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Nasdaq Inc - 144A

Exchange: NASDAQSector: Financial ServicesIndustry: Financial Data & Stock Exchanges

The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ OMX) is a holding company. It is a global exchange group that delivers trading, clearing, exchange technology, regulatory, securities listing, and public company services across six continents. Its global offerings are diverse and include trading and clearing across multiple asset classes, market data products, financial indexes, capital formation solutions, financial services and market technology products and services. The Company operates in three segments: Market Services, Issuer Services and Market Technology. In June 2013, the Company announced the completion of its acquisition of Thomson Reuters Investor Relations, Public Relations and Multimedia Solutions businesses, which provide insight, analytics and communications solutions. In July 2013, BGC Partners Inc announced that it closed the sale of its on-the-run, 2-, 3-, 5-, 7-, 10-, and 30-year fully electronic trading platform for U.S. Treasury Notes and Bonds to NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.

Did you know?

Pays a 1.21% dividend yield.

Current Price

$87.04

+0.78%

GoodMoat Value

$79.93

8.2% overvalued
Profile
Valuation (TTM)
Market Cap$49.70B
P/E27.80
EV$57.96B
P/B4.06
Shares Out571.00M
P/Sales6.02
Revenue$8.26B
EV/EBITDA18.56

Nasdaq Inc - 144A (NDAQ) — Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Apr 5, 202610 speakers5,474 words20 segments

AI Call Summary AI-generated

The 30-second take

Nasdaq had a solid quarter, driven by strong demand for its index products and financial technology software. While some areas like corporate services faced slower sales, the company is excited about new opportunities in areas like anti-fraud software and index options. The overall tone was confident, highlighting the company's diverse business model as a strength.

Key numbers mentioned

  • Net revenues of $1.1 billion, up 7% from the prior year on a pro forma basis.
  • ETP AUM for the Index business reached $519 billion, crossing the $500 billion threshold for the first time.
  • Annualized recurring revenue (ARR) increased by 7% year-over-year on a pro forma basis, reaching $2.6 billion.
  • Financial Crime Management Technology business experienced 23% revenue growth and 24.5% ARR growth.
  • Operating margin was 53% for the quarter.
  • Free cash flow in the quarter was $504 million.

What management is worried about

  • Corporate Solutions faced challenges due to lower sales in 2023, which negatively impacted performance in 2024.
  • Sales cycles in Corporate Solutions remain longer than in previous years and are comparable to the fourth quarter of 2023.
  • The market technology business faced challenges due to a tough comparable period from a significant professional service delivery in the prior year.
  • The slower IPO environment and related slower sales are impacting parts of the business.

What management is excited about

  • The Index business gained exceptional momentum, with the Nasdaq-100 hitting record highs and seeing $21 billion in net inflows just this quarter.
  • The company successfully launched an AI copilot tool for its Financial Crime Management business, with early results showing significant reductions in alert review times.
  • There is a healthy pipeline of exciting companies preparing to enter the public markets, indicating a better U.S. public equity capital raising environment ahead.
  • The company sees a significant opportunity in index options, noting an 80% year-over-year increase in index options volumes.
  • Cross-selling campaigns across the Financial Technology division are generating encouraging early conversations with clients.

Analyst questions that hit hardest

  1. Owen Lau (Oppenheimer) - Cross-sell campaign details: Management responded with a detailed breakdown of three specific cross-sell campaigns but noted it will take time for conversations to turn into contracts.
  2. Alexander Blostein (Goldman Sachs) - Sources of Adenza growth and forward outlook: Management gave a detailed answer bridging growth sources, attributing some to renewal timing but emphasizing strong underlying demand and mid-teens ARR growth.
  3. Y. Cho (BofA Securities) - Pricing vs. upsell drivers for Axiom and Calypso: Management was somewhat evasive, stating they don't break down the mix further than a typical 50/50 split and deflected to discussing long-term cloud transition trends.

