News · Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) · Financial Services

Intercontinental Exchange rises 4.5% after quarterly profit and revenue beat

Session of October 29, 2026 · Published October 30, 2026 · 3 min read

What happened

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) rose 4.5% on October 29, 2026, after it reported third-quarter results that beat estimates and management cited a faster MarketAxess deal timeline. The stock closed at $163.04 after opening 3.2% above the previous close. Trading volume was 1.9 times its 20-day average. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% on the day, while the Financial Services sector median rose 0.7%, making the stock’s move 3.8 percentage points better than the sector median.

Closing price over the last 30 trading sessions. On October 29, 2026, ICE closed at $163.04, up 4.5% on the day and 4.9% higher than 30 sessions earlier.

How big was the move

The session’s advance was 3.1 times a typical daily move for this stock, and a beta of 0.53 indicates the stock tends to move less than the market, so the reaction was outsized. Over the last five sessions the stock fell 0.5%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.7% over the same period, underscoring that the October 29 move was driven by company news rather than broader market strength. Volume at 1.9 times its 20-day average showed higher-than-usual trading activity.

Each bar is one day's price change; the outlined bar is October 29, 2026. A typical daily move over the past year was 1.6%, so the latest move equals 2.8 times that. Moves outside the dashed lines (about 3.2%) are unusual.

The technical picture

Technically, the stock traded 3.7% above its 20-day moving average and 3.6% above its 50-day moving average. It was 5.5% above its 200-day moving average, and the 50-day average is above the 200-day average, a sign of an established uptrend. The stock has spent 16 consecutive trading days above the 200-day average. The Relative Strength Index (14 days) was 59, in a neutral range between 30 and 70. Shares remained 7.4% below the 52-week high. Over one month the stock rose 7.2% and over three months it rose 6.9%, while over one year it rose 3.7%, which is 8.4 percentage points behind the S&P 500. Volatility was 24% annualized over 60 days, higher than 68% of its own readings over five years.

Closing price over the past year. ICE ends the period 6.9% below its 52-week high, above its 50-day average ($157.36) and above its 200-day average ($154.51).

Fundamentals and valuation

For the four quarters through September 30, 2026, Intercontinental Exchange reported revenue of $13.10 billion, which grew 4.6% from a year earlier, and diluted earnings per share were $7.33, up 33.5% year on year. Gross margin expanded to 83.3% from 55.4% a year earlier, and operating margin widened to 43.3% from 38.1%. Free-cash-flow margin was 30.5% and return on invested capital was 7.6%. Balance-sheet metrics showed net debt of 3.3 times EBITDA, and the company’s share count over one year decreased by 1.9%.

Quarterly revenue by period end. The latest quarter brought $3.6B, 20.7% more than the same quarter a year earlier.

On valuation, the stock traded at 22.2 times trailing earnings and 19.9 times expected earnings. The price to trailing earnings is lower than 71% of its own readings over the past five years, with a five-year median of 29.0 times earnings. Free-cash-flow yield was 4.4%. Those figures suggest an elevated but not extreme valuation given the company’s margin expansion and cash generation; market value was $91.36 billion at the session close.

Earnings and analyst expectations

ICE reported third-quarter earnings per share of $2.02 against $1.97 expected, 2.5% above estimates, and recorded a quarterly profit of $940 million versus $816 million a year earlier. The company said profit, revenue, trading and data, and recurring revenue each showed growth, and management cited a faster MarketAxess deal timeline. ICE has beaten estimates for seven consecutive quarters, with an average surprise over the last four reports of 3.2% above estimates. Typical two-day reactions after recent reports have seen the stock rose 1.7%.

Diluted earnings per share by quarter. The latest quarter shows $1.67, against $1.42 in the same quarter a year earlier.

Analysts’ consensus rating was Buy based on 36 analysts with a consensus price target of $183.89, which is 12.8% above the closing price. Eighty-six percent of analysts with a rating have the stock as Buy or Strong Buy. The PromtFinance scores rank the company strong on Quality at 82 and Revisions at 84, while Value and Stability are weaker at 40 and 34, respectively, reflecting a trade-off between operational strength and current valuation.

What to watch

February 11, 2027: next scheduled earnings report.
Analysts’ consensus price target of $183.89, 12.8% above the closing price.
Net debt of 3.3 times EBITDA and free-cash-flow margin of 30.5% as measures of balance-sheet and cash generation health.
Consecutive quarters beating estimates: 7 and average surprise over the last four reports: 3.2% above estimates.
Trading volume at 1.9 times its 20-day average and volatility 24% annualized over 60 days.

Full ICE analysis: scores, chart and financials →