stockrowWhat it does
Intercontinental Exchange, or ICE, provides technology and data for financial and commodity markets and the U.S. mortgage industry. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Atlanta, it is led by chief executive Jeffrey Sprecher.
Its Exchanges business operates marketplaces where customers can list securities or trade contracts linked to commodities, interest rates and other assets. It also operates the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE. ICE clearing houses stand between buyers and sellers of certain trades, helping manage the risk that one side fails to meet its obligations. The company also sells market data and connections to its trading venues.
Its Fixed Income and Data Services business supplies bond prices, reference data, indices and analytics, as well as electronic bond trading and clearing for credit default swaps. Customers use these services to evaluate investments, execute trades and support compliance and other workflows.
Its Mortgage Technology business provides software and data for U.S. residential loans. The platform supports lenders and other participants from the application and closing of a loan through servicing and activity in the secondary market. It connects lenders with service providers and offers tools to automate the collection and verification of information.
ICE serves financial institutions, corporations and government entities, among other customers. Its markets and data services operate internationally, while its mortgage technology focuses on the U.S. residential market.
How it makes money
ICE earns both transaction-based revenue, tied to activity such as trades or mortgage closings, and recurring revenue from services such as data, listings and software. Recurring revenue represented 51% of revenue in 2025. In the third quarter of 2026, net revenues were $2.8 billion and recurring revenues were $1.4 billion.
Exchanges generated $5.4 billion of revenue less transaction-based expenses in 2025. Trading and clearing bring in transaction revenue, while exchange data, connectivity and listings fees are largely recurring. ICE also earns revenue from sources including interest on certain clearing margin deposits and fees for related services. The segment’s markets cover energy, agriculture, metals, interest rates, equities and other products.
Fixed Income and Data Services generated $2.4 billion of revenue in 2025. Its offerings include electronic bond trading, clearing for credit default swaps, pricing and reference data, indices, analytics, and network connections. Revenue from fixed income data and analytics and from data and network technology is largely recurring; execution and clearing also contribute transaction revenue.
Mortgage Technology generated $2.1 billion of revenue in 2025. Its loan origination software uses recurring subscription fees, with additional transaction or success-based fees when lenders exceed the loans included in their monthly subscription. Network and closing revenue is largely transaction-based, while servicing software and mortgage data products are largely recurring. Fees for default servicing can depend on the number of foreclosures.
The mix means that trading volumes and loan closings affect part of ICE’s revenue, while subscriptions and other recurring fees are charged for ongoing access to services. Higher mortgage rates have reduced demand for mortgages and adversely affected transaction-based revenue in the mortgage segment.
Customers and how it sells
ICE’s customers include financial institutions, corporations and government entities. Its markets serve participants seeking to trade or manage risks in commodities, interest rates, equities and credit. NYSE also serves companies and exchange-traded funds seeking listings, as well as investors and other market participants.
In fixed income, customers use ICE’s prices, reference data, indices and analytics for decisions before a trade and for regulatory and compliance needs afterward. The ICE Global Network connects customers to trading venues and data sources. ICE delivers data through methods including real-time messages, files, web services and desktop applications.
Mortgage Technology connects lenders, closing agents, servicers, investors and other participants in the U.S. residential mortgage process. The company said in October 2026 that its network connects roughly 3,000 lenders and more than 80,000 notaries. Its mortgage platform also links lenders and servicers with third-party services, including credit reporting.
ICE operates exchanges and clearing houses in markets including the U.S., U.K., European Union, Canada, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Most of its identifiable assets are in the U.S. and U.K. Its fixed income pricing services cover securities across approximately 150 countries and 80 currencies. At December 31, 2025, ICE had 12,844 employees, including 7,551 in the U.S.
Suppliers and costs
ICE depends on outside providers for parts of its trading, clearing, data and mortgage systems. These include hosting and software providers, data processors, data centers, hardware vendors, banks, utilities and telecommunications companies. Its mortgage platform uses third-party services and hosting across public cloud and private data centers, and connects to partner services needed for loan origination and servicing.
Where feasible, ICE designs and builds its own systems and writes its own software. It also develops new contracts, data sets, analytics and mortgage technologies, and invests in its platforms and infrastructure. Some operating expenses support more than one segment and are allocated across the business.
In the third quarter of 2026, ICE said its adjusted operating expense increase reflected incentive compensation, investment in products and technology, including data center and network capacity, and higher depreciation. Capital expenditures were $226 million in the quarter. ICE also incurred $803 million of interest expense in 2025.
