NASDAQ, INC.

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The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial may also adversely affect our business. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, or operating results could be adversely affected.

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The risksand uncertainties described below are not the only

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RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY

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RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS AND

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Economic conditions and market factors, which are beyond our control, may adversely affect our business and financial condition.

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our control, may adversely affect our business and financial

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Our business performance is impacted by a number of factors, including general economic conditions, current or expected inflation, interest rate fluctuations, market volatility, changes in investment patterns and priorities, regulatory shifts, pandemics and other factors that are generally beyond our control. To the extent that global or national economic conditions weaken and result in slower growth or recessions, our business may be negatively impacted. Adverse market conditions could reduce customer demand for our services and the ability of our customers, lenders and other counterparties to meet their obligations to us. Poor economic conditions may result in a reduction in the demand for our products and services, including data, indices and corporate solutions, or could result in a decline in the number of IPOs, reduced trading volumes or values and deterioration of the economic welfare of our listed companies, which could cause an increase in delistings. The demand for our Regulatory Technology, Capital Markets Technology and Financial Crime Management Technology offerings are primarily influenced by regulatory changes and the financial strength and growth plans of our clients at any given time, and such demand may be adversely affected by economic, political and geopolitical market conditions.

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Our business performance is impacted by a number of

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Trading volumes and values are driven primarily by general market conditions and declines in trading volumes or values may affect our market share and impact our pricing. In addition, our Market Services businesses receive revenues from a relatively small number of customers concentrated in the financial industry, so any event that impacts one or more customers or the financial industry in general could impact our revenues.

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Trading volumes and values are driven primarily by general

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The number of listings on our markets is primarily influenced by factors such as investor demand, the global economy, available sources of financing, and tax and regulatory policies. Adverse conditions may jeopardize the ability of our listed companies to comply with the continued listing requirements of our exchanges, or reduce the number of issuers launching IPOs, including SPACs, and direct listings. While the number of IPOs on our exchanges increased in 2024 as compared to 2023, there is no assurance that demand for IPOs will continue at the same or higher rate.

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The number of listings on our markets is primarily influenced

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Our Capital Access Platforms segment may be significantly affected by global economic conditions. Professional subscriptions to our data products are at risk if staff reductions occur in financial services companies or if our customers consolidate, which could result in significant reductions in our professional user revenue or expose us to increased risks relating to dependence on a smaller number of customers. In addition, adverse market conditions may cause reductions in the number of non-professional investors with investments in the market and in ETP AUM tracking Nasdaq indices as well as trading in futures linked to Nasdaq indices.

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Our Capital Access Platforms segment may be significantly

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There may be less demand for our analytics, corporate solutions, market technology and risk and regulatory products and services if global economic conditions weaken. Our customers historically reduce purchases of new services and technology when growth rates decline, thereby diminishing our opportunities to sell new products and services or upgrade existing products and services.

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There may be less demand for our analytics, corporate

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Additionally, during a global economic downturn, or periods of economic, political or regulatory uncertainty, our sales cycle may become longer or more unpredictable due to customer budget constraints or unplanned administrative delays to approve purchases.

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Additionally, during a global economic downturn, or periods

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A reduction in trading volumes or values, market share of trading, the number of our listed companies, or demand for our products and services due to economic conditions or other market factors could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

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A reduction in trading volumes or values, market share of

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We face significant competition in our Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology and Market Services segments from other market participants. We face intense competition from other exchanges and markets for market share of trading activity and listings. This competition includes both product and price competition.

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We face significant competition in our Capital Access

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The liberalization and globalization of world markets has resulted in greater mobility of capital, greater international participation in local markets and more competition. As a result, both in the U.S. and in other countries, the competition among exchanges and other execution venues has become more intense. Marketplaces in both U.S. and Europe have also merged to achieve greater economies of scale and scope.

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The modernization and globalization of world markets has

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Regulatory changes also have facilitated the entry of new participants in the European Union that compete with our European markets. The regulatory environment, both in the U.S. and in Europe, is structured to maintain this environment of intense competition. In addition, a high proportion of business in the securities markets is becoming concentrated in a smaller number of institutions and our revenue may therefore become concentrated in a smaller number of customers.

