across client solutions
- Advance tokenization with a Nasdaq equity token design targeting benefits in H1 2027
- Roll out always-on (24/5) market operations on December 6, 2026
- Expand index product licensing through partnerships with BlackRock, State Street, and Invesco
- Grow international data licensing, especially in Asia, the Middle East, and EMEA
- Drive a $100M expense-efficiency program by 2027 while returning capital via dividends and buybacks
Follow NDAQ with an agent that reads every filing, transcript, and price print. Free to start.
Try FN2 freeEarnings History
Analyst 52W Price Targets
Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Sep 25, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.
Firm-level rating actions
FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.
| Firm | Rating | Prior rating | Action | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TD Cowen | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 24, 2026 |
| Keefe, Bruyette & Woods | Market Perform | Market Perform | Maintain | Jul 24, 2026 |
| Barclays | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 24, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 10, 2026 |
| Raymond James | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jul 9, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jan 30, 2026 |
| JP Morgan | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jan 30, 2026 |
| UBS | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jan 12, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Aug 4, 2025 |
| Deutsche Bank | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 25, 2025 |
| Oppenheimer | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jul 15, 2025 |
| Goldman Sachs | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 2, 2025 |
| Citigroup | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Apr 8, 2025 |
| B of A Securities | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Apr 2, 2025 |
| Argus Research | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Nov 5, 2024 |
| Rosenblatt | Neutral | Buy | Downgrade | May 8, 2024 |
| Credit Suisse | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Jan 30, 2023 |
| Redburn Partners | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Nov 14, 2022 |
| Atlantic Equities | Neutral | Overweight | Downgrade | Aug 19, 2022 |
| Loop Capital | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Oct 9, 2020 |
| Wells Fargo | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 10, 2020 |
| Compass Point | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Apr 6, 2020 |
| Bernstein | Perform | Market Perform | Maintain | Apr 10, 2018 |
| Bank of America | Underperform | Underperform | Maintain | Feb 1, 2018 |
| Jefferies | Hold | Hold | Maintain | Jul 17, 2017 |
| CLSA | Buy | Outperform | Maintain | Dec 5, 2016 |
| Keefe Bruyette & Woods | Market Perform | Market Perform | Maintain | Jul 28, 2016 |
| Sterne Agee CRT | Buy | Buy | Maintain | May 20, 2016 |
| Buckingham Research | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Apr 27, 2016 |
| Portales Partners | Sector Perform | Outperform | Downgrade | Apr 24, 2015 |
| Evercore Partners | Overweight | Equal Weight | Upgrade | Jul 14, 2014 |
| Evercore ISI Group | Overweight | Equal Weight | Upgrade | Jul 14, 2014 |
| ISI Group | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Feb 12, 2013 |
| Stifel | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jan 15, 2013 |
| BMO Capital | Market Perform | Market Perform | Maintain | Jul 13, 2012 |
| Stifel Nicolaus | Buy | Buy | Maintain | May 11, 2012 |
Named analyst price targets
Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $93.55. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.
| Firm | Analyst | 52W target | Price when posted | Upside | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morgan Stanley | Michael Cyprys | $120 | $91.56 | +28.3% | Jul 24, 2026 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $111 | $90.42 | +18.7% | Jul 24, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $112 | $88.81 | +19.7% | Jul 10, 2026 |
| Raymond James | Patrick O'Shaughnessy | $113 | $86.1 | +20.8% | Jul 9, 2026 |
| Redburn Partners | Simon Clinch | $110 | $86.72 | +17.6% | Jun 11, 2026 |
| Loop Capital Markets | Analyst unavailable | $113 | $87.04 | +20.8% | Apr 24, 2026 |
| Raymond James | Patrick O\'Shaughnessy | $109 | $83.99 | +16.5% | Feb 25, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Michael Cyprys | $116 | $98.42 | +24.0% | Jan 30, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $113 | $100.91 | +20.8% | Jan 15, 2026 |
| UBS | Alex Kramm | $120 | $99.37 | +28.3% | Jan 12, 2026 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $115 | $100.4 | +22.9% | Jan 8, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $111 | $95.36 | +18.7% | Dec 22, 2025 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $114 | $93.86 | +21.9% | Dec 12, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $110 | $86.02 | +17.6% | Nov 20, 2025 |
| Barclays | Benjamin Budish | $109 | $90.33 | +16.5% | Oct 22, 2025 |
| Raymond James | Patrick O'Shaughnessy | $100 | $88.9 | +6.9% | Oct 13, 2025 |
| RBC Capital | Analyst unavailable | $108 | $90.14 | +15.4% | Oct 9, 2025 |
| Barclays | Benjamin Budish | $108 | $88.44 | +15.4% | Oct 8, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $90 | $87.1 | -3.8% | Oct 1, 2025 |
| Raymond James | Patrick O'Shaughnessy | $96 | $89.58 | +2.6% | Jul 9, 2025 |
| Oppenheimer | Owen Lau | $96 | $85.95 | +2.6% | Jun 17, 2025 |
