Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) outlined record full-year 2025 results and provided a detailed outlook for 2026 during its fourth-quarter earnings call, highlighting broad-based growth across its exchange, fixed income and data services, and mortgage technology businesses, alongside continued investment in technology and infrastructure.
Record 2025 results and fourth-quarter momentum
Chief Financial Officer Warren Gardiner said 2025 was a “landmark year,” with record adjusted diluted earnings per share of $6.95, up 14% year-over-year. Full-year net revenues reached a record $9.9 billion, up 6%, supported by 5% growth in recurring revenues and 8% growth in transaction revenues. Adjusted operating expenses were $3.9 billion, and adjusted operating income totaled a record $6.0 billion, up 9%.
Black Knight synergies and capital allocation
Gardiner said integration of the 2023 Black Knight acquisition continued to outperform expectations. ICE exited 2025 with annualized expense synergies of approximately $230 million, exceeding the company’s updated $200 million target set earlier in the year. ICE now expects total expense synergies to reach $275 million by the end of 2028, which Gardiner described as a $75 million increase versus its initial commitment when the transaction was announced in 2022.
On capital deployment, ICE generated $4.2 billion in adjusted free cash flow in 2025. Gardiner said the company used that cash flow to repurchase $1.3 billion of stock, increase the dividend by 6%, and reduce leverage from 3.3x at year-end 2024 to 3.0x at the end of 2025, while continuing to fund strategic investments.
Exchange growth led by energy and strong listings results
ICE’s exchange segment posted record fourth-quarter net revenues of $1.4 billion, up 9% year-over-year, following 9% growth in 2024 and 14% growth in 2023, Gardiner noted. Transaction revenues in the segment rose 8%, driven by the global oil complex, which increased 12%. Natural Gas and Environmental Products grew 10% in the quarter and 15% for the full year, representing nearly half of ICE’s energy revenues.
Management pointed to continued strength into early 2026. Gardiner said January volumes were up 23% year-over-year, including a record month for energy average daily volume. He also cited open interest growth of 19%, including 7% growth in global energy and 48% growth in the interest rate complex.
ICE also reported record exchange recurring revenues of $391 million, up 11%, driven by a 16% increase in exchange data and connectivity services. Gardiner said that after adjusting for a one-time true-up in the prior-year quarter, exchange data services grew 11%.
On NYSE listings, Gardiner said the NYSE facilitated $25 billion in new IPO capital formation in 2025, adding 71 new operating companies, including 7 of the top 10 IPOs. ICE’s retention rate remained above 99%, and the company highlighted transfers including Virtu, Etsy, and AstraZeneca, which management called the largest transfer in NYSE history.
For 2026, ICE expects exchange segment recurring revenue growth in the mid-single-digit range. In Q&A, Gardiner attributed the year-over-year moderation to tougher comparisons in the second half and described contributions from new customers, potential variability tied to SIP data pool size, limited erosion, and targeted price increases. He added that the guidance was for total exchange recurring revenue, not only exchange data, and said exchange data “could probably be a little bit better” than the overall recurring guidance.
Fixed income, data services, and mortgage technology updates
In Fixed Income and Data Services, fourth-quarter revenues were $608 million, including $101 million in transaction revenues, while recurring revenues reached a record $507 million, up 7%. ICE’s fixed income data and analytics business delivered record revenues of $318 million, up 5%, supported by pricing and reference data that posted its “best quarter for net new business since 2020,” according to Gardiner.
ICE’s index business ended 2025 with a record $794 billion in ETF AUM tracking ICE indices, up over 20% from the prior year. Data and network technology revenues increased 10% in the fourth quarter to a record, which management tied to demand for ICE Global Network, consolidated feeds, and desktop solutions. For 2026, ICE expects recurring revenue growth in Fixed Income and Data Services to be in the mid-single-digit range, trending toward the high end, underpinned by another year of high single-digit growth in data and network technology.
During Q&A, Chris Edmonds, President of Fixed Income and Data Services, addressed investor questions about competitive defensibility amid broader “AI disruption” concerns. Edmonds emphasized ICE’s proprietary content generated through exchange and clearing activity, client demand to be close to data via data center and connectivity offerings, and the addition of “correlated data sets” such as the recently announced Reddit partnership referenced on the call.
Mortgage Technology revenue in the fourth quarter was $532 million, up 5%. Recurring revenues were $391 million, and transaction revenues were $141 million, up 20%, driven by higher Encompass closed-loan transactions as customers exceeded minimums and double-digit growth in MERS registrations tied to fourth-quarter refinancing activity. Gardiner said some customer renewals were signed at lower minimums, paired with higher per-transaction pricing that could become more beneficial as origination volumes normalize.
For 2026, ICE expects total mortgage technology revenues to grow in the low- to mid-single-digit range, with the high end assuming industry originations grow in the low teens and the low end assuming flat to modest growth. Gardiner said revenue synergies in mortgage technology nearly doubled from $55 million at year-end 2024 to approximately $100 million at year-end 2025, while client attrition related to certain M&A activity in 2025 remains a partial offset.
In Q&A, Ben Jackson said the company sees improving industry conditions, citing an estimated 4 million loans “in the money” to refinance at current rates and higher totals with additional rate declines. He also highlighted product development tied to AI-enabled workflow automation across Encompass and servicing, including pilots for borrower-facing agents, underwriting assistance, and compliance-focused tools. Jackson also said ICE signed 32 new Encompass logos in the fourth quarter and completed 90 deals across 2025.
2026 expense and investment plans, plus market structure initiatives
Looking to 2026, Gardiner guided to adjusted operating expense growth of 4% to 5%, or $4.075 billion to $4.14 billion, including $25 million in accelerated stock-based compensation tied to compensation plan changes. He also noted currency depreciation could add $15 million to $20 million in expense. Capital expenditures are expected to be $740 million to $790 million, including investments in AI infrastructure and approximately $250 million in elevated real estate spending to build “revenue-generating data center capacity” and new office space in several locations.
Chair and CEO Jeff Sprecher also discussed longer-term market structure initiatives, including the development of a tokenized securities platform for NYSE following ICE’s investment and distribution partnership with Polymarket. Sprecher said ICE plans to apply for regulatory approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under existing federal law and existing SEC authorities and described the initiative as separate from pending legislation. He also said ICE recently received SEC approval to launch a new clearing service for U.S. cash Treasuries, ahead of the January 2027 treasury clearing mandate.
About Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE)
Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) is a global operator of exchanges, clearing houses and data services that provides infrastructure for the trading, clearing, settlement and information needs of financial and commodity markets. Founded in 2000 by Jeffrey C. Sprecher as an electronic energy trading platform, the company has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions to operate a broad portfolio of assets spanning listed equities, futures and options, fixed income, and over-the-counter derivatives.
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