The quote that matters

Our Index business crossed the $500 billion threshold in ETP AUM for the first time, ending the quarter at $519 billion.

Adena Friedman — Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Sentiment vs. last quarter

This section is omitted as no previous quarter context was provided.

Original transcript

Operator

Good day and thank you for joining us. Welcome to Nasdaq's First Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call. Please note that this conference is being recorded.

O
AG
Ato GarrettSenior Vice President, Investor Relations

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today to discuss Nasdaq's First Quarter 2024 Financial Results. On the line are Adena Friedman, our Chair and Chief Executive Officer; Sarah Youngwood, our Chief Financial Officer; John Zecca, our Chief Legal, Risk and Regulatory Officer; and other members of the management team. After prepared remarks, we will open the line for Q&A. The press release and earnings presentation are on our website. We intend to use the website as a means of disclosing material nonpublic information and complying with disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. I would like to remind you that certain statements in this presentation and during Q&A may relate to future events and expectations and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from these projections. Information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements is contained in our press release and periodic reports filed with the SEC. Further, any references to organic growth will exclude the impact of changes in FX rates and the impact of acquisitions and divestitures, which this quarter is substantially all related to AxiomSL and Calypso. The financial results of these businesses are included in Solutions revenue, within the Financial Technology division. Also please note that we will discuss certain financial results on a pro forma basis, which means that we are showing the results as if we've included Calypso and AxiomSL results in the first quarter 2023 and excluded the impact of changes in FX rates. Reconciliations of U.S. GAAP to non-GAAP results can be found in our press release as well as in a file located in the Financials section of our Investor Relations website at ir.nasdaq.com. I will now turn the call over to Adena.