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Regulatory changes also have facilitated the entry of new

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We also compete globally with other regulated exchanges and markets, ATSs, MTFs and other traditional and non-traditional execution venues. Some of these competitors also are our customers. Competitors may develop market trading platforms that are more competitive than ours. Competitors may leverage data more effectively or enter into strategic partnerships, mergers or acquisitions that could make their trading, listings, clearing, data or technology businesses more competitive than ours.

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We also compete globally with other regulated exchanges

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We face intense price competition in all areas of our business. In particular, the trading industry is characterized by price competition. We have in the past lowered prices, and in the U.S., increased rebates for trade executions to attempt to gain or maintain market share. These strategies have not always been successful and have at times hurt operating performance. Additionally, we have also been, and may once again be, required to adjust pricing to respond to actions by competitors and new entrants, or due to new SEC regulations, which could adversely impact operating results. We also compete with respect to the pricing of data products and with respect to products for pre-trade book data and for post-trade last sale data.

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We face intense price competition in all areas of our

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If we are unable to compete successfully in the industries in which we do business, our business, financial condition and operating results will be adversely affected.

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If we are unable to compete successfully in the industries in

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Our businesses depend on the integrity and performance of the technology, computer and communications systems supporting them. If new systems fail to operate as intended or our existing systems cannot expand to cope with increased demand or otherwise fail to perform, we could experience unanticipated disruptions in service, slower response times and delays in the introduction of new products and services. We could experience a systems failure due to human error by our employees, contractors or vendors, electrical or telecommunications failures or disruptions, hardware or software failures or defects, cyberattacks, sabotage or similar unexpected events. These consequences could result in service outages, lower trading volumes or values, financial losses, decreased customer satisfaction, litigation and regulatory sanctions. Our markets and the markets that rely on our technology have experienced system failures and delays in the past and we could experience future system failures and delays.

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Our businesses depend on the integrity and performance of

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Although we currently maintain and expect to maintain multiple computer facilities, and leverage third party cloud providers, that are designed to provide redundancy and back-up to reduce the risk of system disruptions and have facilities in place that are expected to maintain service during a system disruption, such systems and facilities may prove inadequate. If trading volumes increase unexpectedly or other unanticipated events occur, we may need to expand and upgrade our technology, transaction processing systems and network infrastructure. We do not know whether we will be able to accurately project the rate, timing or cost of any volume increases, or expand and upgrade our systems and

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Although we maintain multiple computer facilities, and

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infrastructure to accommodate any increases in a timely manner.

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accommodate any increases in a timely manner.

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While we have programs in place to identify and minimize our exposure to vulnerabilities and work in collaboration with the technology industry to share corrective measures with our business partners, we cannot guarantee that such events will not occur in the future. Any system issue that causes an interruption in services, decreases the responsiveness of our services or otherwise affects our services could impair our reputation, damage our brand name and negatively impact our business, financial condition and operating results.

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While we have programs in place to identify and minimize

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We must continue to introduce new products, initiatives and enhancements to maintain our competitive position.

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We must continue to introduce new products, initiatives and

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We intend to launch new products and initiatives and continue to explore and pursue opportunities to strengthen our business and grow our company. We may spend substantial time and money developing new products, initiatives and enhancements to existing products. If these products and initiatives are not successful or their launches are delayed, we may not be able to offset their costs, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

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We intend to launch new products and initiatives and

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In our technology operations, we have invested substantial amounts in the development of system platforms, the rollout of our platforms and the adoption of new technologies, including cloud-based infrastructure and AI for certain of our offerings. Although investments are carefully planned, there can be no assurance that the demand for such platforms or technologies will justify the related investments. If we fail to generate adequate revenue from planned system platforms or the adoption of new technologies, or if we fail to do so within the envisioned timeframe, it could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, clients may delay purchases in anticipation of new products or enhancements. We may allocate significant amounts of cash and other resources to product technologies or business models for which market demand is lower than anticipated. In addition, the introduction of new products by competitors, the emergence of new industry standards or the development of entirely new technologies to replace existing product offerings could render our existing or future products obsolete.

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In our technology operations, we have invested substantial

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A decline in trading and clearing volumes or values or market share will decrease our trading and clearing revenues.

