Essex Property Trust, Inc. vs Nasdaq Inc — how do they compare? Essex Property Trust, Inc. trades at $280.53 (market cap $18.15B), while Nasdaq Inc trades at $95.05 (market cap $53.11B). The key difference: Nasdaq Inc is far larger — about 2.9× Essex Property Trust, Inc.'s market cap, and Essex Property Trust, Inc. pays the higher dividend (3.93%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| ESS | NDAQ | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $18.15B | $53.11B |
Sector | Real Estate | Financials |
52-Week High | $298.33 | $100.98 |
52-Week Low | $239.61 | $76.85 |
Enterprise Value | $24.75B | $59.57B |
Dividend Yield | 3.93% | 1.22% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
ESS trades at $282.11, down 0.39% on the day, with a bearish technical signal from moving averages and oscillators. The company reported Q2 2026 EPS of $0.97, missing expectations, but raised full-year guidance after strong property NOI growth. Revenue reached $1.89B in 2025 with a net income margin of 35.48%, though profitability is trending lower in 2026. Recent news includes ESS being named a top GreenTech company and signing a 500 MWh energy storage agreement with Juniper Energy.
The outlook is mixed: raised guidance and institutional buying support upside, but technical weakness and earnings miss pose near-term risks. Valuation ratios like P/E of 19.9 and P/S of 9.05 are reasonable for a REIT, yet debt levels and regional market volatility require caution. Analyst consensus is a Moderate Buy with a $305.86 price target, suggesting 8.4% potential upside from current levels.
Nasdaq (NDAQ) trades at $95.62, up 1.09% today, with strong technical momentum and consistent earnings beats. Revenue grew to $8.26B in 2025, with net income margin expanding to 22.52%. The company announced the acquisition of LeveL Markets, advancing its always-on markets strategy, and maintains a bullish analyst consensus.
Outlook remains positive with a consensus price target of $109.20, offering ~14% upside. Risks include market volatility sensitivity and integration challenges from acquisitions. Solid profitability and strategic growth initiatives support a favorable investment case, though macroeconomic headwinds warrant monitoring.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Essex Property Trust owns a portfolio of 253 apartment communities with over 62,000 units and is developing three additional properties with 571 units. The company focuses on owning large, high-quality properties on the West Coast in the urban and suburban submarkets of Southern California, Northern California, and Seattle.
Read more on ESS →Founded in 1971, Nasdaq is primarily known for its equity exchange, but in addition to its market-services business (about 35% of sales), the company sells and distributes market data as well as offers Nasdaq-branded indexes to asset managers and investors through its information-services segment (30%). Nasdaq's corporate-services business (20%) offers listing services and related investor relations products to publicly traded companies and through the company's market technology group (15%), Nasdaq facilitates the exchange operations of other exchanges throughout the world and provides financial compliance services.
Read more on NDAQ →