Nasdaq Inc Q1 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Simon Clinch - Redburn Atlantic - Analyst : Hi everyone, thanks for taking my question. Maybe, Adena, I was wondering if you could reflect on the strength that you've seen in the index business you have and with the sort of building of this next-generation platform. And if you could perhaps talk about how the business and the structural drivers are different today versus the last time we went through a market downturn in 2022 when your growth was still very resilient. I was just kind of curious as what differences might be this time around and how you might therefore think about the resiliency of the business of that index segment today versus that last period.

Question: Simon Clinch - Redburn Atlantic - Analyst : That's great. Thank you very much.

Question: Craig Siegenthaler - BofA Securities, Inc. - Analyst : Good morning, Adena, Sarah. Hope everyone is doing well. So we saw the announcement last month that Nasdaq plans to open an office where I think effectively our regional headquarters in Dallas, Texas. This looks like a reaction to the BlackRock Citadel back Texas Stock Exchange and a similar announcement from ICE, which I think already went live three weeks ago. So I'm really curious what do you expect to accomplish from this move? How will this link up also with your Nasdaq exchanges in New York or actually Secaucus and Carteret. Thank you.

Question: Craig Siegenthaler - BofA Securities, Inc. - Analyst : Thank you.

Question: Alexander Blostein - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Hey, good morning. Thank you for the question as well. I was hoping we can touch on your acquisition priorities from here. The balance sheet is deleveraging really nicely. You guys made great progress since the Adenza acquisition. I think in one of the recent conferences you talked about, maybe a little bit more openness to pursuing growth inorganically again. So maybe expand on that a bit. What is the probability of deals you're seeing out there obviously, macro uncertainty could present pretty compelling valuation opportunities, but the balance is still relatively levered relative to kind of where you guys want to be. So just a broader question on M&A. And as part of that, just remind us your sort of earnings accretion targets when you're pursuing deals. Thanks.

Question: Alexander Blostein - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Lound and clear. Thank you. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. APRIL 24, 2025 / 12:00PM, NDAQ.OQ - Q1 2025 Nasdaq Inc Earnings Call

Question: Patrick Moley - Piper Sandler Companies - Analyst : Yes, good morning, thanks for taking the question. So I just had one on the overall sales cycle environment. You mentioned the macro headwinds that you're seeing and how that's driving delays in customer decision-making, but you did not adjust down any of the revenue guidance ranges, particularly in financial technology. So just hoping you can walk us through the dynamic there and what specifically you're seeing that gives you confidence that you're going to be able to come in within the guidance ranges that you laid out at the beginning of the year? Thanks.

Question: Patrick Moley - Piper Sandler Companies - Analyst : Okay, thank you.

Question: Benjamin Budish - Barclays - Analyst : Hi, good morning and thank you for taking the question. I wanted to ask about the Verafin growth algorithm. During the prepared remarks, you talked about expanded use of AI features, I think, co-pilot features. In the presentation you talked about prices partly a driver. Just curious as we think through the next year or two, how much of the growth is coming from SMB sales moving up market? And can you comment on the European opportunity? Any signs of anti-US sentiment, anything like that? Just curious how those pieces fit in price in terms of the next few years?

Question: Benjamin Budish - Barclays - Analyst : Great, thank you so much.

Question: Ashish Sabadra - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to drill down further on the prior comments around delays. And I was just wondering how should we think about like the impact to revenues in 2Q, if you could provide any further detail by segment. And then in terms of trajectory, should we expect growth to improvement to 3Q or is it going to be more back-end loaded? Thanks.

Question: Ashish Sabadra - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : That's very helpful color. Thank you.

Question: Kyle Voigt - Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. - Analyst : Hi, good morning. So you mentioned it a few times on the call already, but wondering if you could expand upon the AWS partnership or enhanced partnership, I guess, that was announced this morning. And hoping you could help us understand if your infrastructure users migrate to this newer REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. APRIL 24, 2025 / 12:00PM, NDAQ.OQ - Q1 2025 Nasdaq Inc Earnings Call offering over time, what that would functionally mean for the composition of your marketplace technology revenues, the length of sales cycles and the kind of overall revenue pie or addressable market that you're targeting?

Question: Dan Fannon - Jefferies LLC - Analyst : Thanks. Good morning. A question on expenses. So you raised the low end of the guide after I think first quarter came in better than expected. I'm curious as what drove the change. I think you mentioned FX, but just other things that might have driven the low end to move up that amount?

Question: Brian Bedell - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : Oh great, thanks. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Maybe just go back to the question on the uncertainty and the delay in decision making. Maybe just focusing though on Axiom. And I think, Adena, you mentioned obviously, on the US regulatory side, some potential rollback of regulations. But if you can talk about to what extent your global business on the global nature of Axiom is maybe potentially offsetting some of those headwinds. And also maybe just pivoting on beyond the RegTech, but just your view on crypto market growth globally. And to what extent you see that as an incremental growth driver for both RegTech and Calypso and also Verafin versus where your views were before the change in the administration and potentially a higher regulatory backdrop on crypto?

Question: Brian Bedell - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : That's great color. Thank you.

Question: Alex Kramm - UBS Investment Bank - Analyst : Yeah, hey, good morning, everyone. Just a quick one on Capital Markets specifically in the first quarter. Obviously, you had made those comments in March about Calypso. But if I look at the ARR additions from 4Q to 1Q, $25 million, I think, still pretty respectable and definitely better than what we thought. So just maybe flesh out a little bit what else happened in the quarter? Was it really strength in the legacy businesses? Or did Calypso actually still have a pretty good showing and you're more worried about what's to come versus what actually happened in the 1Q. So maybe just a little bit more color there. Thank you.

Question: Alex Kramm - UBS Investment Bank - Analyst : Thank you. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. APRIL 24, 2025 / 12:00PM, NDAQ.OQ - Q1 2025 Nasdaq Inc Earnings Call

Question: Owen Lau - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. - Analyst : Hi, good morning. Thank you for taking my question. Could you please give us more color on the IPO environment so far. Additionally, have you started hearing that foreign companies are more inclined to list on foreign exchanges versus US exchanges, given what's going on with tariffs and some of the recent capital flight to non-US markets. Thanks.

Question: Owen Lau - Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. - Analyst : Got it. Thanks a lot.