AF
Adena FriedmanChair and Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Ato. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Today, I will discuss our outlook on the external environment and highlights from our first quarter financial and operational performance, including innovation milestones and updates on our cross-sell efforts and synergies. After that, I will hand the call over to Sarah for a review of our financial results. Let's begin with our outlook on the current economic environment. Recent data indicates that sustained consumer spending and a strong labor force suggest the U.S. economy remains resilient, even amid geopolitical risks and higher capital costs. The U.S. markets are performing well, reflecting this economic strength and potential productivity benefits from generative AI and other sector trends. Consequently, U.S. growth is anticipated to surpass that of other advanced economies, leading economists to predict a soft landing in the U.S. While other advanced economies are experiencing slower growth, there has been recent improvement in manufacturing and services, particularly in Europe. Global inflation has notably decreased over the past year but is beginning to show signs of persistence. Markets expect interest rates to decline later this year in most major markets, which would benefit corporates and the real estate sector, including new homebuyers. With market strength, there has been an increase in IPO activity. In the first quarter, the U.S. welcomed 39 operating company IPOs, the highest in two years, with nine IPOs exceeding $1 billion in market cap. Per our recent Nasdaq IPO Pulse Index, five out of six leading indicators of future IPO activity are improving, indicating a better U.S. public equity capital raising environment ahead. Looking forward, we see a healthy pipeline of exciting companies preparing to enter the public markets, though their timelines depend on sustained economic and market performance. Examining Nasdaq's business environment, we are capitalizing on attractive opportunities for sustainable growth through our diversified business platform, which is well positioned across economic cycles, as demonstrated by our solid first quarter performance with double-digit growth in Solutions revenues. We have aligned our business with key industry megatrends, including market modernization and investment landscape transformation. This positions us to meet strong client demand, which we will discuss further throughout this call. Before reviewing our financial results, I want to mention Borse Dubai's recent secondary offering of Nasdaq common stock, which involved them selling approximately 5% of Nasdaq's total shares outstanding. The secondary transaction was well-received, closing with strong investor demand. After this transaction, Borse Dubai retains just over 10% of Nasdaq's total shares. Additionally, Essa Kazim, Chairman of Borse Dubai, will continue as a valued member of Nasdaq's Board of Directors. Our relationship with Borse Dubai, built over many years, remains strong as they continue to support us as a shareholder. Now, turning to our financial results, I am pleased to share Nasdaq's solid performance for the first quarter of 2024, characterized by strong double-digit growth in Solutions revenues. We achieved $1.1 billion in net revenues, up 7% from the prior year on a pro forma basis, with 13% pro forma growth across our Solutions businesses. Our Financial Technology division performed well, along with stellar results from our Index business. Our annualized recurring revenue increased by 7% year-over-year on a pro forma basis, reaching $2.6 billion. Overall, we supported revenue growth while achieving a 53% operating margin for the quarter, which demonstrates our ability to deliver value while maintaining strong margins. Let's now review the operational highlights by division, starting with Capital Access Platforms, where we achieved 15% growth driven by our Index business. After a strong finish in 2023, our Index business gained exceptional momentum in early 2024, with the Nasdaq-100 hitting record highs multiple times. Our Index business crossed the $500 billion threshold in ETP AUM for the first time, ending the quarter at $519 billion. Over the past year, we saw $46 billion in net inflows, including $21 billion just this quarter. We also launched 29 new products tracking Nasdaq indices, emphasizing our focus on innovation. This momentum led to a 53% growth in our Index business. Our Data and Listings business experienced a 1% year-over-year increase, though global growth was offset by delistings and a slow IPO environment. Our U.S. listings business had a 69% win rate for eligible operating company listings, welcoming 22 IPOs that raised nearly $4 billion, including notable companies like Kaspi.kz and Astera Labs. In our Workflow and Insights division, we grew by 4% year-over-year, although we faced challenges in Corporate Solutions due to lower sales in 2023, which negatively impacted our performance in 2024. While we've seen some improvement in sales cycles, they remain longer than in previous years. Our Analytics business saw high single-digit growth, and we've deepened our strategic alliance with Mercer to enhance our offerings. Turning to the Financial Technology division, we achieved 10% growth in the quarter, receiving positive feedback from clients. We hosted our first Financial Technology conference, helping clients understand our product offerings and stimulating new commercial discussions. The Financial Crime Management Technology business experienced 23% revenue growth and 24.5% ARR growth, signing 28 new clients during the quarter. We successfully launched our AI copilot tool, enhancing efficiency for investigators, with early user results showing significant reductions in alert review times. In Capital Markets Technology, we grew by 6% year-over-year with 9% growth in ARR. Calypso performed especially well, showcasing strong client demand. Although market technology faced challenges due to past comparables, we continued with our modernization strategies, signing agreements to upgrade clients to our next-generation platforms. Our Regulatory Technology business delivered 11% growth, with strong sales and renewals across AxiomSL and surveillance. The increasing adoption of cloud solutions reflects our successful transition to modern technology. In summary, we're pleased with our solid quarter of results that align with our medium-term outlook. Across Nasdaq's core businesses, we delivered strong performance amidst challenging market conditions, demonstrating the resilience of our business model. Now, I will turn the call over to Sarah for the financial details.

