FDS vs NDAQ vs ICE Stock Comparison

Factset Research Systems, Nasdaq and Intercontinental Exchange Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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FDS Factset Research Systems Inc
$342.18 +23.7% 1M +29.3% 1Y
Market cap
$12.36B
P/E
23.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.48B
Div. yield
–
Financial Data and Analytics Financial Services
5 wins
NDAQ Nasdaq, Inc.
$109.70 +19.0% 1M +27.8% 1Y
Market cap
$59.80B
P/E
28.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.15B
Div. yield
–
Exchanges Financial Services
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Intercontinental Exchange leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Intercontinental Exchange 5, Factset Research Systems 5, Nasdaq 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionFDSNDAQICELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $12.36B $59.80B $98.26B ICE
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 23.2x 28.7x 23.6x FDS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 18.4x 27.2x 20.1x FDS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.7% +11.5% +12.1% ICE
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 21.5% 22.8% 29.6% ICE
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 16.9% 10.5% 8.5% FDS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 2.4x 2.9x FDS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +29.3% +27.8% +19.0% FDS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -5.2%/yr +9.1%/yr +5.2%/yr NDAQ
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 48.2% 28.5% 26.1% ICE
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 53/100 53/100 ICE

Percentile Scorecard

FDSNDAQICE

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisFDSNDAQICE
Valuation 27 #703 of 963 42 #60 of 103 58 #44 of 103
Growth 25 #614 of 823 39 #43 of 70 48 #37 of 70
Profitability 79 #181 of 845 77 #18 of 74 81 #15 of 74
Financial Health 60 #361 of 896 48 #52 of 99 35 #65 of 99
Shareholder Returns 68 #236 of 731 59 #17 of 40 46 #22 of 40
Overall 52 53 53
  • FDS ranked among 1,001 companies in Financial Services
  • NDAQ ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets
  • ICE ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodFDSNDAQICESPY
1 month +23.7%+19.0%+15.0% -1.0%
3 months +23.1%+16.0%+16.7% -0.4%
6 months +61.6%+23.0%+14.0% +4.5%
Year to date +17.9%+12.9%+8.0% +12.4%
1 year +29.3%+27.8%+19.0% +13.6%
3 years -22.9%+118.4%+62.1% +76.4%
3 years, per year -8.3%+29.8%+17.5% +20.8%
5 years -23.4%+54.6%+28.6% +63.7%
5 years, per year -5.2%+9.1%+5.2% +10.4%
10 years +124.0%+408.8%+227.8% +267.7%
10 years, per year +8.4%+17.7%+12.6% +13.9%

Risk

MeasureFDSNDAQICESPY
Volatility, 1Y 48.2%28.5%26.1% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 49.9%30.0%27.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.060.560.12 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.610.970.73 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -61.7%-33.4%-34.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -0.5%0.0%-0.1% -1.6%
52-week high $344.03$109.70$175.10 $779.14
52-week low $190.06$76.85$122.91 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleFDSNDAQICE
P/E now vs peer median 23.4xmedian 13.8x 29.4xmedian 29.7x 23.7xmedian 29.7x
P/S now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 3.3x 6.7xmedian 3.0x 6.9xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.0xmedian 6.0x 20.5xmedian 13.6x 16.4xmedian 13.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 17.1xmedian 11.0x 27.1xmedian 15.1x 18.5xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 6.0xmedian 1.3x 5.1xmedian 2.4x 3.3xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 3.56median 0.95 1.61median 0.55 1.20median 0.55

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsFDSNDAQICE
Revenue $2.48B $9.15B $14.05B
Gross profit $1.25B $5.78B –
Operating income $699.96M $2.73B $5.70B
Net income $533.48M $2.08B $4.23B
Free cash flow $707.48M $2.26B $5.28B
EPS (diluted) $14.57 $3.70 $7.35
Cash & equivalents $233.34M $365.00M $936.00M
Total debt $1.37B $8.74B $23.30B
Shares (diluted) 36.61M 563.31M 566.00M
Enterprise value $11.21B $57.24B $91.15B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricFDSNDAQICE
P/E 23.4x 29.4x 23.7x
P/FCF 17.1x 27.1x 18.5x
P/Operating cash flow 14.7x 24.1x 16.9x
P/S 4.9x 6.7x 6.9x
P/B 6.0x 5.1x 3.3x
P/Tangible book 79.2x 10.4x 6.4x
EV/EBITDA 15.0x 20.5x 16.4x
EV/EBIT 18.8x 25.5x 20.9x
EV/Revenue 5.3x 7.6x 8.5x
EV/FCF 18.6x 30.8x 22.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.0x 27.3x 20.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.56 1.61 1.20