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A decline in trading and clearing volumes or values or

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Trading and clearing volumes and values are directly affected by economic, political and market conditions, broad trends in business and finance, unforeseen market closures or other disruptions in trading, the level and volatility of interest rates, inflation, changes in price levels of securities and the overall level of investor confidence. Over the past several years, trading and clearing volumes and values across our markets have fluctuated significantly depending on market conditions and other factors beyond our control. Because a significant percentage of our revenues is tied directly to the volume or value of securities traded and cleared on our markets, it is likely that a general decline in trading and clearing volumes or values would lower revenues and may adversely affect our operating results if we are unable to offset falling volumes or values through pricing changes. Declines in trading and clearing volumes or values may also impact our market share or pricing structures and adversely affect our business and financial condition.

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Trading and clearing volumes and values are directly affected

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If our total market share in securities decreases relative to our competitors, our venues may be viewed as less attractive sources of liquidity. If our exchanges are perceived to be less liquid, then our business, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected.

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If our total market share in securities decreases relative to our

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Since some of our exchanges offer clearing services in addition to trading services, a decline in market share of trading could lead to a decline in clearing and depository revenues. Declines in market share also could result in issuers viewing the value of a listing on our exchanges as less attractive, thereby adversely affecting our listing business. Finally, declines in market share of Nasdaq-listed securities, or recently adopted SEC rules and regulations, could lower The Nasdaq Stock Market’s share of tape pool revenues under the consolidated data plans, thereby reducing the revenues of our U.S. Tape plans business.

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Since some of our exchanges offer clearing services in

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Our role in the global marketplace positions us at greater risk for a cyberattack.

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Our role in the global marketplace positions us at greater

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Our systems and operations are vulnerable to damage, misappropriation or disruption from security breaches. Some of these threats include attacks from foreign governments, hacktivists, insiders and criminal organizations. Foreign governments may seek to obtain a foothold in U.S. critical infrastructure, hacktivists may seek to deploy denial of service attacks to bring attention to their cause, insiders may pose a risk of human error or malicious activity and criminal organizations may seek to profit by gaining control of company systems or accounts or from stolen data via ransomware or other means, such as social engineering, including deepfake scams, compromised business email or other methods. Our hybrid work model and our global footprint elevate cybersecurity and operational risks, particularly in geographies with adversary nation-states and/or unreliable law enforcement. Given our position in the global securities industry, we may be more likely than other companies to be a direct target, or an indirect casualty, of such events.

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Our systems and operations are vulnerable to damage,

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While we continue to employ and invest resources to monitor our systems and protect our infrastructure, these measures may prove insufficient due to the continuously evolving nature of threat activity. Any system issue, whether as a result of an intentional breach, collateral damage from a cybersecurity incident involving our supply chain vendors, a negligent or malicious act by an insider, or the use of AI by bad actors, including the use of such tools to engage in social engineering or similar activities, or due to a cybersecurity breach of a customer that results in a loss of our data or

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While we continue to employ and invest resources to monitor

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compromises our systems or those of our other customers utilizing the same products, could damage our reputation and result in: a loss of customers; disrupted customer relationships; the loss of our intellectual property or sensitive data; lower trading volumes or values, significant liabilities, litigation or regulatory fines; or otherwise have a negative impact on our business, our products and services, financial condition and operating results. There can be no assurance we will be able to identify and mitigate every incident involving cybersecurity attacks, breaches or incidents. A system breach may go undetected for an extended period of time.

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compromises our systems or those of our other customers

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Expanded cybersecurity regulations, and increased cybersecurity infrastructure and compliance costs, may adversely impact our results of operations.

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cybersecurity infrastructure and compliance costs, may

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As cybersecurity threats continue to increase in frequency and sophistication, and as the domestic and international regulatory and compliance structure related to information, cybersecurity, data privacy, resiliency and data usage becomes increasingly complex and exacting, we may be required to devote significant additional resources to strengthen our cybersecurity capabilities, and to identify and remediate any security vulnerabilities. Compliance with laws and regulations concerning cybersecurity, data privacy, resiliency and data usage could result in significant expense, and any failure to comply could result in proceedings against us by regulatory authorities or other third parties. Costs for bolstering cybersecurity capabilities, and increased cybersecurity and data privacy compliance costs, could adversely impact our business, financial condition and operating results. Additionally, our clients increasingly demand rigorous contractual, certification and audit provisions regarding cybersecurity, data protection and data usage, which may also increase our overall compliance burden and costs in meeting such obligations.