SY
Sarah YoungwoodChief Financial Officer

Thank you, Adena. And good morning, everyone. Turning to our financials. My commentary will focus on non-GAAP results. Year-on-year growth rates and operating margins will be provided on a pro forma basis unless noted. You can find all the same metrics on an organic basis throughout the earnings presentation. Turning to our first quarter results on Slide 10. We reported net revenue of $1.1 billion, up 7%, with Solutions revenue of $871 million up 13%. Operating expense was $524 million, up 5%, resulting in an operating margin of 53%, up 1 percentage point and with an EBITDA margin at 56%. Overall, this resulted in diluted EPS of $0.63. Turning to Slide 11 with pro forma revenue growth of 7% for the quarter. As you can see in the last bar of the chart, results included a $16 million one-time revenue benefit related to a legal settlement within Index tied to the recoupment of revenue. Excluding this, total net revenue increased 6%. And on a net basis, the 6% was alpha performance. Overall, beta factors were neutral this quarter, with Index market performance primarily offset by the impacts of delisting in Capital Access Platforms and lower volumes in Market Services. The 6% of alpha included 5% growth from our existing clients and a strong 3% from new clients, cross-sell, and other product innovations, with churn at a low 1% level and a 1% decrease from market share and capture in Market Services. Turning to Slide 12. ARR totaled $2.6 billion, up 7%. As you recall, ARR excludes most of Index. We had 12% growth in fintech, with strong contributions from each of the 3 subdivisions, and 1% growth in Capital Access Platforms, with strength in Analytics partially offset by the impacts of delisting, the slower IPO environment, and related slower sales in Corporate Solutions. Annualized SaaS revenue totaled $932 million, up 16%. SaaS was 36% of ARR, up 3 points on a pro forma basis. Let's review division results for the quarter, starting on Slide 13. In Capital Access Platforms, we delivered revenue of $479 million, reflecting growth of 15%, or 12% excluding the one-time benefit I mentioned. Index revenue increased by 53%, or 38% excluding the one-time benefit. We achieved record highs in ETP AUM, averaging $492 billion during the quarter, which is roughly $150 billion higher than the prior year period average. This includes strong market performance as well as higher futures trading volume and capture. Importantly, we also had net inflows of $46 billion in the last 12 months, including $21 billion this quarter. This performance is the result of strength of our data, brand, and the relevant and innovative products we have launched over many years. Licensing revenue for futures and options contracts linked to the Nasdaq-100 index also had high-teens growth reflecting higher futures and options trading volumes, up 5%, driven by growth in micro Nasdaq-100 futures contracts as well as the positive impact from higher capture rates of our partners. Moving to Data and Listings, where revenue was up 1%. Within listings, the benefit of 2023 IPOs and pricing was offset by the $10 million impact of last year's delistings and downgrades. The roll-off of prior year's initial listings revenue didn't have a material impact this quarter but will increase during the year. Within data, we continue to see global expansion driven by international demand, mostly offset by normal levels of competitive pressures. Workflow and Insights revenue increased 4%. Within this, Analytics grew high single digits, reflecting our continued ability to monetize the value of our data across the investment management and trading community. Our proprietary data is key to our alpha generation throughout Nasdaq. And within Analytics, we provide valuable client insights through eVestment and Data Link. The strength in Analytics was partially offset by Corporate Solutions, which was flat in the period. As we continue to see elongated sales cycles at levels comparable to the fourth quarter of 2023 as well as fewer sales opportunities due to the challenging listing environment. In total, ARR for Capital Access Platforms was $1.2 billion for the quarter, up 1%, with alpha growth from pricing, upsells, and new clients mostly offset by delistings and the continued impact of slower sales cycle among our corporate clients. The division's operating margin was 58% for the quarter. Excluding the one-time benefit, the margin was 57%, up 3 percentage points. The increase was driven by higher revenue, partially offset by inflation and growth-oriented investments. Looking forward to the full year 2024 revenue. Due to the market backdrop negatively impacting Corporate Solutions, we expect growth in Workflow and Insights to be below its medium-term outlook, whereas the strength in our Index business gives us confidence that, within 2024, we can perform above our medium-term outlook. Taken together, we continue to expect our 2024 performance to be within the overall revenue outlook for the Capital Access Platforms division. Moving to Financial Technology on Slide 14. As a reminder, last week, we provided 2023 quarterly information for AxiomSL and Calypso, and today, we provided quarterly pro forma divisional results for 2023, both of which can be found in the appendix of the presentation. This should help you incorporate pro forma comparison in your model. The division delivered revenue of $392 million for the quarter, up 10%, in line with our medium-term outlook. The growth reflects strong performance in financial crime management, Calypso and AxiomSL at 23%, 23% and 15%, respectively, with strong client engagement. This was partially offset by a tough comp in market tech due to a significant professional service delivery in the prior year quarter, which we noted at that time, and makes the year-on-year comparison less meaningful. ARR was $1.4 billion, up 12%, with all subdivisions contributing to this strong growth. The key contributors to the difference between total revenue growth and ARR growth were lower year-on-year professional service revenue growth due to the tough comp for market tech as well as less-robust project delivery across our products in the quarter, partially offset by upfront revenue from on-prem renewals, particularly for Calypso. Before we move to subdivision results, a few words on the strong performance of AxiomSL and Calypso. Combined revenue of $151 million increased 20% versus last year, with good client momentum. We had a high level of upfront renewal revenue. We also had higher cloud-based revenues and slightly lower professional services revenue. As we look forward, we continue to expect combined AxiomSL and Calypso revenue to be in line with the full year expectations provided at Investor Day. As we progress through the quarters, we will provide some context to support your modeling. On the back of a strong first quarter, which delivered revenue growth above alpha trends, we expect lower revenue growth in the second quarter, due in large part to