Nasdaq beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Thursday, boosted by several high-profile listings on its exchange and strong demand for its data services amid a volatile market environment.

The quarter was marked by a string of marquee listings on its exchange, including SpaceX’s record-breaking ⁠IPO, with trading volume surpassing 500 million shares on the first day.

While IPOs generate nominal fees from the listing itself, trading in equities, options and related market services drive strong revenue for exchanges.

The period was also very attractive for trading businesses, which typically benefit during periods of elevated volatility, as a flurry of headlines about the US-Iran war and changing sentiment on AI trading led to market swings and increased demand for hedging.

Nasdaq has diversified its business to mitigate the impact of trading volume fluctuations by expanding its financial technology and software offerings, unlocking recurring revenue.

The firm posted net income of $1.5 billion for the quarter, an increase of 15%, largely due to the strong performance of its Capital Access Platform segment.

The unit, which accounts for revenue from listing services and market data on products such as equities and options, raked in $621 million, a 19% jump.

‘PERPS’ WEIGH Despite surge in volume, investors have pressured most exchange operators this year, affected by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s decision to allow Kalshi and Coinbase to offer perpetual futures for cryptocurrencies, which is seen eating away at their market share.

Perpetual futures, or “perps,” are contracts without an expiration date that are tied to the price of an underlying asset and typically allow traders to use high levels of leverage.

Nasdaq CFO Sarah Youngwood brushed off those concerns on a call with analysts, saying the exchange expects the minimum crossover to represent less than 1% of revenue even if approvals for equity-linked products are expanded.

Its shares are down more than 6% this year, but outperformed the CME and Intercontinental Exchange, which posted sharp declines. They were up 2.3% on Thursday.

Analysts said Nasdaq’s offerings in the software and data segments, as well as services such as fraud prevention, boosted its business.

“We see this as another solid quarter for the Nasdaq and appreciate the broad-based momentum the business is experiencing despite various discussions (eg, AI, exchange rules, etc.) in the market today,” analysts at JP Morgan said in a note.

Its financial technology segment revenue rose 16% to $539 million in the quarter. Market Services net income increased 11% to $340 million, lifted by stronger cash equity and equity options volumes.

It posted adjusted profit of $1.07 per share, beating the 98 cents per share expected by average analysts, according to data compiled by LSEG.

CME, the first of the exchanges to post earnings this season, also beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter profit on Wednesday. ICE and Cboe are set to report their results next week.