Nasdaq - exchanges IV (BUY - 110)

Nasdaq, Inc. provides trading, clearing, marketplace technology, regulatory, securities listing, information, and public and private company services worldwide. The company’s Market Services segment offers equity derivative trading and clearing; cash equity trading; fixed income and commodities trading and clearing; and trade management services.

This segment operates various exchanges and other marketplace facilities across various asset classes; and provides broker, clearing, settlement, and central depository services. Its Corporate Services segment offers capital market and governance solutions; and liquidity solutions for private companies and private funds.

This segment also operates various listing platforms, which offer capital raising solutions for private and public companies. The company’s Information Services segment sells and distributes historical and real-time quote and trade information to sell-side, the buy-side, retail online brokers, proprietary trading shops, other venues, Internet portals, and data distributors; and develops and licenses Nasdaq branded indexes, associated derivatives, and financial products, as well as provides custom calculation services.

This segment also offers content and analytics for asset managers, investment consultants, and asset owners. Its Market Technology segment provides solutions for trading, clearing, settlement, surveillance, depository, and information dissemination to markets.

It also provides broker services through SMARTS, a managed service designed for brokers and other market participants; and TradeGuard, a suite of products for risk management. The company was formerly known as The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. and changed its name to Nasdaq, Inc. in September 2015. Nasdaq, Inc. was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Share price & revenue growth

Unsurprisingly revenues are consistently rising, in tandem with the share price as Nasdaq's business model relies in generating revenue from facilitating a marketplace for various buyers & sellers of securities. 

Demand is stable, and will continue to grow as global-growth is set to pick due to  expected loose monetary police from various central banks around the world, in the foreshadow of the U.S. - China trade war.

A low interest rate environment acts inflationary and pushes people into pouring money into capital markets, which will benefit exchange-oriented companies such as Nasdaq.

Aside from having a notable presence within the U.S, other geographies such as the Nordic and Baltic markets are also under Nasdaq's dominion as it owns and operates subsidiary stock-exchanges through the Nasdaq Nordic & Nasdaq Baltic exchange networks.

Consensus estimates EBITDA

Favourable consensus estimates underpin my central thesis that owning the stock long-term is a great way in gaining exposure to the sector, which is consistently rising and also due to the fact that Nasdaq is the second largest exchange-oriented company by market capitalization, after the NYSE (New York stock exchange*), owned and operated by the ICE (Intercontinental Exchange*).


We therefore give Nasdaq a BUY, with a target price of 110$ before the end of 2019 (Q4)*.

Profiting strategies on the future developments surrounding the stock are numerous;

1. Purchasing a deep-in-the-money call-options with a strike at 90 $, (with an expiry 1-1.5 years in to the future*) would offer substantial leverage. Basically entering a synthetic-long-stock position. 

2. Purchasing the stocks themselves.