the timing of renewal. Combined AxiomSL and Calypso ARR of $473 million was up 15%, or up 16% excluding the impact of a significant 2023 bankruptcy noted last quarter. This is in line with our full year expectations as provided at Investor Day, and we maintain this outlook for the year. Moving to the subdivisions results. Financial Crime Management Technology revenue was $64 million, up 23%, with ARR of $243 million up 24.5%, reflecting continuous penetration of the core SMB client base, adding 28 new clients in the quarter, with full year 2024 SMB client wins expected to be at least that of 2023. While we had no new Tier 1 or 2 bank signings in the quarter, we continued to have active and positive engagement with a strong pipeline of client opportunities which we expect to sign in the coming quarters. Regulatory Technology revenue was $90 million, and ARR was $328 million, both up 11%. Excluding the impact of churn related to the liquidity event of March 2023, revenue and ARR were up 12% and 13%, respectively. Surveillance grew 6% for both revenue and ARR, reflecting strong sales as well as the continuation of the cloud transformation of this business, with 55% of Nasdaq Trade Surveillance customers now in the cloud. AxiomSL grew revenue 15% and ARR by 16%, reflecting strong sales. In the quarter, nearly 50% of new bookings were in the cloud, highlighting the continued cloud journey for the business that is ultimately beneficial for both our clients and Nasdaq. In Capital Markets Technology, we delivered revenue of $238 million, up 6%, with ARR of $821 million up 9%. Calypso had a strong quarter, with revenue up 23% and ARR up 14%. Revenue included a strong contribution of on-prem renewal revenue. The business had 16% of new bookings come from the cloud, a lower proportion than what we expect for the year due to timing. The combined market tech and trade management services business, which is what we used to call marketplace tech, was slightly down in revenue but up in ARR, again driven by the significant professional service delivery in the prior year period that provided a tough comp. This impact was somewhat offset by the partial quarter impact of pricing increases coupled with strong client activity and testing revenue within trade management services. Looking forward to the full year 2024, we expect the combined market tech and trade management services to be well positioned within the 3% to 5% range, with a muted second quarter and the growth being back ended. The division's operating margin in the first quarter was 45%, up 2 percentage points. The margin expansion reflects strong top line revenue growth and the beginning of synergy realization, partially offset by higher compensation and benefits expense and expense related to revenue and investments in growth. And wrapping up the divisions with Market Services. Net revenue was $237 million for the quarter, down 9% versus an extremely tough comp. The first story here is 1 percentage point or $3 million relating to our share of nonrecurring industry adjustments to the tape plan. The rest was about half beta, half alpha, with beta drivers across tape, 1 fewer trading day and volumes in Europe; and most of the alpha story tied to last year's exceptional capture in our U.S. options business during the bank liquidity events in the first quarter. $0.13 per contract traded in 1Q '23 was an exception in a consistent 2-year trend of capture at $0.12, which is where we were in the first quarter. The division's operating margin of 56% in the first quarter represents a 6 percentage points decrease from the prior year period as a result of lower revenue as well as ongoing investments related to both capacity enhancements and modernizing our market. Turning to Slide 16. This quarter's non-GAAP operating expense was $524 million, reflecting pro forma growth of $24 million or 5%. This is driven by inflation, supporting our revenue growth and investments. This compares to pro forma revenue growth of $76 million or 7%, reflecting positive operating leverage. Now on to guidance. We are updating 2024 non-GAAP operating expense guidance to $2.125 billion to $2.185 billion to reflect FX, equity compensation and less uncertainty on revenue growth. The midpoint represents pro forma growth of just over 5%. This includes a full year of Adenza, FX and the in-year benefits of net expense synergies. Excluding Adenza, Nasdaq's expense growth would be around 4.5%. In addition, the second quarter will reflect our annual merit adjustments and equity grants. And therefore, we expect expense to increase just under $20 million from the first quarter of 2024, assuming stable performance and exchange rates. On synergies, we have actioned approximately 40% of our $80 million of net expense synergies through the end of 1Q '24, with the P&L benefit weighted towards the second half of 2024 and into 2025 given some transition projects. We are confident in the 70% actioned by the end of 2024 and would note that it won't be linear. Additionally, we continue to expect a full year tax rate of 24.5% to 26.5% on a non-GAAP basis. Turning to Slide 17. Strong free cash flow continues to be the hallmark of Nasdaq. In the quarter, we had $504 million of free cash flow. Please note that cash flow generation in the first quarter is generally elevated versus the rest of the year. Once again, we had a cash flow conversion ratio above 100% at 106% for the last 12 months. In terms of free cash flow utilization in the quarter, we paid a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, or $127 million, for a 35% payout ratio. And we did not repurchase any shares this quarter. We also repaid the remaining $340 million of our term loan, in line with our prior commitment of prioritizing deleveraging. And finally, we repaid $67 million of commercial paper. Excluding commercial paper, all of our outstanding debt is now fixed. Our all-in pretax cost of debt was 4.0% as we exit 1Q '24. Turning to leverage. Our gross leverage ratio declined from 4.3 at the end of last year to 4.1 at the end of 1Q '24. In addition to the stated debt repayments, our leverage ratio decreased 0.1x from impacts of FX, amortization of debt issue costs, and stronger EBITDA. We are reiterating our expectation to achieve gross leverage below 4x, 9 to 12 months ahead of our initial goal. As I reflect on this quarter, I would highlight strong client adoption and growth in Solutions overall and particularly in Index, Analytics, financial crime management, AxiomSL and Calypso; strong progress on synergy actions and building of cross-sell pipelines; and continued actions on deleveraging. As we look ahead, I continue to be impressed by the balance and diversity of the business model, enabling us to grow the top line with strong margins and to effectively execute our capital allocation plans. We are well positioned to deliver on our One Nasdaq strategy and achieve durable organic revenue growth and profitability. Thank you for your time. And I will turn it back to the operator for Q&A.

