Nasdaq reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.96 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.91 and up from $0.76 in the year-ago period. This 26% year-over-year increase in earnings per share reflects strong profitability in its market services, technology solutions and investment intelligence segments. The beat was driven by robust fee generation across trading and clearing platforms as well as continued traction in subscription-based data products.

Total revenues exceeded consensus expectations, with all major divisions contributing to top-line growth and delivering year-over-year gains. Organic revenue growth was supported by higher trading volumes on the U.S. securities exchange and expansion of software licensing deals internationally. Management noted that operating expenses will be modestly higher than prior guidance due to incremental investments in AI and cloud infrastructure, but emphasized efficiency initiatives that are expected to partially offset these costs and drive operating margin expansion into 2026.