ICE vs NDAQ vs VERX Stock Comparison

Intercontinental Exchange, Nasdaq and Vertex Prices as of Nov 3, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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NDAQ Nasdaq, Inc.
$106.97 +18.4% 1M +23.8% 1Y
Market cap
$61.14B
P/E
29.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.15B
Div. yield
–
Exchanges Financial Services
3 wins
VERX Vertex, Inc.
$15.26 +27.1% 1M -26.2% 1Y
Market cap
$2.56B
P/E
717.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$787.44M
Div. yield
–
Compliance Software Technology
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Intercontinental Exchange leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Intercontinental Exchange 6, Nasdaq 3, Vertex 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionICENDAQVERXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $98.46B $61.14B $2.56B ICE
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 23.7x 29.3x 717.1x ICE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.7x 26.5x 19.6x VERX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.1% +11.5% +10.8% ICE
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 29.6% 22.8% 0.5% ICE
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.5% 10.5% 0.0% NDAQ
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.9x 2.4x 1.1x VERX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +17.4% +23.8% -26.2% NDAQ
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.6%/yr +8.6%/yr -5.9%/yr NDAQ
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 26.0% 28.4% 61.3% ICE
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 53/100 53/100 47/100 ICE

Percentile Scorecard

ICENDAQVERX

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

AxisICENDAQVERX
Valuation 56 #46 of 103 41 #61 of 103 41 #59 of 100
Growth 48 #37 of 70 39 #43 of 70 75 #26 of 99
Profitability 81 #15 of 74 77 #18 of 74 54 #45 of 96
Financial Health 35 #65 of 99 48 #52 of 99 33 #75 of 112
Shareholder Returns 48 #22 of 41 60 #17 of 41 33 #45 of 67
Overall 53 53 47
  • ICE ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets
  • NDAQ ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets
  • VERX ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodICENDAQVERXSPY
1 month +13.9%+18.4%+27.1% -2.0%
3 months +14.6%+14.3%+23.2% -2.2%
6 months +10.1%+20.2%+11.9% +4.2%
Year to date +5.6%+10.1%-23.6% +10.6%
1 year +17.4%+23.8%-26.2% +10.4%
3 years +58.4%+113.0%-34.8% +73.6%
3 years, per year +16.6%+28.7%-13.3% +20.2%
5 years +25.2%+51.2%-26.1% +61.6%
5 years, per year +4.6%+8.6%-5.9% +10.1%
10 years +217.2%+400.2%— +261.3%
10 years, per year +12.2%+17.5%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureICENDAQVERXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 26.0%28.4%61.3% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.0%29.9%61.7% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.090.550.37 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.670.84-0.43 0.81
Max drawdown, 5Y -34.8%-33.4%-82.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.4%-1.5%-26.3% -3.2%
52-week high $175.10$108.62$20.71 $779.14
52-week low $122.91$76.85$10.58 $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.

MultipleICENDAQVERX
P/E now vs peer median 23.2xmedian 29.4x 28.7xmedian 29.4x 688.7xmedian 27.1x
P/S now vs peer median 6.8xmedian 3.0x 6.5xmedian 3.0x 3.1xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 16.1xmedian 13.1x 20.1xmedian 13.1x 26.2xmedian 16.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 18.1xmedian 14.8x 26.5xmedian 14.8x 48.8xmedian 15.7x
P/B now vs peer median 3.2xmedian 2.4x 5.0xmedian 2.4x 10.2xmedian 2.8x
PEG now vs peer median 1.17median 0.55 1.57median 0.55 24.43median 0.87

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 monthsICENDAQVERX
Revenue $14.05B $9.15B $787.44M
Gross profit – $5.78B $503.58M
Operating income $5.70B $2.73B -$13.34M
Net income $4.23B $2.08B $3.58M
Free cash flow $5.28B $2.26B $50.48M
R&D – – $91.60M
EPS (diluted) $7.35 $3.70 $0.02
Cash & equivalents $936.00M $365.00M $230.49M
Total debt $23.30B $8.74B $338.61M
Shares (diluted) 566.00M 563.31M 161.39M
Enterprise value $91.36B $58.57B $1.42B

