SPGI vs ICE vs NDAQ Stock Comparison

S&P Global, Intercontinental Exchange and Nasdaq Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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SPGI S&P Global Inc.
$450.20 +10.7% 1M -6.7% 1Y
Market cap
$132.84B
P/E
27.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$16.12B
Div. yield
0.01%
Financial Data and Analytics Financial Services
5 wins
NDAQ Nasdaq, Inc.
$102.56 +7.5% 1M +15.5% 1Y
Market cap
$58.54B
P/E
28.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.15B
Div. yield
–
Exchanges Financial Services
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

S&P Global leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (S&P Global 5, Intercontinental Exchange 4, Nasdaq 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSPGIICENDAQLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $132.84B $90.16B $58.54B SPGI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 27.0x 22.3x 28.1x ICE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.9x 18.7x 25.6x ICE
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.7% +6.9% +11.5% NDAQ
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 30.5% 30.1% 22.8% SPGI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.1% 8.5% 10.5% SPGI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 2.6x 2.4x SPGI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.01% 0.00% ICE
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -6.7% +3.3% +15.5% NDAQ
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years 0.0%/yr +4.3%/yr +8.8%/yr NDAQ
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 30.9% 25.6% 28.4% ICE
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 58/100 57/100 56/100 SPGI

Percentile Scorecard

SPGIICENDAQ

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

AxisSPGIICENDAQ
Valuation 24 #722 of 945 64 #36 of 97 43 #56 of 97
Growth 68 #261 of 822 53 #33 of 69 46 #38 of 69
Profitability 89 #95 of 835 84 #12 of 70 80 #15 of 70
Financial Health 67 #298 of 905 37 #64 of 101 48 #53 of 101
Shareholder Returns 43 #411 of 726 49 #21 of 40 62 #16 of 40
Overall 58 57 56
  • SPGI ranked among 1,011 companies in Financial Services
  • ICE ranked among 112 companies in Capital Markets
  • NDAQ ranked among 112 companies in Capital Markets

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSPGIICENDAQSPY
1 month +10.7%+4.0%+7.5% -1.0%
3 months +5.6%+11.6%+11.4% +2.9%
6 months +3.1%+2.7%+14.1% +6.4%
Year to date -13.9%+0.4%+5.6% +11.4%
1 year -6.7%+3.3%+15.5% +13.1%
3 years +29.4%+52.1%+107.4% +79.4%
3 years, per year +9.0%+15.0%+27.5% +21.5%
5 years -0.1%+23.6%+52.5% +67.7%
5 years, per year 0.0%+4.3%+8.8% +10.9%
10 years +263.1%+205.4%+364.9% +255.2%
10 years, per year +13.8%+11.8%+16.6% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureSPGIICENDAQSPY
Volatility, 1Y 30.9%25.6%28.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 35.5%27.3%29.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.340.180.56 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.220.130.54 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -40.2%-35.1%-33.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -17.6%-7.1%-0.7% -2.5%
52-week high $546.35$175.10$103.30 $779.14
52-week low $386.35$122.91$76.85 $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.

MultipleSPGIICENDAQ
P/E now vs peer median 27.0xmedian 13.4x 22.7xmedian 29.4x 27.5xmedian 29.4x
P/S now vs peer median 8.2xmedian 3.2x 6.8xmedian 2.8x 6.3xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.2xmedian 5.9x 15.6xmedian 12.8x 19.3xmedian 12.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 23.8xmedian 11.1x 18.0xmedian 15.9x 25.4xmedian 15.9x
P/B now vs peer median 4.2xmedian 1.2x 3.1xmedian 2.5x 4.8xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 0.86median 0.89 0.68median 0.51 1.50median 0.51

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 monthsSPGIICENDAQ
Revenue $16.12B $13.43B $9.15B
Gross profit $11.43B – $5.78B
Operating income $7.16B $5.47B $2.73B
Net income $5.32B $4.10B $2.08B
Free cash flow $5.57B $5.08B $2.26B
EPS (diluted) $16.66 $7.13 $3.70
Cash & equivalents $4.13B $1.07B $365.00M
Total debt $15.17B $78.89B $8.74B
Shares (diluted) 295.50M 566.00M 563.31M
Enterprise value $123.43B $83.90B $55.98B

