A：Nasdaq had a strong year with an excellent performance marked by organic growth, accelerated innovation, and the resilience of its platform in complex operating conditions. Financial highlights included surpassing $1 billion in annual net revenue and $10 billion in solutions revenue, record average AUM in the index franchise, and record revenues in market services. Notable achievements were setting new records for index inflows, new product introductions, and listing transfers, as well as delivering 24% diluted EPS growth, 10% year-over-year net revenue growth, and strong operational performance across strategic priorities.

A：While the details of Nasdaq's strategic priorities and outlook for 2026 were not discussed in the provided transcript excerpt, the speaker mentioned that they would cover these topics before handing the call over to Sarah to discuss the financial results in more detail.

A：Nasdaq's index franchise reached new heights with record average AUM, second consecutive year of record inflows, and the highest number of new index products introduced. Market services achieved record revenues for US equities and US options, with industry-leading new listings and a record $1.2 trillion in listing transfers.

A：Nasdaq strongly delivered against its cross sell commitments, with the addition of new GSI clients, demonstrating the breadth and depth of its platform. Cross sales accounted for over half of the financial technology sales pipeline, and Nasdaq was on track to surpass $100 million in run-rate revenue from cross sell by the end of 2027.

A：Nasdaq's fourth quarter net revenue was $1.4 billion, up 13% year over year. Solutions revenue grew script to script dollars, at the top end of the range of their medium-term outlook. Full year net revenues were $3.1 billion, an increase of 10% year over year.

A：In capital access platforms, Nasdaq delivered 10% revenue growth and set a record for index new I and Is in data and Alys. The firm had the strongest IPO year since 2021, with significant IPOs like Medline and Verisure, and raised over $24 billion in proceeds for operating companies.

A：The data business experienced robust growth, driven by new enterprise license agreements, international expansion efforts, and increased utilization of Nasdaq data products. The index franchise delivered tremendous performance with a record $99 billion in net inflows, including $35 billion in the fourth quarter, and raised the bar with an industry-high ETP AUM.

A：Nasdaq's financial technology business had a robust year, with 11% revenue growth, 22% growth in financial management technology, and 24% growth in regulatory technology. The division grew to include more than 3800 clients, with strong network effects and client engagement.

A：The major financial market infrastructure client deal in the fourth quarter highlights Nasdaq's ability to provide integrated end-to-end solutions.

A：The achievements in market services include record annual net revenue of $1.2 billion, up 17% year over year, and growth across multiple solutions with robust performance in European cash equities and equity derivatives.

A：Nasdaq's priorities for the upcoming year are to manage risk, advance market structure, and innovate with AI, which are in line with client feedback and industry priorities.

A：The three core strengths of Nasdaq's platform are an embedded client community for real-world needs, gold source data for unique client value, and engineering excellence for speed, resilience, and global deployment.

A：In 2025, Nasdaq delivered over $500 billion in annual revenue, with solutions now representing 76% of total net revenue and a deliberate shift in the business mix. The company coupled this growth with disciplined execution, expanding operating and EBITDA margin, reducing gross average, and delivering free cash flow conversion while investing for long-term growth.

A：The revenue growth for Nasdaq in the past year and the recent quarter was driven by new and existing clients, low churn, product innovation, and elevated volumes in market services, with a 12% increase in alpha and a 13% improvement in the 5-year versus 2024 V performance.

A：For the divisions, quarterly revenue of $572 million was up 12% in capital and asset platforms, driven by 9% alpha and growth. Listings revenue was up 7%, and data revenue growth was driven by upsell usage and new sales, with a modest revenue increase in corporate solutions. Financial technology revenue grew 12%, with strong performance across all sub-segments, and a quarterly operating margin for the division was 59%, up 100 basis points versus the prior year quarter.

A：The financial technology division had quarterly revenue of $498 million, up 12%, with annual revenue of $1.85 billion, up 11%. Annual revenue was up 10% and ARR was ended the year up 12%. Financial client management technology revenue grew 24% in the quarter, with an 18% growth. New and cross-sales were a key driver with a total of 291 new clients and 462 upsells in the year.

A：The net revenue for market services in the quarter was $311 million, which is a quarterly record reflecting growth of 17% year over year. Growth was driven by record industry volumes in U.S. equities and options, consistent delivery of alpha leading to more than doubling of index options revenue, and higher U.S. take plan revenue. The growth was partially offset by lower capture in U.S. options due to elevated market share and options regulatory fees which were mostly recovered in the first quarter, resulting in lower net options capture rate in the fourth quarter.

