ICE has achieved structural profitability improvements, with gross margins rising from approximately 55% in early 2025 to 81.2% in 2026Q1, signaling successful leverage of its proprietary technology infrastructure.
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Dec'21 | Dec'20 | Dec'19 | Dec'18 | Dec'17 | Dec'16 | Dec'15 | Dec'14 | Dec'13 | Dec'12 | Dec'11 | Dec'10 | Dec'09 | Dec'08 | Dec'07 | Dec'06 |
|---|
| Sales/Revenue | 13.07B | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Revenue Growth % | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cost of Goods Sold | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| COGS % of Revenue | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Gross Profit | 9.02B | 7.82B | 6.52B | 5.66B | 5.2B | 5.02B | 4.3B | 3.69B | 3.55B | 3.29B | 3.19B | 2.52B | 2.31B | 1.23B | 1.07B | 1.03B | 868.79M | 720.83M | 783.37M | 448.14M | 243.62M |
| Gross Margin % | 68.98% | 61.88% | 55.45% | 57.14% | 53.99% | 54.73% | 52.15% | 56.38% | 56.61% | 56.39% | 53.34% | 53.91% | 53.13% | 71.27% | 78.21% | 77.54% | 75.55% | 72.46% | 96.35% | 78.03% | 77.63% |
| Gross Profit Growth % | - | 19.92% | 15.25% | 8.79% | 3.67% | 16.72% | 16.47% | 3.88% | 7.83% | 3.45% | 26.19% | 9.17% | 87.51% | 15.67% | 3.6% | 18.44% | 20.53% | -7.98% | 74.8% | 83.96% | - |
| Operating Expenses | 3.68B | 2.92B | 2.21B | 1.97B | 1.56B | 1.57B | 1.27B | 1.02B | 970M | 916M | 1.01B | 774M | 864M | 443M | 239M | 236M | 216.47M | 208.22M | 289.84M | 94.58M | 38.98M |
| OpEx % of Revenue | - | 23.14% | 18.82% | 19.84% | 16.23% | 17.11% | 15.36% | 15.55% | 15.46% | 15.68% | 16.97% | 16.53% | 19.85% | 25.61% | 17.53% | 17.78% | 18.82% | 20.93% | 35.65% | 16.47% | 12.42% |
| Selling, General & Admin | 2.45B | 1.7B | 572M | 481M | 440M | 458M | 410M | 354M | 350M | 345M | 323M | 312M | 402M | 144M | 89M | 88M | 85.27M | 90.72M | 227.59M | 50.76M | 95.45M |
| SG&A % of Revenue | - | 13.48% | 4.86% | 4.86% | 4.57% | 5% | 4.97% | 5.41% | 5.58% | 5.9% | 5.41% | 6.66% | 9.24% | 8.32% | 6.53% | 6.63% | 7.41% | 9.12% | 27.99% | 8.84% | 30.42% |
| Research & Development | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R&D % of Revenue | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Operating Expenses | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Operating Income | 5.34B | 4.9B | 4.31B | 3.69B | 3.64B | 3.45B | 3.03B | 2.67B | 2.58B | 2.38B | 2.17B | 1.75B | 1.45B | 790M | 827M | 793M | 652.32M | 512.62M | 493.53M | 353.56M | 204.63M |
| Operating Margin % | 40.84% | 38.74% | 36.64% | 37.3% | 37.75% | 37.62% | 36.79% | 40.83% | 41.16% | 40.72% | 36.38% | 37.38% | 33.27% | 45.66% | 60.68% | 59.76% | 56.73% | 51.53% | 60.7% | 61.56% | 65.21% |
| Operating Income Growth % | - | 13.62% | 16.65% | 1.54% | 5.48% | 13.72% | 13.47% | 3.48% | 8.58% | 9.53% | 24.11% | 20.86% | 83.29% | -4.47% | 4.29% | 21.57% | 27.25% | 3.87% | 39.59% | 72.78% | - |
| EBITDA | 6.89B | 6.46B | 5.85B | 4.91B | 4.67B | 4.46B | 3.78B | 3.33B | 3.17B | 2.91B | 2.78B | 2.12B | 1.78B | 946M | 958M | 925M | 773.53M | 623.98M | 555.78M | 386.96M | 218.5M |
| EBITDA Margin % | 52.73% | 51.08% | 49.71% | 49.57% | 48.45% | 48.63% | 45.9% | 50.94% | 50.49% | 49.87% | 46.59% | 45.37% | 40.92% | 54.68% | 70.29% | 69.71% | 67.27% | 62.72% | 68.36% | 67.38% | 69.63% |
| EBITDA Growth % | 14.69% | 10.43% | 19.09% | 5.14% | 4.73% | 17.81% | 13.46% | 5.24% | 8.75% | 4.74% | 30.98% | 19.26% | 88.27% | -1.25% | 3.57% | 19.58% | 23.97% | 12.27% | 43.63% | 77.1% | - |
| D&A (Non-Cash Add-back) | 1.55B | 1.56B | 1.54B | 1.22B | 1.03B | 1.01B | 751M | 662M | 586M | 535M | 610M | 374M | 333M | 156M | 131M | 132M | 121.21M | 111.36M | 62.25M | 33.4M | 13.86M |
| EBIT | 5.08B | 5.08B | 4.54B | 3.7B | 2.42B | 6.12B | 3.12B | 2.77B | 2.76B | 2.71B | 2.22B | 1.75B | 1.5B | 560M | 829M | 795M | 640.01M | 516.63M | 493.07M | 364.68M | 204.63M |
