Oct 22, 2026 earnings call — Strong quarter; AI and tokenization momentum
Nasdaq reported net revenue of $1.5 billion in Q3, up 14% year-over-year.
Revenue $1.5B (est $1.5B) · EPS $1.04 (est $1.02)
Key quotes
"At the same time, artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly foundational to how institutions make decisions, manage risk, and allocate capital, and Nasdaq is extending its leadership through solutions embedded across our platform."
"Looking ahead, we remain on track to launch 23/5 trading on the Nasdaq stock market on December 6, 2026."
"In financial crime management technology, Nasdaq Verafin delivered 23% revenue growth, with ARR growth increasing 2 percentage points sequentially to 19%."
Analyst Q&A 12
AI driving product demand
Q (Ashish Sabadra · RBC): Analyst asked how AI becomes a competitive edge and how it drives upsell and cross-sell across Nasdaq's platform.
A: Management said they focus on delivering AI-ready data and agentic capabilities across products. They noted specific examples (MCP connectors, Verafin agentic workers) and said AI is driving demand and a growing pipeline.
"We are really focused on making sure that we deliver data that is AI-ready, and we deliver capabilities within our software solutions that really drive towards agentic capabilities for our clients." — Adena Friedman (CEO·CHAIR)
Pricing for AI features
Q (Michael Cho · JPMorgan): Analyst asked about pricing roadmap for agentic AI solutions, pace and magnitude of price increases, and specifics for Verafin and broader Nasdaq.
A: Management said the industry is early and they use a try-before-you-buy approach to build trust and adoption. They noted 70 paid Verafin clients, shorter-term contracts, an evolving monetization strategy, and upcharges for new data delivery methods like MCP connectors.
"We want to make sure that the very first thing we do is build trust with our clients and therefore build adoption from our clients." — Adena Friedman (CEO·CHAIR)
SEC innovation exemption impact
Q (Patrick Moley · Piper Sandler): Analyst asked Nasdaq's view on the SEC's innovation exemption and issuer interest in tokenized equities; whether issuers understand implications and potential interest in tokenization.
A: Management said they are not supportive of the innovation exemption as constructed because it allows issuers to opt out and creates trading outside current rules with no tape reporting. They are engaging issuers, will opt Nasdaq stock out of TSVs, and are building a Nasdaq equity token with DTCC, Kraken and others to enable tracked, tokenized equities and real-time settlement.
"Our view is that tokenization, we should be focused as an industry as on tokenizing all of the trading, not trying to create this kind of sidecar kind of experimentation." — Adena Friedman (CEO·CHAIR)
Convincing issuers to tokenize
Q (Owen Lau · Clear Street): Analyst asked whether Nasdaq's approach can convince Nasdaq itself and other companies to tokenize their shares and how Nasdaq plans to persuade issuers.
A: Management said conversations with issuers are constructive and educational. Some issuers are excited and a few want to be early adopters; Nasdaq plans a first-half next year launch and will keep engaging issuers and partners on the platform details.
"As we have pivoted from a discussion with a TSV to what is the Nasdaq equity token, what are we building, and how will it create a better way for them to be able to manage their shares in the public markets, and communicate with investors." — Adena Friedman (CEO·CHAIR)
Anti-financial crime demand
Q (Alex Blostein · Goldman Sachs): Analyst asked why ARR in the anti-financial crime business is accelerating and how AI and cybersecurity risks affect long-term growth there.
A: Management said moving upmarket and entering via fraud allows them to layer on top of existing AML systems and demonstrate clear ROI in POCs through reduced false positives and increased fraud detection. They see AI-enabled criminal activity raising urgency, making consortia data and GenAI analysis more valuable to detect criminal rings across institutions.
"Every time we run a POC, a proof of concept with a client, we can demonstrate clear, measurable ROI, which is terrific on reducing false positives and increasing fraud found." — Adena Friedman (CEO·CHAIR)
Capital markets tech strength
Q (Alex Kramm · UBS): Analyst asked what drove strong sales in capital markets technology this quarter and whether that strength is sustainable into next year.
A: Management said TMS, pricing actions, demand for connectivity, data center innovations and elevated testing work all contributed. They highlighted a new exchange traded clearing module in Calypso, continued investments for global risk management and agentic capabilities, and said demand remains strong though some testing revenue is episodic.