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
MetricSPGIICENDAQ
P/E 27.0x 22.7x 27.5x
P/FCF 23.8x 18.0x 25.4x
P/Operating cash flow 23.2x 16.6x 22.5x
P/S 8.2x 6.8x 6.3x
P/B 4.2x 3.1x 4.8x
P/Tangible book 8.3x 6.2x 9.7x
EV/EBITDA 17.2x 15.6x 19.3x
EV/EBIT 20.1x 20.0x 24.0x
EV/Revenue 8.9x 8.1x 7.2x
EV/FCF 25.8x 21.5x 29.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 25.1x 19.8x 25.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.86 0.68 1.50

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSPGIICENDAQ
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.7% 6.9% 11.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.2% 11.9% 15.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.5% – 13.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 12.9% – 16.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 22.0% 16.4% 23.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 25.5% 13.9% 20.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 22.3% 34.1% 28.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 26.8% 33.1% 23.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 27.1% 36.6% 31.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 31.4% 33.3% 18.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 2.6% 13.1% 9.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 20.3% 14.9% 12.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 3.0% 13.9% 7.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 20.5% 14.1% 11.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSPGIICENDAQ
Gross margin 70.9% – 63.2%
EBITDA margin 51.9% 52.3% 37.0%
Operating margin 44.4% 40.7% 29.8%
Pretax margin 42.6% 39.7% 28.5%
Net margin 30.5% 30.1% 22.8%
FCF margin 34.6% 37.8% 24.7%
Operating cash flow margin 35.5% 41.1% 27.8%
Return on equity 16.9% 13.9% 17.4%
Return on assets 8.6% 2.3% 7.6%
Return on invested capital 12.1% 8.5% 10.5%
Return on capital employed 13.6% 9.7% 12.0%
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.1x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 1.3x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 1.5% 2.0% 1.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSPGIICENDAQ
Debt / assets 24.1% 11.4% 31.9%
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.7x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 2.6x 2.4x
Debt / FCF 2.7x 3.9x 3.9x
Liabilities / assets 49.7% 83.0% 56.2%
Equity / assets 50.3% 17.0% 43.8%
Interest coverage 22.7x 6.8x 7.9x
Current ratio 1.0x 1.0x 1.0x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.0x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.0x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 3.74 0.75 3.44

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSPGIICENDAQ
Dividend yield 0.9% 1.3% 1.1%
Net buyback yield 3.5% 2.2% 2.6%
Shareholder yield 4.4% 3.4% 3.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) 21.7% 27.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 20.7% 22.5% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 0.4% 6.1% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 0.8% 8.3% –

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.

ConsensusSPGIICENDAQ
Forward P/E 23.9xFY2026 18.7xFY2026 25.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $18.87FY2026 $8.68FY2026 $4.01FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +11.9%FY2026 +24.9%FY2026 +15.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +12.9% -3.0% +10.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.46BFY2026 $10.53BFY2026 $6.07BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.8%FY2026 +6.0%FY2026 +15.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.6% +16.1% +13.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSPGIICENDAQ
Held by institutions 87.5% 92.5% 83.8%
Institutions holding 2,001 1,651 1,082
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.6% +1.4% +1.0%
Institutions buying 871 734 538
Institutions selling 876 694 397
Buyers to sellers 0.99 1.06 1.36

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.

SPGIICENDAQ
SPGI 1.00 0.58 0.66
ICE 0.58 1.00 0.65
NDAQ 0.66 0.65 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SPGI, ICE and NDAQ?

S&P Global (SPGI) is the largest by market capitalisation: S&P Global (SPGI) $132.84B, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) $90.16B, Nasdaq (NDAQ) $58.54B.

Which stock is cheaper, SPGI, ICE and NDAQ?

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (S&P Global (SPGI) 27.0x, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 22.3x, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 28.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is cheapest (S&P Global (SPGI) 23.9x, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 18.7x, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 25.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Nasdaq (NDAQ) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: S&P Global (SPGI) +9.7%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) +6.9%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) +11.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

S&P Global (SPGI) has the highest net margin (S&P Global (SPGI) 30.5%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 30.1%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 22.8%). On return on invested capital, S&P Global (SPGI) leads (S&P Global (SPGI) 12.1%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 8.5%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 10.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nasdaq (NDAQ) returned the most: S&P Global (SPGI) -6.7%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) +3.3%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) +15.5%. Over five years, Nasdaq (NDAQ) compounded fastest (S&P Global (SPGI) 0.0%/yr, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) +4.3%/yr, Nasdaq (NDAQ) +8.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has the highest dividend yield: S&P Global (SPGI) 0.01%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 0.01%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 0.00%. Nasdaq (NDAQ) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has been the steadiest (S&P Global (SPGI) 30.9%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 25.6%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 28.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, S&P Global (SPGI) 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.