Nasdaq Sets 9–12% Growth Targets, Approves $3B Buyback and $100M AI Savings
Nasdaq raised medium-term growth targets—solutions revenue to 9–12%, Capital Access Platforms to 6–10% and FinTech to 10–14%—while approving a $3B share repurchase and boosting dividend to $0.31. The company also unveiled a GenAI program targeting $100M in run-rate savings by end-2027 and plans blockchain tokenization with a $3–$6B market opportunity.
1. Financial Performance and Scale
Over the past five years, revenue grew from $2.9 billion in 2020 to $5.2 billion in 2025 at a 13% CAGR, supported by a 56% operating margin and $2.2 billion in cash flow, reflecting a 109% cash flow conversion rate. Nasdaq also reports being fully scaled in cloud across operations, client solutions and market technology.
2. Medium-Term Growth Targets and Capital Returns
Management raised medium-term organic growth outlooks: solutions revenue to 9–12%, Capital Access Platforms to 6–10% and FinTech to 10–14%. The board approved a $3 billion share repurchase and increased the quarterly dividend to $0.31 per share, underscoring a commitment to return capital to shareholders.
3. GenAI Productivity Program
Nasdaq launched a GenAI initiative aiming for $100 million in run-rate efficiencies by the end of 2027, deploying hundreds of internal and client-facing AI agents to automate workflows, reduce cycle times and improve surveillance, data transformation, and compliance processes.
4. Cloud, AI and Blockchain Initiatives
The firm has migrated seven of eight options markets onto its Fusion platform with 19-microsecond latency and plans to enable 23/5 trading subject to approval. It highlighted blockchain tokenization efforts to address a $3–$6 billion market opportunity by reducing post-trade fragmentation and enabling programmable assets.