According to reports from The Economic Times, Nasdaq delivered impressive second-quarter results, beating Wall Street estimates with an adjusted profit of $1.07 per share compared to the 98 cents per share expected by analysts. The company posted net revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, representing a 14.9% increase driven primarily by strong performance in its capital access platforms segment. As reported by The Economic Times, this marks the first time in the company's history that quarterly EPS exceeded $1, with operating margin reaching 57% and EBITDA margin at 60%, both up two percentage points from the prior-year period. The company's non-GAAP operating income rose 19% to $859 million with operating margin expanding 200 basis points to 57%, while non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.07 represented 25.9% growth year-over-year, exceeding the analyst consensus of $0.98 by $0.09. The results were released on July 23, 2026, before markets opened, with the company following up with an investor conference call at 8:00 AM ET.
As reported by Investing.com, Nasdaq's listings business demonstrated exceptional performance, welcoming 7 of the 10 largest operating company IPOs during the quarter, including SpaceX, which raised $86 billion in proceeds — the largest IPO in exchange history. The company achieved a 74% win rate in the quarter and captured 92% of total operating company proceeds raised from second-quarter IPOs. According to Nasdaq's latest earnings call, CEO Adena Friedman described the June 12 SpaceX IPO as the largest IPO in history, raising $86 billion, with Nasdaq also dual-listing SpaceX on Nasdaq Texas. The company welcomed 26 new operating companies during the quarter, raising $106 billion in proceeds, including seven of the top 10 IPOs. Friedman noted that the U.S. listings franchise delivered "the strongest first half in U.S. exchange history," with $111 billion in operating company proceeds raised. The IPO environment remains robust with activity tied to AI infrastructure, power, compute capabilities, healthcare, biotech, defense-related companies and consumer businesses.
According to The Economic Times, the capital access platforms segment generated $621 million in revenue, representing a 19% jump and accounting for revenue from listing services and market data on products like equities and options. As reported by Nasdaq's latest earnings call, the Capital Access Platforms division generated $621 million in revenue, up 18%, with annualized recurring revenue rising 8%. The company achieved record average Exchange-Traded Product (ETP) assets under management (AUM) of $1.014 trillion linked to Nasdaq indices, supported by record net inflows of $109 billion over the last twelve months, including $51 billion in the second quarter alone, representing a year-over-year increase of $351 billion in average ETP AUM. The Index division revenue increased 35% on an adjusted basis to $271 million, driven by higher average ETP AUM and record derivatives volumes, with the division's operating margin reaching 63%, up 400 basis points from the prior year.
According to The Economic Times, Nasdaq generated $477 million in free cash flow during the quarter and $2.2 billion over the last 12 months, with a 97% conversion ratio. The company paid a dividend of $0.31 per share, totaling $174 million, and repurchased 4.1 million shares for $356 million during the quarter. In total, Nasdaq returned more than $530 million to shareholders in the second quarter. As reported by Nasdaq's latest earnings call, the company launched a $200 million to $250 million variable accelerated share repurchase plan in July, expected to be completed in the third quarter. The company reduced its gross leverage ratio to 2.6x at the end of the second quarter, down from 2.8x at the end of the first quarter, through $162 million in net debt repayment and favorable foreign exchange movements. The company's pre-tax weighted average cost of debt remained attractive at 3.7% at quarter-end.
According to Investing.com, Nasdaq updated its full-year 2026 guidance to reflect stronger-than-expected business performance and associated investments in talent and market development. The company raised its non-GAAP operating expense guidance to a range of $2.530 billion to $2.570 billion, up from the previous range of $2.485 billion to $2.545 billion, primarily due to higher employee compensation tied to strong year-to-date revenue performance and increased marketing costs associated with a robust IPO market. Management reiterated its non-GAAP tax rate guidance of 22.5% to 24.5% for the full year. Looking beyond 2026, Nasdaq's medium-term outlook calls for 6-10% growth in Capital Access Platforms, 10-14% growth in Financial Technology, and 9-12% growth in total Solutions revenue over a 3-5 year horizon, assuming a stable market backdrop. The company expects non-GAAP operating expenses to grow 5-8% over this period, implying continued margin expansion.