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As cybersecurity threats continue to increase in frequency

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The success of our business depends on our ability to keep up with rapid technological and other competitive changes affecting our industry. Specifically, we must complete development of, successfully implement and maintain platforms that have the functionality, performance, capacity, reliability and speed required by our business and our regulators, as well as by our customers.

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The success of our business depends on our ability to keep

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The markets in which we compete are characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry and regulatory standards, frequent enhancements to existing products and services, the adoption of new services and products and changing customer demands. We are reliant on our customers that purchase our on-premises solutions to maintain a certain level of network infrastructure for our products to operate and to allow for our support of those products, and to secure our software and other proprietary materials stored in such systems, and there is no assurance that a customer will implement such measures. We may not be able to keep up with rapid technological and other competitive changes affecting our industry. For example, we must continue to enhance our platforms and, where relevant, our customers', to remain competitive as well as to address our regulatory responsibilities, and our business will be negatively affected if our platforms or the technology solutions we sell to our customers fail to function as expected. If we are unable to develop our platforms to include other products and markets, or if our platforms do not have the required functionality, performance, capacity, reliability and speed required by our business and our regulators, as well as by our customers, we may not be able to compete successfully. Further, our failure to anticipate or respond adequately to changes in technology and customer preferences or any significant delays in product development efforts, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

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The markets in which we compete are characterized by

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Our AI initiatives under development and the use of AI in certain of our existing products may be unsuccessful and may give rise to various risks, which could adversely affect our business, reputation, or operating results.

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Our AI initiatives and the use of AI in certain of our

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We have made, and are continuing to make, significant investments in AI including generative AI, to, among other things, develop new products or features for our existing products, including our anti-financial crime, equity trading, investor relations, sustainability and investment analytics solutions, and to enhance and refine our internal business operations. As AI is a new and evolving technology in the early stages of commercial use, there are significant risks involved in the development and deployment of AI, and there can be no assurance that the use of AI will enhance our products or services or augment our business or operating results. Market acceptance of AI technologies is uncertain, and we may be unsuccessful in our product development efforts. Moreover, our AI-related product initiatives and offerings, or use in our internal business operations, may give rise to risks related to harmful content, accuracy, bias, discrimination, intellectual property infringement, the ability to obtain intellectual property protection, misappropriation or leakage of intellectual property, defamation, data privacy, and cybersecurity, among others. In addition, these risks include the possibility of the introduction of new or enhanced laws or regulations or novel enforcement of existing laws to uses of AI, for which compliance may be costly and burdensome or involve changes to our business practices or products, litigation or other legal liability, or additional oversight, audits or enforcement under existing laws or regulations. The use of AI may also give rise to ethical concerns or negative public perceptions, which may cause brand or reputational harm. Additionally, our competitors may be developing their own AI products and technologies, which may be superior in features or functionality, or cost, to our offerings. Any of these factors could adversely affect our business, reputation, or operating results.

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We have made, and are continuing to make, significant

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Failure to attract and retain key personnel may adversely affect our ability to conduct our business.

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Failure to attract and retain key personnel may adversely

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Our future success depends, in large part, upon our ability to attract and retain highly qualified and skilled professional personnel that can learn and embrace new technologies. In the current tight labor market, we have intensified our efforts to recruit and retain talent. Competition for key personnel in the various localities and business segments in which we operate is intense. We have, and may continue to, experience higher compensation costs to retain personnel, and hire new talent, that may not be offset by improved productivity, higher revenues or increased sales. Our ability to attract and retain key personnel, in particular senior officers or technology personnel, including from companies that we acquire, will be dependent on a number of factors, including prevailing market conditions, office/remote working arrangements and compensation and benefit packages offered by companies competing for the same talent. There is no guarantee that we will have the continued service of key employees who we rely upon to execute our business strategy and identify and pursue strategic opportunities and initiatives. Our ability to execute our business strategy could be impaired if we are unable to replace such persons without incurring significant costs or in a timely manner or at all.

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Our future success depends, in large part, upon our ability to

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Our clearinghouse operations expose us to risks, including credit or liquidity risks that may include defaults by clearing members, or insufficiencies in margins or default funds.

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Our clearinghouse operations expose us to counterparty and