"Our view is always on markets and AI are going to make it so that the convergence of markets and asset classes, geographies is going to be amplified very significantly." — Adena Friedman (CEO·CHAIR)
Tokenization TAM and business split
Q (Brian Bedell · Deutsche Bank): Analyst asked if Nasdaq sees more visibility into the tokenization TAM and whether opportunity favors solutions or market services.
A: Management said nearer-term benefits flow to data and solutions, with token platform revenue over time fitting into Market Services. They expect tokenization to boost liquidity and have specific execution points (LeveL, equity token, Calypso, Trade Surveillance) to capture the TAM.
"Over time, as we develop out the Nasdaq equity token and build that platform and start to offer capabilities on top of that platform, we see that as a new revenue opportunity that would sit within Market Services." — Adena Friedman (CEO·CHAIR)
E-mini/Nasdaq 100 futures growth
Q (Ben Budish · Barclays): Analyst asked about the E-mini / Nasdaq 100 futures growth, micros expansion, investment behind it, sustainability and possible translation to NDX growth.
A: Management said the partnership with CME is strong and CME's focus on retail accessibility and smaller notionals is driving large volume growth. They see a flywheel between futures, ETFs, options and underlying, and expect expanded hours and options over time to further grow the NDX franchise.
"As you know, we have a really wonderful partnership with CME, and they do a terrific job." — Adena Friedman (CEO·CHAIR)
Commercial demand for tokenization
Q (Michael Cyprys · Morgan Stanley): Analyst asked where Nasdaq sees the clearest commercial demand for tokenization today and milestones for the next 12–18 months, including concerns about instant settlement and netting.
A: Management said the clearest near-term demand is collateral management and collateral mobility, noting tokenized treasuries, money funds and repos. They described a successful proof of concept moving collateral instantly between pools with Vanguard and Wellington, and discussed options to batch or pre-fund settlements and retail-focused gross settlement approaches with Kraken and partners.
"The more immediate opportunities sit in this idea of collateral management, collateral mobility, because it's not just equities that are getting tokenized, but treasuries are getting tokenized, money market funds are getting tokenized, money is getting tokenized." — Adena Friedman (CEO·CHAIR)
M&A and capital returns
Q (Dan Fannon · Jefferies): Analyst asked about large-scale M&A appetite in the current environment and Nasdaq's capital return priorities beyond the ASR into 2027.
A: Management said they have strong free cash flow (over $2 billion) and a leverage near 2.5x, so they focus on organic growth, partnerships, tuck-ins and bolt-ons. They continue share repurchases ($1.2 billion year-to-date) and remain flexible and rigorous on capital allocation.
"We have, as you know, very strong free cash flow, over $2 billion." — Sarah Youngwood (CFO)
Cloud migrations and AI modules
Q (Jeff Schmitt · William Blair): Analyst asked runway for cloud migrations at AxiomSL and Calypso and how migrations affect contract values and ability to sell AI modules.
A: Management said there is substantial runway because many clients remain on-prem and renew in multi-year cycles; migrations come in waves and require client work. They estimated about a 1.5x uplift on ACV when moving to cloud, noted SaaS revenue is 38% of ARR, and said AI capabilities are generally delivered via cloud though not always required for clients like Calypso.
"We tend to say that it's about a 1.5x uplift on ACV as we move into a cloud migration because we then become a managed service provider to them, and we're doing more for them to manage their infrastructure, and they're not having to do as much." — Adena Friedman (CEO·CHAIR)
Long-term mix: solutions vs markets
Q (Simon Clinch · Rothschild & Co Redburn): Analyst asked whether increased customer choice and tokenization will shift Nasdaq's business mix between solutions and market services over the next decade.
A: Management said solutions are growing faster than markets over the long term and they expect tokenized and globalized markets to uplift liquidity, helping Market Services. They view solutions and market businesses as complementary and see solutions becoming a bigger part of the company over time due to higher relative growth rates.
"Our solutions businesses generally are growing at a rate that is faster than our markets businesses on a longer-term basis." — Adena Friedman (CEO·CHAIR)