Nasdaq Inc vs Verisign, Inc. — how do they compare? Nasdaq Inc trades at $94.69 (market cap $52.67B), while Verisign, Inc. trades at $287 (market cap $25.94B). The key difference: Nasdaq Inc is far larger — about 2× Verisign, Inc.'s market cap, and Nasdaq Inc pays the higher dividend (1.23%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| NDAQ | VRSN | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $52.67B | $25.94B |
Sector | Financials | Technology |
52-Week High | $100.98 | $310.00 |
52-Week Low | $76.85 | $211.49 |
Enterprise Value | $59.12B | $27.25B |
Dividend Yield | 1.23% | 1.13% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Nasdaq (NDAQ) trades at $95.04, down 1.9% on the day, with a bullish technical signal from moving averages but bearish oscillators. The company reported strong earnings beats in recent quarters, with Q2 2026 EPS of $1.07 exceeding the $0.984 estimate. Revenue grew to $8.26B in 2025, and net income margin improved to 22.52%. Recent news highlights strategic acquisitions like Dasseti to enhance AI capabilities.
The outlook is positive with a consensus price target of $109.20, implying 15% upside. Key opportunities include continued earnings growth and expansion in data-driven investment technology. Risks involve market volatility and execution of acquisition integration. Analyst sentiment is bullish with 61% buy ratings.
VeriSign (VRSN) trades at $282.20, down 3.38% on the day, with a bearish technical signal despite strong institutional buying interest. The company maintains exceptional profitability with 49.77% net margins and consistent revenue growth, though recent earnings have been mixed with two misses in the last four quarters. A major antitrust lawsuit filed in September 2026 poses significant regulatory risk, while analyst consensus remains bullish with a $328.50 price target representing 16% upside potential.
The stock presents a compelling value proposition given its strong cash flow generation and dominant market position in domain registry services, but faces headwinds from legal challenges and competitive pressures. Current valuation at 30.64 P/E appears reasonable for the quality of earnings, though the negative shareholder equity position warrants monitoring of debt levels. Upside potential exists if the company successfully navigates regulatory challenges and maintains its pricing power.
Trailing returns across standard periods
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 →Verisign is the sole authorized registry for several generic top-level domains, including the widely utilized .com and .net top-level domains. The company operates critical Internet infrastructure to support the domain name system, including operating two of the world's 13 root servers that are used to route Internet traffic. In 2018, the firm sold off its Security Services business, signalling a renewed focus on the core registry business.
Read more on VRSN →