Operator

Our first question comes from Owen Lau from Oppenheimer.

O
KL
Kwun Sum LauAnalyst

Could you please add more color on the cross-sell campaigns to achieve your $100 million target? What is the plan for the rest of this year? Does it mainly cover the cross-sell within Adenza or between Adenza and Verafin or across the whole company?

AF
Adena FriedmanChair and Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Owen. Sure. So we actually described the current cross-sell campaigns at Investor Day a few weeks ago, and it really covers across the fintech division. So one of the cross-sell campaigns is really focusing on bringing more of the Calypso risk management, collateral management capabilities into our market operator clients. Another one actually is working with the Calypso clients to bring more AxiomSL capabilities, so bringing AxiomSL into some of the capital markets firms where they have new regulatory obligations that they're facing. And then the third is introducing some of the Verafin clients to the AxiomSL team as well and the Calypso team, particularly actually on the treasury management capabilities within Calypso, that we think are relevant to the Tier 3 banks that are really a big part of the Verafin client base. So those are the 3 main campaigns we have, but I would tell you it is actually really interesting as we talk to our bank clients, our broker-dealer clients, our exchange clients. When we have conversations today, it generally will start with one product and then move to a second. I was actually talking to one client just the other day, where they're an AxiomSL client and they're really interested in anti-fin crime. So we can kind of look holistically at the strategic relationship in ways that we haven't been able to do in the past. So it's been a great start, and we hope to be able to show some tangible progress. It will take time for these opportunities to turn into contracts. As you know, it takes time to contract with banks, but we are very encouraged by the early conversations we're having.

