Nasdaq Gears Up to Report Q1 Earnings: Here's What to Expect

Nasdaq, Inc. NDAQ is slated to report first-quarter 2025 earnings on April 24, before the opening bell. The company delivered an earnings surprise in three of the last four reported quarters while missing in one.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Factors to Consider

Continued organic revenue growth, new sales, an increase in Financial Crime Management Technology revenues and contributions from the Adenza acquisition are likely to have aided Nasdaq’s fourth-quarter performance.

Non-trading revenues are likely to have benefited from improved results in Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology and Market Services businesses.

Higher value contracts, new sales and price increases to existing clients and new customer acquisitions, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, are likely to have aided the Financial Crime Management Technology business. 

The inclusion of revenues from Calypso associated with the acquisition of Adenza, higher trade management services revenues and market technology license and support revenues is likely to have aided the Capital Markets Technology business. We expect Capital Markets Technology revenues to increase 9% to $259.4 million.

Higher data usage, price increases on regulated data, higher initial listing fees and new data sales, higher AUM in exchange traded products linked to Nasdaq indices and growth in trading volume on futures contracts linked to the Nasdaq-100 Index are expected to have aided performance at the Capital Access Platforms division. An increase in analytics revenues, particularly Data Link and eVestment product offerings, is also likely to have benefited this division. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $1.23 billion, indicating a 10.2% increase from the prior-year reported figure. 

An increase in compensation and benefits, professional & contract services expenses, as well as technology and communication infrastructure, general and administrative expenses, marketing and advertising, depreciation and amortization and restructuring charges are expected to have increased total expenses for the to-be-reported quarter. We expect non-GAAP operating expenses to increase 9.2% year over year.

Nevertheless, share buybacks in the to-be-reported quarter are anticipated to have provided a boost to the bottom line.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at 77 cents per share, indicating a 22.2% increase from the prior-year reported figure. 

Q1 Volumes

Nasdaq reported impressive volumes for the first quarter of 2025. The U.S. equity options volume increased 21% year over year to 935 million contracts. European options and futures volume increased 4.6% year over year to 15.9 million contracts.

Revenues per contract for the U.S. equity options decreased 8.3% year over year to 11 cents, while the same for European options and futures increased 10% to 55 cents.

Under its cash equities, Nasdaq’s U.S. matched equity volume in the first quarter grossed 137.5 billion shares, up 17.8% from the prior-year quarter’s level. European equity volume increased 9.8% year over year to $234 billion. 

In the first quarter, there were 4,466 listed companies on the Nasdaq compared with 4,604 in the year-ago period. Total listings increased 1.4% year over year to 5,299.

We expect data and listing services revenues to increase 5.8% to $196.8 million in the to-be-reported quarter.

What Our Quantitative Model States

Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for Nasdaq this time around. This is because the stock has the right combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold).

Earnings ESP: Nasdaq has an Earnings ESP of +1.32% at present. This is because the Most Accurate Estimate of 78 cents is pegged higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 77 cents. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Nasdaq, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Nasdaq, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Nasdaq, Inc. Quote

Zacks Rank: Nasdaq currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other finance stocks with the right combination of elements to come up with an earnings beat this time around are:

Cboe Global Markets, Inc. CBOE has an Earnings ESP of +3.62% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter 2025 earnings is pegged at $2.29 per share, indicating a year-over-year increase of 6.5%. CBOE’s earnings beat estimates in three of the last four quarters while missing in one.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. ICE has an Earnings ESP of +0.88% and carries a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter 2025 earnings is pegged at $1.70 per share, implying an increase of 14.8% from the year-ago reported figure.

ICE’s earnings beat estimates in two of the last four quarters and matched in two.

Arch Capital Group Ltd. ACGL has an Earnings ESP of +2.28% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter 2025 earnings is pegged at $1.37, indicating a decline of 44% from the year-ago reported figure. 

ACGL’s earnings beat estimates in each of the last four quarters.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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