A：Operating expenses for the quarter were $2.31 billion, an increase of 8% due to strong revenue performance and investments in people and technology to support revenue and drive innovation and growth. For the fourth quarter, operating expenses were $690 million, up 8%, with an operating margin of 56% and EBITDA margin of 59%, both up two percentage points versus the prior year period. The non-GAAP operating expense guidance for the coming year is between $2.455 billion and $2.535 billion, which includes a non-GAAP organic growth rate of 7% at the midpoint, net synergies from the expense cost program, a $25 million decline due to divestitures, a small acquisition, and an increase from FX. There's also a strong level of investments in growth and innovation, including AI.

A：Nasdaq generated free cash flow of approximately $2.2 billion in 2025, including $537 million in the fourth quarter. The company paid out dividends of $1.50 per share, totaling $613 million, with fourth quarter dividend payments of $153 million. Nasdaq paid down $826 million of debt in the year, including $100 million in the fourth quarter through a successful tender offer. As a result, Nasdaq ended the year with a gross leverage ratio below expectations at Ed.

A：The expanded options expirations are expected to lead to more precise and accurate risk management for clients, which has resulted in early uptick and client satisfaction. Nasdaq views this as a trend that will continue to drive both market volumes and participation from institutional players. Nasdaq is focused on the stocks it has already launched and aims to maintain attention to liquidity characteristics to manage risk effectively. Nasdaq is excited about the potential to expand and will provide updates as volumes come into the market.

A：The growth in equity options volumes is driven by continued strong interest from both retail and institutional investors. There has been a structural shift in the market with increased participation in options markets, particularly in equity options on the options overlay, attracting more AUM and institutional engagement. These factors have contributed to the growth and are indicative of a structural change in the drivers of the options market.

A：The data and listing segment experienced significant momentum in new issuance activity in 2025, which was slightly interrupted by the government shutdown. With active dialogue with late-stage private companies and investor interest in the public markets, there's potential for a continued acceleration of new listing activity in the first and second quarter of 2026. Nasdaq is excited about the availability of risk capital and the readiness of its companies, which, combined with its index business, could lead to a positive outcome. Nasdaq also anticipates benefits from companies transitioning from New York to Nasdaq.

A：The company is focusing on professional services with significant client implementations, resulting in more variability in quarterly revenues due to the effort involved with these implementations.

A：The company signed 9 new clients and deals including 3 upsells, indicating a new capability for the financial crime management team to provide modular capabilities to enterprise clients.

A：Nasdaq is encouraged by the SEC's focus on innovation in the securities market and sees an opportunity to be a holistic provider of solutions. Currently, the exchange rules limit innovation, and Nasdaq is hopeful for a more flexible framework that would allow for M&A in the off-exchange space and competition with these venues.

A：The company plans to use its balance sheet to focus on organic growth, maintain a progressive dividend, continue share repurchases and debt repurchases, and evaluate bolt-ons with a build-versus-buy approach.

A：The outlook for the FinTech business includes good momentum, strong client engagement, and a solid sales year across various areas such as upsells and new sales. The business is expected to continue to innovate and engage customers actively, although specific predictions for the coming year are not provided.

A：Nasdaq's focus on proxy is on policy and regulatory reform and modernization of the proxy infrastructure. This aligns with client experiences as public companies face significant pain points, and Nasdaq aims to streamline the process and reduce the burden of being a public company.

A：Nasdaq's proposal aims to ensure that tokenized equity securities are integrated with existing infrastructure. The focus is on maintaining the integrity of markets and investor protection while allowing for fungibility and interoperability. Hurdles include working with infrastructure providers to allow for the tokenization of equities and ensuring that the technology is adopted without disrupting the existing, robust system.

A：The company is currently focused on organic growth, innovation, and engaging with clients. They prefer to use their annual capital for potential bolt-on acquisitions and are evaluating opportunities for growth.

A：Nasdaq is cautious about entering the prediction market space due to the dynamic regulatory environment and focuses on the risks and benefits for investors, ensuring it aligns with their risk tolerance and regulatory mandate. They are exploring options within their regulated markets and provide technology and data distribution for prediction markets through other parts of their business.

A：Nasdaq sees itself as a provider focusing on bringing liquidity together and driving transparency, integrity, and liquidity across the markets it operates. They are engaging with the SEC and legislators to understand changes that open up innovation with tokenized equities and have been pleased with recent guidance. Nasdaq aims to preserve the core tenant of a complete view of trading for investors and maintain the choice as to how their stock trades. They also focus on capital efficiency and the affordability of trading in the equity markets.

A：Nasdaq anticipates that a fully tokenized trading environment could lead to more capital efficiency, broader participation, and enhanced access to new products. They believe it could increase the addressable market and provide opportunities for more efficient collateral movement and management of capital obligations. Nasdaq is also betting on the potential to increase trading activity and provide additional services such as surveillance, trade operations, and regulatory reporting to clients as the institutional engagement grows globally.