KL
Kwun Sum LauAnalyst

Got it. That's helpful. Just a quick follow-up on Verafin. I think you didn't sign Tier 1 and Tier 2 banks this quarter, but the number was still pretty strong. Can you please talk about the pipeline for the rest of this year for Tier 1 and Tier 2 banks and also give us an update on the international expansion opportunity?

AF
Adena FriedmanChair and Chief Executive Officer

Sure. While we didn't sign any new clients this quarter, we are effectively implementing the clients we acquired last year, and that process is going quite smoothly. We have a strong pipeline of companies, currently involved in proofs of concept or contracting phases, which gives us confidence in our ability to continue securing clients as the year progresses. A key challenge we emphasize to clients is our fraud detection and investigative capabilities, which provide a clear return on investment by reducing false positives and enhancing fraud detection. Another significant focus for larger banks is check fraud, and we are excited to roll out our new best-in-class capability in that area. Additionally, our new entity research and copilot tool greatly supports our anti-money laundering efforts, reducing investigative time by 90%, which we believe will help us engage with larger banks alongside our existing clientele. Regarding international expansion, as mentioned during Investor Day, we are primarily focusing on Canada and the U.K., with progress being made in some areas while others are still in the early conversation stages.

AB
Alexander BlosteinAnalyst

So maybe starting with Adenza as well. Really strong year-over-year growth you pointed out, about 20%. And it sounds like a lot of it is coming on the Calypso side, so can you kind of help us bridge the sources of growth, particularly at Calypso and, as you think on the forward, how you see that opportunity unfold for Calypso specifically over the course of this year and into next?

AF
Adena FriedmanChair and Chief Executive Officer

Sure, thanks, Alex. I'll discuss Calypso and AxiomSL together. I believe Sarah did a great job highlighting the growth for each product and their combined performance. Some of the growth is related to the timing of renewals. We had a strong renewal quarter for both Calypso and AxiomSL, particularly for Calypso with our on-prem deliveries, which are a significant revenue driver for us as we recognize the license fees. When looking at ARR growth, which excludes some one-time benefits and considers the overall strength of the platform, both are seeing mid-teens ARR growth. This indicates strong demand for Calypso, especially in areas like risk management, treasury risk management, and capital risk management, which are key focuses for banks. We are particularly well-positioned with Tier 2 and Tier 3 banks globally. For AxiomSL, the focus is on new regulatory requirements, including the ESG modules sold to G-SIBs. We're making headway in meeting Basel requirements and other emerging regulations, showing consistent demand for both products. Clients are eager to collaborate with us. Additionally, we have a connector that links Calypso and AxiomSL, allowing existing Calypso clients to streamline their data integration for AxiomSL without creating a completely new setup. This accelerates our implementation of Axiom products and enhances their attractiveness. Overall, we are excited about the developments across both products this year.

CS
Craig SiegenthalerAnalyst

We had a question on index options with NDX. How can you tap into the growing popularity with index options just given your strong brand with the Nasdaq-100 index? I think your share of index options is only about 1%, but the growth rates are high, and the revenue capture is very attractive in this business.

AF
Adena FriedmanChair and Chief Executive Officer

Yes, thanks, Craig. You're correct. We see a significant opportunity ahead and have dedicated substantial focus towards it. Our index and options teams have collaborated effectively, leveraging our resources within Nasdaq. Together, they're working on creating a robust trading ecosystem for the NDX options platform while also enhancing institutional demand for our index products. This increased demand is fostering interest in hedging and related activities, which in turn boosts interest in index options. We're already witnessing strong growth, with an 80% year-over-year increase in index options volumes and a 15% increase quarter-over-quarter. This area has become a notable highlight for us, and we believe we are just at the start of what we can accomplish there.

