Global exchange operator Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) beat Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q4 CY2025, with sales up 69.5% year on year to $2.08 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.96 per share was 4.8% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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Revenue: $2.08 billion vs analyst estimates of $1.37 billion (69.5% year-on-year growth, 51.5% beat)

Pre-tax Profit: $580 million (27.9% margin)

Adjusted EPS: $0.96 vs analyst estimates of $0.92 (4.8% beat)

Market Capitalization: $56.36 billion

Adena Friedman, Chair and CEO said, “It was an excellent year of execution for Nasdaq, as we achieved strong organic growth, accelerated innovation, and successfully delivered across our three strategic priorities: Integrate, Innovate, and Accelerate. For the first time, Nasdaq exceeded $5 billion in annual net revenue and $4 billion in annual Solutions revenue, reflecting the power, resilience and adaptability of our platform.

Originally founded in 1971 as the world's first electronic stock market, Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) operates global exchanges and provides technology, data, and corporate services that help companies, investors, and financial institutions navigate capital markets.

Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but the best consistently grow over the long haul. Luckily, Nasdaq’s revenue grew at an impressive 15.4% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. Its growth beat the average financials company and shows its offerings resonate with customers.

Long-term growth is the most important, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes and market returns. Nasdaq’s annualized revenue growth of 23.5% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting its demand was strong and recently accelerated.

Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers, impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.

This quarter, Nasdaq reported magnificent year-on-year revenue growth of 69.5%, and its $2.08 billion of revenue beat Wall Street’s estimates by 51.5%.

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We were impressed by how significantly Nasdaq blew past analysts’ revenue expectations this quarter. We were also glad its EPS outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. Zooming out, we think this was a solid print. The stock traded up 1.9% to $100.59 immediately following the results.

Nasdaq had an encouraging quarter, but one earnings result doesn’t necessarily make the stock a buy. Let’s see if this is a good investment. We think that the latest quarter is just one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free.