| Net Interest Income | -647M | -641M | -769M | -489M | -508M | -422M | -347M | -250M | -222M | -179M | -175M | -97M | -96M | -53M | -37.37M | -32M | -28.38M | -20.96M | -8.04M | 0 | 0 |
| Interest Income | 131M | 140M | 141M | 319M | 108M | 1M | 10M | 35M | 22M | 8M | 3M | 0 | 0 | 3M | 1.63M | 3M | 2.16M | 1.96M | 11.54M | 0 | 0 |
| Interest Expense | 778M | 781M | 910M | 808M | 616M | 423M | 357M | 285M | 244M | 187M | 178M | 97M | 96M | 56M | 39M | 35M | 30.54M | 22.92M | 19.57M | 0 | 0 |
| Other Income/Expense | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pretax Income | 5.18B | 4.35B | 3.63B | 2.89B | 1.81B | 5.7B | 2.77B | 2.48B | 2.52B | 2.53B | 2.04B | 1.65B | 1.41B | 504M | 790M | 760M | 609.47M | 493.7M | 473.5M | 358.43M | 212.54M |
| Pretax Margin % | 39.62% | 34.42% | 30.85% | 29.22% | 18.76% | 62.15% | 33.55% | 37.9% | 40.15% | 43.23% | 34.22% | 35.31% | 32.33% | 29.13% | 57.96% | 57.27% | 53% | 49.63% | 58.24% | 62.41% | 67.73% |
| Income Tax | 1.2B | 991M | 826M | 456M | 310M | 1.63B | 658M | 521M | 500M | -28M | 586M | 358M | 402M | 184M | 228M | 238M | 201.71M | 179.55M | 172.52M | 117.82M | 69.28M |
| Effective Tax Rate % | 23.19% | 22.78% | 22.77% | 15.76% | 17.15% | 28.59% | 23.79% | 21% | 19.84% | -1.11% | 28.68% | 21.66% | 28.57% | 36.51% | 28.86% | 31.32% | 33.1% | 36.37% | 36.44% | 32.87% | 32.59% |
| Net Income | 3.92B | 3.3B | 2.75B | 2.37B | 1.45B | 4.06B | 2.09B | 1.93B | 1.99B | 2.53B | 1.43B | 1.27B | 981M | 254M | 552M | 510M | 398.3M | 315.99M | 300.97M | 240.61M | 143.27M |
| Net Margin % | 29.98% | 26.14% | 23.42% | 23.91% | 15.01% | 44.26% | 25.34% | 29.53% | 31.68% | 43.23% | 23.95% | 27.21% | 22.54% | 14.68% | 40.5% | 38.43% | 34.64% | 31.76% | 37.02% | 41.9% | 45.66% |
| Net Income Growth % | 40.8% | 19.97% | 16.3% | 63.76% | -64.37% | 94.26% | 8.07% | -2.77% | -21.3% | 76.64% | 12.24% | 29.87% | 286.22% | -53.99% | 8.24% | 28.04% | 26.05% | 4.99% | 25.09% | 67.95% | - |
| Net Income (Continuing) | 3.98B | 3.36B | 2.8B | 2.44B | 1.5B | 4.07B | 2.11B | 1.96B | 2.02B | 2.55B | 1.46B | 1.29B | 1B | 320M | 562M | 522M | 407.77M | 314.15M | 300.97M | 240.61M | 143.27M |
| Discontinued Operations | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11M | -50M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Minority Interest | 32M | 22M | 73M | 69M | 55M | 39M | 129M | 109M | 101M | 28M | 73M | 67M | 197M | 354M | 33M | 40.82M | 39.22M | 33.91M | 5.95M | 0 | 0 |
| EPS (Diluted) | 6.88 | 5.77 | 4.78 | 4.19 | 2.58 | 7.18 | 3.77 | 3.42 | 3.43 | 4.23 | 2.37 | 2.28 | 1.71 | 0.64 | 1.50 | 1.38 | 1.07 | 0.85 | 0.83 | 0.68 | 0.48 |
| EPS Growth % | 42.24% | 20.71% | 14.08% | 62.4% | -64.07% | 90.45% | 10.23% | -0.29% | -18.91% | 78.48% | 3.95% | 33.33% | 167.19% | -57.33% | 8.7% | 28.97% | 25.88% | 2.41% | 22.06% | 41.67% | - |
| EPS (Basic) | - | 5.80 | 4.80 | 4.20 | 2.59 | 7.22 | 3.79 | 3.44 | 3.46 | 4.27 | 2.39 | 2.29 | 1.72 | 0.65 | 1.52 | 1.39 | 1.08 | 0.87 | 0.85 | 0.70 | 0.51 |
| Diluted Shares Outstanding | 570M | 571.14M | 576M | 565M | 561M | 565M | 555M | 565M | 579M | 594M | 599M | 559M | 573M | 395M | 365M | 370M | 372.38M | 370.45M | 360.82M | 354.9M | 298M |
| Basic Shares Outstanding | 567M | 571.14M | 573M | 564M | 559M | 562M | 552M | 561M | 575M | 589M | 595M | 556M | 570M | 390M | 365M | 365M | 368.12M | 364.93M | 355.92M | 344.93M | 282.37M |
| Dividend Payout Ratio | - | 33.44% | 37.73% | 40.33% | 58.99% | 18.41% | 32.02% | 32.13% | 27.92% | 18.84% | 28.6% | 25.98% | 30.48% | 29.53% | - | - | - | - | 1.15% | - | - |
Mortgage market cyclicality
As reported in recent financial statements, ICE has demonstrated a consistent upward revenue trajectory, reaching $3.7 billion in 2026Q1, which suggests that the company's strategic pivot toward recurring data and mortgage technology revenue is successfully offsetting the inherent volatility of its core exchange transaction volumes.
