We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience.
This includes personalizing content and advertising.
By pressing "Accept All" or closing out of this banner, you consent to the use of all cookies and similar technologies and the sharing of information they collect with third parties.
You can reject marketing cookies by pressing "Deny Optional," but we still use essential, performance, and functional cookies.
In addition, whether you "Accept All," Deny Optional," click the X or otherwise continue to use the site, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, revised from time to time.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Nasdaq, Inc.’s (NDAQ - Free Report) Financial Technology business is emerging as an increasingly important growth engine as financial institutions accelerate investments in cloud-based capital-markets infrastructure, regulatory technology and financial-crime solutions. The business offers an attractive mix of recurring and subscription-based revenues, potentially providing Nasdaq with greater revenue visibility while reducing reliance on transaction-sensitive businesses.
In the second quarter of 2026, FinTech revenues increased 16% year over year to $539 million, including 15% organic growth, while FinTech annualized recurring revenue grew 16% organically. Growth was broad-based, with all three FinTech subdivisions delivering double-digit growth for the second consecutive quarter. Financial Crime Management Technology remains an important opportunity, with Nasdaq Verafin adding 47 new SMB clients and six enterprise deals during the quarter. Nasdaq is also integrating AI into fraud and anti-money-laundering workflows, including through its agentic AI workforce, which could enhance the efficiency and value of its solutions for financial institutions.
Regulatory Technology provides another structural growth avenue as financial institutions contend with increasingly complex compliance, surveillance and risk-management requirements. Meanwhile, Capital Markets Technology remains the largest FinTech subdivision, generating $321 million in second-quarter revenues, up 15% year over year, driven by subscription growth, data-center expansion and continued demand for its technology solutions.
Nasdaq’s One Nasdaq strategy could further strengthen FinTech growth by enabling the company to cross-sell technology, data, index and market-infrastructure solutions across its client base. In the second quarter, NDAQ added 58 new FinTech clients, seven cross-sells and 107 upsells, while cross-sells represented more than 15% of the sales pipeline. Continued cloud and SaaS adoption, AI integration and cross-selling could therefore help FinTech become a larger contributor to Nasdaq’s recurring revenue base and long-term growth.
What About Other Players?
Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE - Free Report) has built a diversified financial infrastructure platform that extends well beyond its traditional exchange operations into financial technology, data and workflow solutions. Its Fixed Income & Data Services business provides fixed-income data and analytics, indices, execution, clearing, and data and network technology, while its Mortgage Technology business offers technology across mortgage origination, closing, servicing, data and analytics. In the second quarter of 2026, overall recurring revenue grew 8% to $1.35 billion, highlighting the increasing contribution of technology- and subscription-oriented businesses to ICE's diversified growth model.
CME Group Inc. (CME - Free Report) operates a broad financial-market infrastructure platform spanning exchange trading, clearing, market data and technology-enabled trading services. Its CME Globex platform provides electronic access to futures and options, while CME Clearing serves as the central counterparty for futures, options and OTC transactions. The company also generates growing revenues from market data, analytics, connectivity, co-location and other technology services that support clients throughout the trading lifecycle. CME is also migrating listed derivatives on Globex to Google's ultra-low-latency cloud infrastructure, which could further expand its technology and connectivity capabilities.
NDAQ’s Price Performance
Shares of NDAQ have gained 5.6% in the past year, outperforming the industry.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
NDAQ’s Overvaluation
The stock is overvalued compared with its industry. It is currently trading at a price-to-earnings multiple of 20.16, higher than the industry average of 19.74.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Estimate Movement for NDAQ
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NDAQ’s fourth-quarter 2026 earnings per share (EPS) has moved up 0.9% in the past 60 days. The same for full-year 2026 and 2027 EPS has moved up 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively, in the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The consensus estimate for NDAQ’s 2026 and 2027 EPS and revenues indicates a year-over-year increase.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
Nasdaq's Financial Technology Business Poised to Drive Growth
Key Takeaways
Nasdaq, Inc.’s (NDAQ - Free Report) Financial Technology business is emerging as an increasingly important growth engine as financial institutions accelerate investments in cloud-based capital-markets infrastructure, regulatory technology and financial-crime solutions. The business offers an attractive mix of recurring and subscription-based revenues, potentially providing Nasdaq with greater revenue visibility while reducing reliance on transaction-sensitive businesses.
In the second quarter of 2026, FinTech revenues increased 16% year over year to $539 million, including 15% organic growth, while FinTech annualized recurring revenue grew 16% organically. Growth was broad-based, with all three FinTech subdivisions delivering double-digit growth for the second consecutive quarter. Financial Crime Management Technology remains an important opportunity, with Nasdaq Verafin adding 47 new SMB clients and six enterprise deals during the quarter. Nasdaq is also integrating AI into fraud and anti-money-laundering workflows, including through its agentic AI workforce, which could enhance the efficiency and value of its solutions for financial institutions.
Regulatory Technology provides another structural growth avenue as financial institutions contend with increasingly complex compliance, surveillance and risk-management requirements. Meanwhile, Capital Markets Technology remains the largest FinTech subdivision, generating $321 million in second-quarter revenues, up 15% year over year, driven by subscription growth, data-center expansion and continued demand for its technology solutions.
Nasdaq’s One Nasdaq strategy could further strengthen FinTech growth by enabling the company to cross-sell technology, data, index and market-infrastructure solutions across its client base. In the second quarter, NDAQ added 58 new FinTech clients, seven cross-sells and 107 upsells, while cross-sells represented more than 15% of the sales pipeline. Continued cloud and SaaS adoption, AI integration and cross-selling could therefore help FinTech become a larger contributor to Nasdaq’s recurring revenue base and long-term growth.
What About Other Players?
Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE - Free Report) has built a diversified financial infrastructure platform that extends well beyond its traditional exchange operations into financial technology, data and workflow solutions. Its Fixed Income & Data Services business provides fixed-income data and analytics, indices, execution, clearing, and data and network technology, while its Mortgage Technology business offers technology across mortgage origination, closing, servicing, data and analytics. In the second quarter of 2026, overall recurring revenue grew 8% to $1.35 billion, highlighting the increasing contribution of technology- and subscription-oriented businesses to ICE's diversified growth model.
CME Group Inc. (CME - Free Report) operates a broad financial-market infrastructure platform spanning exchange trading, clearing, market data and technology-enabled trading services. Its CME Globex platform provides electronic access to futures and options, while CME Clearing serves as the central counterparty for futures, options and OTC transactions. The company also generates growing revenues from market data, analytics, connectivity, co-location and other technology services that support clients throughout the trading lifecycle. CME is also migrating listed derivatives on Globex to Google's ultra-low-latency cloud infrastructure, which could further expand its technology and connectivity capabilities.
NDAQ’s Price Performance
Shares of NDAQ have gained 5.6% in the past year, outperforming the industry.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
NDAQ’s Overvaluation
The stock is overvalued compared with its industry. It is currently trading at a price-to-earnings multiple of 20.16, higher than the industry average of 19.74.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Estimate Movement for NDAQ
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NDAQ’s fourth-quarter 2026 earnings per share (EPS) has moved up 0.9% in the past 60 days. The same for full-year 2026 and 2027 EPS has moved up 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively, in the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The consensus estimate for NDAQ’s 2026 and 2027 EPS and revenues indicates a year-over-year increase.
NDAQ stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.