Nasdaq Smashes Records with $1.5B Revenue as Q2 Earnings Show Broad Resurgence

Investors scanning the July 23, 2026 earnings deluge saw unequivocal evidence that the bull market is expanding beyond tech giants. Nasdaq’s $86 billion SpaceX IPO catapulted the exchange to record revenue, while Nokia’s AI cloud backlog swelled to €2.8 billion. For portfolio managers, the day’s results signal that infrastructure, financial technology, and even streaming are firing on all cylinders, offering fresh opportunities in a market that had been narrowly defined by mega-cap AI hype.

On July 23, 2026, the second-quarter earnings season delivered a powerful cross-sector snapshot of the U.S. and global economy, as major companies from financial infrastructure to telecommunications and materials reported results that defied lingering recession fears. The day's headliner was Nasdaq, which posted record net revenue of $1.5 billion, up 15% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $1.07—a 25% jump that pushed quarterly earnings per share above the $1.00 mark for the first time in the company’s history. The results were fueled by double-digit growth across all three divisions, with solutions revenue climbing 17% to $1.2 billion. The performance was anchored by a historic milestone: the June 12 SpaceX IPO, which raised $86 billion and marked the largest initial public offering in history, cementing Nasdaq’s position as the go-to exchange for landmark listings. Annualized recurring revenue (ARR) rose 12% organically to $3.3 billion, while index AUM crossed the $1 trillion threshold for the first time, driven by $51 billion in quarterly net inflows. This financial technology powerhouse is now generating over half of its revenue from recurring subscriptions, a testament to the secular shift toward platform-based business models.

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The day's headliner was Nasdaq, which posted record net revenue of $1.5 billion, up 15% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $1.07—a 25% jump that pushed quarterly earnings per share above the $1.00 mark for the first time in the company’s history.

At the same time, Nokia’s transformation into a network infrastructure giant reached a new inflection point. The Finnish company reported 9% net sales growth overall, but its AI and Cloud segment stole the show, with sales soaring 105% to €446 million and order intake rocketing to €2.8 billion. Management highlighted that roughly half of this backlog is expected to convert to revenue within 12 months, as customers compete for increasingly constrained supply of data center interconnect and scale-out fabrics. Comparable gross margin expanded 70 basis points to 46%, and the optical networks business—boosted by the Infinera acquisition—delivered an 8.1% operating margin. The numbers reflect an industry-wide AI infrastructure buildout that is becoming the defining capex cycle of the decade.

Comcast, the media and connectivity conglomerate, presented a contrasting tale of two businesses. Total revenue slipped 1.2% to $29.94 billion, but underlying performance was stronger when excluding the impact of divested operations. The company lost 167,000 domestic broadband subscribers, an improvement from a year ago that still underscores pressures from fixed wireless and fiber overbuilders. However, Peacock—the streaming service that had long been a loss leader—turned profitable for the first time, posting $189 million in adjusted EBITDA on 48 million paid subscribers, adding 2 million in the quarter. Wireless was another bright spot, with a record 448,000 net additions bringing total lines to 10.2 million. The results highlight the strategic pivot from legacy cable to a connectivity-and-content bundle, though broadband ARPU fell 3.8% amid promotional pricing.

In the industrial space, CEMEX reported perhaps the most dramatic operational improvement. Adjusted sales rose 11%, and EBITDA surpassed $1 billion, with a $42 million one-off European settlement included. Excluding such items, adjusted EBITDA jumped 19% and EBIT surged 29%, pushing EBITDA margin to 21.4% on an adjusted basis. Free cash flow from operations more than quadrupled to $651 million, driven by severe working capital discipline and $60 million in Project Cutting Edge savings. The company upped its full-year EBITDA growth guidance to 16–17% and raised its cost-savings target to $475 million, underscoring management’s confidence in sustained margin expansion across the Americas and Europe.