Growth

14 metrics
MetricFDSNDAQICE
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.7% 11.5% 12.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.9% 15.1% 13.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 2.4% 13.7% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 4.1% 16.2% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -6.5% 23.1% 19.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 3.6% 20.1% 16.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -10.6% 28.2% 31.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 4.4% 23.6% 19.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -6.3% 31.8% 33.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 6.6% 18.3% 19.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 13.2% 9.0% 17.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 8.4% 12.8% 16.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 14.6% 7.6% 17.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.6% 11.6% 15.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricFDSNDAQICE
Gross margin 50.6% 63.2% –
EBITDA margin 35.6% 37.0% 51.7%
Operating margin 28.3% 29.8% 40.6%
Pretax margin 26.2% 28.5% 39.1%
Net margin 21.5% 22.8% 29.6%
FCF margin 28.6% 24.7% 37.6%
Operating cash flow margin 33.2% 27.8% 41.0%
Return on equity 26.4% 17.4% 14.2%
Return on assets 12.8% 7.6% 2.4%
Return on invested capital 16.9% 10.5% 8.5%
Return on capital employed 22.8% 12.0% 10.5%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.3x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x 1.2x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 3.4% 1.9% 2.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricFDSNDAQICE
Debt / assets 33.1% 31.9% 13.2%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.7x 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 2.4x 2.9x
Debt / FCF 1.9x 3.9x 4.4x
Liabilities / assets 51.6% 56.2% 83.1%
Equity / assets 48.4% 43.8% 16.9%
Interest coverage 12.8x 7.9x 6.8x
Current ratio 0.6x 1.0x 1.0x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.4x 0.0x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.1x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 5.33 3.60 0.79

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricFDSNDAQICE
Dividend yield 1.3% 1.1% 1.2%
Net buyback yield 5.1% 2.4% 2.1%
Shareholder yield 6.4% 3.4% 3.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 27.4%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 21.9%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 6.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 7.7%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusFDSNDAQICE
Forward P/E 18.4xFY2027 27.2xFY2026 20.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $18.55FY2027 $4.03FY2026 $8.69FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +3.0%FY2027 +15.8%FY2026 +25.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.9% +11.2% -3.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.68BFY2027 $6.10BFY2026 $10.54BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.1%FY2027 +16.1%FY2026 +6.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +9.7% +13.7% +16.0%
FDS estimates →NDAQ estimates →ICE estimates →

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersFDSNDAQICE
Held by institutions 100.0% 83.8% 92.5%
Institutions holding 770 1,084 1,655
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.1% +1.0% +1.4%
Institutions buying 416 539 736
Institutions selling 244 398 695
Buyers to sellers 1.70 1.35 1.06
FDS holders →NDAQ holders →ICE holders →

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

FDSNDAQICE
FDS 1.00 0.50 0.42
NDAQ 0.50 1.00 0.63
ICE 0.42 0.63 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, FDS, NDAQ and ICE?

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is the largest by market capitalisation: Factset Research Systems (FDS) $12.36B, Nasdaq (NDAQ) $59.80B, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) $98.26B.

Which stock is cheaper, FDS, NDAQ and ICE?

Factset Research Systems (FDS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Factset Research Systems (FDS) 23.2x, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 28.7x, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 23.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Factset Research Systems (FDS) is cheapest (Factset Research Systems (FDS) 18.4x, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 27.2x, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 20.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Factset Research Systems (FDS) +6.7%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) +11.5%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) +12.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has the highest net margin (Factset Research Systems (FDS) 21.5%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 22.8%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 29.6%). On return on invested capital, Factset Research Systems (FDS) leads (Factset Research Systems (FDS) 16.9%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 10.5%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 8.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Factset Research Systems (FDS) returned the most: Factset Research Systems (FDS) +29.3%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) +27.8%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) +19.0%. Over five years, Nasdaq (NDAQ) compounded fastest (Factset Research Systems (FDS) -5.2%/yr, Nasdaq (NDAQ) +9.1%/yr, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) +5.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Factset Research Systems (FDS) 0.00%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 0.00%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 0.01%. Factset Research Systems (FDS) and Nasdaq (NDAQ) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has been the steadiest (Factset Research Systems (FDS) 48.2%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 28.5%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 26.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, FDS, NDAQ and ICE?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.