Nasdaq profit beats on robust demand for investment products
Oct 20 (Reuters) - Nasdaq Inc on Wednesday reported a third-quarter profit that topped Wall Street estimates, helped by strong demand for its investment-related products and a jump in the number of initial public offerings.
While the transatlantic exchange operator is best known for its bourses, Nasdaq has tried to push into the anti-money laundering software sector and reposition itself as a leading financial technology and data vendor.
Nasdaq reported an adjusted profit of $1.78 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30. Analysts were expecting $1.72 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Revenue from the company's solutions segments jumped 19% jump to $541 million, boosted by strong demand for its products tied to Nasdaq's indexes. The unit's performance was also helped by the inclusion of Verafin, an anti-financial crime software firm the exchange operator bought for $2.75 billion late last year.
In the quarter, the exchange welcomed 147 IPOs representing $29 billion of capital raised. Of the IPOs, 80 were operating companies like Robinhood Markets Inc and Freshworks Inc , while the rest were special purpose acquisition companies.
Nasdaq said its European exchanges welcomed 25 IPOs during the period.
The company's net revenues rose 17% to $838 million in the quarter. Market services revenue rose 15% to $295 million.
The exchange operator bought back $475 million worth of common shares in the quarter, it said. (Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru and John McCrank in New York; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