The company contributed $381 million of its own cash to clearing-house guaranty funds; those amounts are at risk if a clearing member defaults.
- Revenue$9.9B
- Cost of revenue−$158.0M
- Selling, general and administrative−$2.3B
- Other operating costs−$2.6B
- Operating income$4.9B
Competitive position
ICE faces competition from exchanges, electronic trading systems, clearing houses, technology firms and data vendors. In U.S. equity options, it names Nasdaq and Cboe as principal competitors. Nasdaq also competes for corporate and ETF listings, while Cboe competes for ETF listings. ICE’s equity markets also face alternative trading systems, market makers and other venues.
Its bond trading platforms compete with other electronic venues and with trading conducted outside them. Its data services compete with financial information suppliers, financial institutions and index and analytics providers. In mortgages, ICE competes with customers’ own systems, other digital mortgage providers and activity that does not use digital tools.
ICE operates trading venues alongside clearing houses, data and connectivity services. Its Brent crude contract is part of a network of related oil products, and NYSE provides both trading and listing services. Our reading: liquidity and connected clearing can reinforce ICE’s exchange position because participants can trade and manage risk across related products, although rival venues compete for the same activity.
ICE also embeds its mortgage tools across origination, closing and servicing workflows, and its fixed income data supports trading and compliance. Our reading: these workflow integrations and recurring data services can make customer relationships more durable, but competing providers and in-house systems limit their protection.
| Competitor | Where they compete | Threat (our reading) |
|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq, Inc. | U.S. equity options and corporate and ETF listings | High |
| Cboe Global Markets, Inc. | U.S. equity options and ETF listings | High |
Growth opportunities
ICE plans to develop its exchange technology, invest in mortgage technology and add content and analytics for electronic fixed income markets. It expects to use artificial intelligence to automate more mortgage workflows. It also develops new contracts and data products and uses licenses, partnerships and acquisitions to expand its capabilities.
In 2026, ICE introduced economic indicator futures tied to central-bank rate decisions and U.S. natural gas storage reports. It also made indicative settlements and reference data available for its first compute-futures products while awaiting regulatory approval. ICE added a private-credit reference data service to its identifiers offering in September.
ICE has agreed to acquire MarketAxess, which operates a network serving institutional credit markets. ICE expects the transaction to close in the first quarter of 2027. During the third quarter of 2026, it issued $3.75 billion of senior notes as part of the acquisition financing.
The company has also invested in OKEx and announced a joint venture intended to connect retail customers to securities and commodities on ICE and NYSE platforms, subject to regulatory approval. ICE’s agreement with TradeXYZ would make ICE the exclusive operator of its regulated markets and includes an investment. ICE intends to bring those markets into a U.S. regulated framework, subject to approvals. These initiatives sit alongside its institutional trading, clearing and data businesses.
- $7.1BFY2021
- $7.3BFY2022
- $8.0BFY2023
- $9.3BFY2024
- $9.9BFY2025
Structural risks
- Market and mortgage activity: Trading volumes and subscriptions can fall when customers reduce spending, trading or hedging. Higher mortgage rates have reduced demand for mortgages and hurt transaction-based mortgage revenue; further rate increases or changes in lending practices may affect revenue further.
- Regulation: ICE and many of its customers face extensive regulation. Changes in capital requirements, clearing rules or market structure could affect customers’ costs, trading capacity and the volumes handled by ICE.
- Cybersecurity and operations: ICE’s systems and those of its service providers are vulnerable to cyberattacks. Disruptions could delay trades or settlements, expose information, distribute inaccurate data or make customers unable or reluctant to use its platforms.
- Clearing-member default: ICE clearing houses stand between buyers and sellers, and defaults can expose the company to risk. ICE’s own contributions to guaranty funds are at risk and could be used following a member default.
- Competition and technology: ICE faces competition across its businesses. Failure to keep pace with technological change or customer preferences could weaken its competitive position.
- Acquisitions: ICE may not realize the expected savings, growth opportunities or other benefits from acquisitions and strategic investments. Its planned MarketAxess transaction also remains subject to closing.
Bottom line
Our reading
Our reading: ICE combines transaction-driven marketplaces with recurring data, listings and mortgage software revenue, so its business depends on both market activity and customers’ ongoing workflows. Its exchange and mortgage networks support those relationships, but they also expose ICE to competition, system failures and regulation. Mortgage volumes are sensitive to rates, while the planned MarketAxess acquisition adds execution and integration demands.