Nasdaq OMX Group Earnings: Here’s Why Investors Bid Up Shares

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) delivered a profit and beat Wall Street’s expectations, AND beat the revenue expectation. The revenue beat is a positive sign to shareholders seeking high growth out of the company. Shares are up 1.25%.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. Earnings Cheat Sheet

Results: Net income increased 4.94% to $85 million (64 cents per diluted share) in the quarter versus a net gain of $81 million in the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Decreased 49.94% to $419 million from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. reported adjusted net income of 64 cents per share. By that measure, the company beat the mean analyst estimate of $0.61. It beat the average revenue estimate of $412.01 million.

Quoting Management: “NASDAQ OMX ended 2012 with a strong finish to the year, driven by a significant pick-up in corporate activity coupled with solid performance in our U.S. options, U.S. proprietary data products and global index businesses,” said Bob Greifeld, CEO, NASDAQ OMX. “While the volume environment remained weak in the fourth quarter, we continued to expand our diversified, global portfolio of businesses, increasing our stream of recurring revenues, generating strong cash flows and delivering attractive returns for our shareholders…