The revenue expansion appears to be driven by the successful integration of large-scale acquisitions, which have effectively broadened the company's top-line base beyond traditional trading fees. Investors should monitor whether this growth remains durable if mortgage origination volumes face sustained pressure from higher interest rate environments.
Based on the provided income statement data, ICE achieved a significant gross margin expansion to 81.2% in 2026Q1, indicating that the company is successfully leveraging its proprietary technology infrastructure to drive higher profitability per unit of revenue compared to historical periods where margins hovered near 55%.
This margin improvement suggests that the company is realizing meaningful synergies from its recent technology-heavy acquisitions. The ability to maintain such high margins warrants further investigation into whether this is a permanent structural shift or a temporary benefit from specific accounting treatments of intangible assets.
According to the quarterly data, ICE's operating income scaled to $1.7 billion in 2026Q1, reflecting a notable improvement in operating leverage as the company manages the complex cost structures associated with its recent expansion into the mortgage technology sector and broader data services ecosystem.
The company appears to be successfully managing its SG&A expenses relative to gross profit growth, which suggests effective cost discipline despite the integration of large legacy platforms. Analysts should remain cautious, however, as the high fixed-cost nature of these systems may lead to rapid margin compression if revenue growth stalls.
As indicated by the 2026Q1 figures, ICE reported net income of $1.4 billion, a substantial increase that appears to be supported by strong operational performance, though investors should note that stock-based compensation remains a consistent expense item, totaling $78 million in the most recent quarter.
The significant jump in EPS to $2.48 suggests that the company is effectively converting its top-line growth into bottom-line value for shareholders. However, the volatility in net income across previous quarters warrants further investigation into the impact of non-operating items and the amortization of acquisition-related intangibles.
While the company's shift toward recurring revenue is compelling, the 2025Q4 SG&A spike to $1.3 billion suggests that the integration of large acquisitions like Black Knight may be more costly and operationally intensive than the market currently anticipates, posing a potential risk to future margin stability.
Short-term margin compression risks appear elevated given the cyclical nature of the mortgage industry, which could undermine the 'utility' narrative if volumes remain depressed. Investors should monitor whether the company can maintain its current profitability levels if the anticipated cross-selling synergies fail to materialize as expected.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying ICE stock.
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) is profitable, generating $3.30B in net income for the fiscal year ending 2025 with a net profit margin of 26.1%.
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) reported an operating income of $4.90B, resulting in an operating profit margin of 38.7%. This margin reflects the operational efficiency of the business before interest and taxes.
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) generated $7.82B in gross profit for the year, representing a gross profit margin of 61.9%. This demonstrates the company's core pricing power and production efficiency.