Nasdaq Inc vs Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund — how do they compare? Nasdaq Inc trades at $94.7 (market cap $53.13B), while Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund trades at $167.29. The key difference: Nasdaq Inc pays a 1.22% dividend while Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| NDAQ | XLV | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $53.13B | — |
Sector | Financials | — |
52-Week High | $100.98 | $175.68 |
52-Week Low | $76.85 | $134.13 |
Enterprise Value | $59.58B | — |
Dividend Yield | 1.22% | — |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Nasdaq (NDAQ) trades at $95.04, down 1.9% today, 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, up from $7.4B in 2024, and net income margin improved to 22.52%. Recent news highlights Nasdaq's acquisition of Dasseti to enhance AI capabilities in investment technology.
The outlook for NDAQ is positive, supported by consistent earnings outperformance, revenue growth, and strategic acquisitions. Risks include market volatility and competitive pressures. Analysts maintain a bullish consensus with a $109.20 price target, implying 15% upside from current levels.
XLV trades at $167.16, down 2.5% amid testing key support levels, with technical indicators showing mixed signals between bullish moving averages and bearish oscillators. The healthcare ETF maintains defensive appeal with upcoming dividend payments and steady institutional interest, though recent options activity shows increased put volume. Healthcare sector momentum remains supported by strong earnings and defensive positioning in volatile markets.
Outlook remains cautiously optimistic given healthcare's defensive characteristics and potential Fed rate hike benefits, though near-term technical weakness and sector-specific headwinds like drug trial failures present risks. The ETF's low expense ratio and diversification across 60 healthcare stocks provide stability for long-term investors seeking sector exposure.
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 →In seeking to track the performance of the index, the fund employs a replication strategy. It generally invests substantially all, but at least 95%, of its total assets in the securities comprising the index. The index includes companies from the following industries: pharmaceuticals; health care equipment & supplies; health care providers & services; biotechnology; life sciences tools & services; and health care technology. The fund is non-diversified.
Read more on XLV →