YC
Y. ChoAnalyst

I just wanted to touch on Axiom and Calypso as well. I mean it looks like each of that ARR trends are healthy. And clearly the increase in subscription revenues are helping that growth this quarter. I guess can you just help us unpack a little bit about how much price and upsells was a driver here in terms of that revenue growth and how that mix might change in the coming years? And is there a different approach to that when we think about Axiom versus Calypso? Because clearly they serve different markets and different solutions.

AF
Adena FriedmanChair and Chief Executive Officer

Yes. First of all, as mentioned earlier, about half of our revenue increases typically come from upsells, while the other half comes from pricing changes and new sales. We don't break this down further than that, and it generally holds true. While I can't say it's exactly the case for this quarter, that's how we assess revenue growth. Over time, this mix might evolve, particularly as we roll out more cloud capabilities for our clients. This rollout enables us to provide greater value, allowing for higher pricing. As we advance with our cloud initiatives and new bookings, like the 50% of new bookings in cloud we saw with Axiom, our ability to leverage pricing will improve. Despite being slightly slower this quarter with Calypso due to timing, we believe this trend will continue to enhance our capacity to stabilize revenue over time. We anticipate more predictable revenue streams in the future, but we are currently in a transition phase. We want to keep you informed about the differences between on-prem and cloud during this transition to maximize the benefits of cloud in the long run.

OL
Owen LauAnalyst

We had a question on index options with NDX. How can you tap into the growing popularity with index options just given your strong brand with the Nasdaq-100 index? I think your share of index options is only about 1%, but the growth rates are high, and the revenue capture is very attractive in this business.

AF
Adena FriedmanChair and Chief Executive Officer

As we shift more towards cloud solutions, we expect the differences to lessen, although this transition will take time. The AxiomSL, Calypso, and market tech businesses are still largely delivered on-premises, with moves towards cloud, while the financial crime management business is fully cloud-based, along with NTS, which operates as a SaaS model. This means that the majority of our revenues will show a closer alignment between annual recurring revenue and total revenue. Although differences will continue for a period, we aim to provide transparency to help you understand these variations and the trends influencing them. When we evaluate the health of our business, we prioritize annual recurring revenue as a more accurate indicator of overall client demand rather than focusing solely on individual deliveries and professional services.

BB
Benjamin BudishAnalyst

Just following up on that last question from Craig, is there anything you can share about sort of the upcoming pipeline in 2024 in terms of on-prem versus cloud implementations? Just I know you're kind of guiding and talking about the business on an ARR basis, but just as we think about our models, is there anything specific we can think about quarter by quarter?

AF
Adena FriedmanChair and Chief Executive Officer

Quarter by quarter, I think we're not going to provide that level of detail. I would say, if we look over the last year and we kind of looked at Calypso and AxiomSL over the last year, I think it was around 40%. Is that right? 40% new bookings? Yes, yes. Almost half. So almost half of the new bookings were cloud last year. I think that, as we were starting this year, we saw 50% of the new bookings for AxiomSL were cloud this year and with Calypso being lower around 18%, but as we said before, it's more of a timing issue. So we would hope that we would get around the same level over the course of the year, but we're not able to provide you kind of quarter by quarter. I think we just are giving you a little bit more overall color for the quarter in AxiomSL and Calypso just to help you model but not to that level of precision. Great. Well, thank you very much. So as you heard throughout the meeting, Nasdaq continues to make progress on our 3 key priorities: Integrate, Innovate, and Accelerate, which will underpin our leadership and momentum as we move through the year. United behind these strategic priorities and powered by our market-leading platforms, we're firmly positioned to unlock our next phase of resilient and scalable growth. We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress throughout the year. Thank you all very much, and have a great day.

Operator

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

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