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
MetricICENDAQVERX
P/E 23.2x 28.7x 688.7x
P/FCF 18.1x 26.5x 48.8x
P/Operating cash flow 16.6x 23.5x 14.2x
P/S 6.8x 6.5x 3.1x
P/B 3.2x 5.0x 10.2x
P/Tangible book 6.2x 10.1x 10.3x
EV/EBITDA 16.1x 20.1x 26.2x
EV/EBIT 20.5x 24.9x -192.7x
EV/Revenue 8.3x 7.4x 3.3x
EV/FCF 22.1x 30.1x 50.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.3x 26.7x 14.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.17 1.57 24.43

Growth

14 metrics
MetricICENDAQVERX
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.1% 11.5% 10.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 13.5% 15.1% 14.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 13.7% 9.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 16.2% 15.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 19.6% 23.1% -75.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 16.2% 20.1% 8.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 31.3% 28.2% 107.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 19.3% 23.6% 28.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 33.5% 31.8% 107.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.7% 18.3% 28.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 17.7% 9.0% 21.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 16.3% 12.8% 47.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 17.5% 7.6% 4,078%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 15.1% 11.6% 78.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricICENDAQVERX
Gross margin – 63.2% 64.0%
EBITDA margin 51.7% 37.0% 12.5%
Operating margin 40.6% 29.8% -1.7%
Pretax margin 39.1% 28.5% -1.2%
Net margin 29.6% 22.8% 0.5%
FCF margin 37.6% 24.7% 6.4%
Operating cash flow margin 41.0% 27.8% 22.0%
Return on equity 14.2% 17.4% 1.5%
Return on assets 2.4% 7.6% 0.3%
Return on invested capital 8.5% 10.5% 0.0%
Return on capital employed 10.5% 12.0% -2.1%
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.3x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.2x 48.6x
Stock comp / revenue 2.0% 1.9% 7.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricICENDAQVERX
Debt / assets 13.2% 31.9% 28.0%
Debt / equity 0.8x 0.7x 1.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.9x 2.4x 1.1x
Debt / FCF 4.4x 3.9x 6.7x
Liabilities / assets 83.1% 56.2% 80.1%
Equity / assets 16.9% 43.8% 19.9%
Interest coverage 6.8x 7.9x –
Current ratio 1.0x 1.0x 0.9x
Quick ratio 0.0x 0.4x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.1x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 0.78 3.54 2.02

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricICENDAQVERX
Dividend yield 1.2% 1.1% –
Net buyback yield 2.1% 2.5% 1.9%
Shareholder yield 3.3% 3.5% 1.9%
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.

ConsensusICENDAQVERX
Forward P/E 19.7xFY2026 26.5xFY2026 19.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.69FY2026 $4.03FY2026 $0.78FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +25.0%FY2026 +15.8%FY2026 +21.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -3.2% +11.2% +38.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $10.54BFY2026 $6.10BFY2026 $795.75MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.1%FY2026 +16.1%FY2026 +6.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +16.0% +13.7% +17.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersICENDAQVERX
Held by institutions 92.5% 83.8% 46.0%
Institutions holding 1,655 1,084 229
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.4% +1.0% -7.0%
Institutions buying 736 539 135
Institutions selling 695 398 69
Buyers to sellers 1.06 1.35 1.96

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.

ICENDAQVERX
ICE 1.00 0.63 0.44
NDAQ 0.63 1.00 0.49
VERX 0.44 0.49 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ICE, NDAQ and VERX?

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is the largest by market capitalisation: Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) $98.46B, Nasdaq (NDAQ) $61.14B, Vertex (VERX) $2.56B.

Which stock is cheaper, ICE, NDAQ and VERX?

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 23.7x, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 29.3x, Vertex (VERX) 717.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Vertex (VERX) is cheapest (Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 19.7x, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 26.5x, Vertex (VERX) 19.6x). 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: Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) +12.1%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) +11.5%, Vertex (VERX) +10.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has the highest net margin (Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 29.6%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 22.8%, Vertex (VERX) 0.5%). On return on invested capital, Nasdaq (NDAQ) leads (Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 8.5%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 10.5%, Vertex (VERX) 0.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nasdaq (NDAQ) returned the most: Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) +17.4%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) +23.8%, Vertex (VERX) -26.2%. Over five years, Nasdaq (NDAQ) compounded fastest (Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) +4.6%/yr, Nasdaq (NDAQ) +8.6%/yr, Vertex (VERX) -5.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

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

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has been the steadiest (Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 26.0%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 28.4%, Vertex (VERX) 61.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 6. 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.