Nasdaq Soars: Q3 Earnings Rocket 38% to $1.3B Revenue Milestone

Wall Street's trading titan just flexed its financial muscle.

Earnings Explosion

Nasdaq smashed expectations with a blistering 38% profit surge, proving traditional exchanges can still pack a punch in the digital age. Revenue smashed through the $1.3 billion barrier—numbers that would make most crypto projects blush.

Market Dominance

While decentralized platforms chatter about disruption, this legacy player just demonstrated how real market infrastructure prints money. The numbers don't lie: institutional confidence remains firmly anchored in regulated venues.

Another quarter, another reminder that while crypto dreams of revolution, traditional finance keeps cashing checks.

TLDR

• Nasdaq’s Q3 shines with 15% revenue surge and record recurring income.
• Financial Tech and Index growth fuel Nasdaq’s record-breaking quarter.
• Nasdaq hits $1B+ in solutions revenue, marking a new growth milestone.
• Strong margins and ARR boost Nasdaq’s stock amid tech-driven gains.
• Nasdaq’s innovation, AI tools, and new clients power double-digit growth.

Nasdaq, Inc.(NDAQ) shares closed at $88.86, up 0.30%, following a strong third-quarter 2025 earnings report.

Nasdaq, Inc., NDAQ

The company recorded a 38% rise in GAAP diluted earnings per share, reaching $0.73. Non-GAAP diluted EPS also advanced 19% to $0.88, supported by consistent revenue gains.

Net revenue increased 15% year-over-year to $1.315 billion, while organic revenue growth stood at 11%. Solutions revenue alone crossed $1 billion for the first time, reflecting a 15% increase. Market Services net revenue also climbed 14% to $303 million, with a 13% organic gain.

Nasdaq continues to expand its recurring revenue base, achieving $3.007 billion in Annualized Recurring Revenue (ARR), a 10% increase. ARR from SaaS contributed 38% of the total and grew 12%. The company’s steady margin improvement and revenue gains further supported the stock’s slight upward move.

Financial Technology and Index Segments Drive Topline Gains

Nasdaq’s Financial Technology revenue ROSE 23% to $457 million, with organic growth of 13%. The division added 65 new clients, 97 upsells, and four cross-sells, signaling strong client demand. Nasdaq Verafin, part of this segment, added 55 new small-to-medium bank clients during the quarter.

Regulatory Technology reported solid momentum with multiple upsells and new clients, including the CFTC. Surveillance offerings gained traction with 31 upsells and two cross-sells. AxiomSL added 22 upsells and signed a major cross-sell win for an enterprise cloud deployment.

Index revenue grew 13% to $206 million, backed by record Exchange-Traded Product (ETP) assets under management. The third quarter saw $17 billion in net inflows, contributing to a record $91 billion over the trailing twelve months. Nasdaq launched 30 new index products, further strengthening this revenue stream.

Strong Operational Execution and Strategic Progress

Nasdaq’s GAAP operating income rose 31% to $586 million, while non-GAAP operating income reached $732 million, up 15%. Operating cash FLOW for the quarter totaled $221 million. The company returned $155 million to shareholders via dividends and repurchased $115 million in common stock.

Nasdaq’s strategic execution showed results through its Integrate, Innovate, and Accelerate priorities. Over $150 million in cost savings have been achieved under the efficiency program. S&P also upgraded Nasdaq’s unsecured debt rating to BBB+, matching the pre-Adenza acquisition level.

Innovation efforts included a filing with the SEC to enable tokenized securities trading and AI-powered tools within Nasdaq Verafin and BoardVantage. Meanwhile, cross-sell activity across Financial Technology gained momentum, with a growing sales pipeline and $100 million revenue run-rate target by 2027.