| Raymond James | Patrick O'Shaughnessy | $84 | $76.36 | -10.2% | Jan 9, 2025 |
| Raymond James | Patrick O'Shaughnessy | $82 | $71.62 | -12.3% | Oct 14, 2024 |
| RBC Capital | Ashish Sabadra | $88 | $72.56 | -5.9% | Sep 26, 2024 |
| Morgan Stanley | Joseph Moore | $55 | $73.51 | -41.2% | Sep 4, 2024 |
| Bank of America Securities | Craig Siegenthaler | $90 | $71.39 | -3.8% | Sep 4, 2024 |
| Oppenheimer | Owen Lau | $78 | $69.15 | -16.6% | Jul 30, 2024 |
| Argus Research | Kevin Heal | $66 | $60.62 | -29.4% | May 14, 2024 |
| Oppenheimer | Owen Lau | $72 | $63.06 | -23.0% | Apr 12, 2024 |
| Barclays | Benjamin Budish | $76 | $63.01 | -18.8% | Apr 11, 2024 |
| Morgan Stanley | Michael Cyprys | $80 | $62.14 | -14.5% | Apr 9, 2024 |
| Deutsche Bank | Brian Bedell | $60 | $61.06 | -35.9% | Apr 5, 2024 |
| Goldman Sachs | Alexander Blostein | $73 | $61.06 | -22.0% | Mar 26, 2024 |
| Rosenblatt Securities | Andrew Bond | $82 | $51.29 | -12.3% | Oct 19, 2023 |
| Oppenheimer | Owen Lau | $65 | $51.02 | -30.5% | Jun 13, 2023 |
| Morgan Stanley | Michael Cyprys | $60 | $54.52 | -35.9% | Apr 11, 2023 |
| Credit Suisse | Gautam Sawant | $57 | $62.35 | -39.1% | Nov 2, 2022 |
| Deutsche Bank | Brian Bedell | $61.33 | $48.71 | -34.4% | May 23, 2022 |
| Deutsche Bank | Brian Bedell | $69 | $54.59 | -26.2% | Apr 26, 2022 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $79.67 | $57.47 | -14.8% | Apr 21, 2022 |
| Rosenblatt Securities | Analyst unavailable | $68 | $57.6 | -27.3% | Apr 21, 2022 |
| Rosenblatt Securities | Sean Horgan | $66.67 | $55.49 | -28.7% | Mar 10, 2022 |
| Deutsche Bank | Brian Bedell | $70 | $57.18 | -25.2% | Feb 21, 2022 |
| Deutsche Bank | Brian Bedell | $79 | $62.05 | -15.6% | Jan 17, 2022 |
| Jefferies | Daniel Fannon | $63 | $62.84 | -32.7% | Jan 10, 2022 |
| Goldman Sachs | Alexander Blostein | $63.33 | $67.27 | -32.3% | Jan 3, 2022 |
| Piper Sandler | Richard Repetto | $73.33 | $67.85 | -21.6% | Dec 22, 2021 |
| Atlantic Equities | Simon Clinch | $73.33 | $64.8 | -21.6% | Sep 14, 2021 |
| Compass Point | Christopher Allen | $65 | $61.25 | -30.5% | Jul 22, 2021 |
| Barclays | Jeremy Campbell | $58.33 | $52.61 | -37.6% | Apr 22, 2021 |
| Wells Fargo | Christopher Harris | $62 | $52.61 | -33.7% | Apr 22, 2021 |
Track every rating change on NDAQ the moment it posts. Free to start.
Start freeCompany context
Snapshot as of publicationNasdaq, Inc., a technology powerhouse founded in 1971 and based in New York City, is dedicated to supporting capital markets and various other sectors worldwide. Its Market Technology division specializes in fighting financial crime, offering products like Nasdaq Trade Surveillance, a SaaS solution that assists brokers and market participants in meeting compliance requirements and internal surveillance policies. This segment also provides Nasdaq Automated Investigator, a cloud-deployed anti-money laundering tool, and Verafin, a SaaS provider for anti-financial crime management. Furthermore, this division handles a wide array of assets, including cash equities, equity derivatives, global currencies, interest-bearing securities, commodities, energy resources, and digital currencies. The Investment Intelligence segment is responsible for distributing both historical and live market data, creating and licensing Nasdaq-branded financial indexes and products, and delivering valuable investment insights and workflow solutions.…
Historical context
All NDAQ earningsFinancial Services peers this season
Latest reports in the same sector| Company | Quarter | EPS surprise | Market move | Headline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PUK Prudential plc | FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2026 | -40.9% | -0.5% | Prudential sustains growth and capital returns focus in H1 2026 |
| CM Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q3 2026 | +8.9% | -2.8% | CIBC Q3: Broad growth, resilient credit and expanded AI rollout |
| TD The Toronto-Dominion Bank | FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q3 2026 | +13.8% | +1.4% | TD emphasizes growth investments alongside disciplined capital management |
| RY Royal Bank of Canada | FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q3 2026 | +6.2% | -1.3% | RBC reports record Q3 earnings while investing for growth |
| AFRM Affirm Holdings, Inc. | FY2026 Q4 · Calendar Q3 2026 | +1230.3% | +0.3% | Affirm's most profitable quarter shifts focus to product execution |
Latest beats and misses
Who reports nextBeat on EPS
- SNXFY2026 Q3 · September 24, 2026+20.9% EPS-9.9% move
- DRIFY2027 Q1 · September 24, 20260.0% EPS-3.0% move
- CTASFY2027 Q1 · September 23, 2026+3.0% EPS-3.4% move
- PAYXFY2027 Q1 · September 23, 2026+1.5% EPS-8.8% move
- GISFY2027 Q1 · September 23, 2026+4.6% EPS+1.0% move
- AZOFY2026 Q4 · September 22, 2026+3.6% EPS+3.3% move
Get the NDAQ recap when the next report posts
One email per quarter with the scorecard, the market reaction and what changed on the call. No account needed.
Sources
- Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
- FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-26T00:37:12.209961+00:00
- Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-09-25T19:31:54.952349+00:00
- Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-09-25T19:31:54.949619+00:00
Methodology
Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.
Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.
Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.
By FN2 Research · Updated · As of 2026-09-25. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.