Educational information, not financial advice or a personal recommendation. Not regulated by the FCA. Do your own research. Capital at risk.

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE)

Financial Services Balanced

Intercontinental Exchange is the global engine room behind major financial markets, owning the New York Stock Exchange and various digital trading platforms.

$152.48

Is Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: Intercontinental Exchange is the global engine room behind major financial markets, owning the New York Stock Exchange and various digital trading platforms.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price+1.0%
Priced in USD - as a UK investor your £ return also moves with the pound-to-dollar exchange rate, on top of the share price itself.
52-week range-18% past year
$152.48
Low $121.79High $189.35
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put $1,000 into Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.
$1,010+1%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
$85.60B
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
4.47M
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
$151.58 – $155.69
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
$121.79 – $189.35
P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth.
21.5
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
1.4%
Why has it been moving?▲ +5% past week · ▼ -18% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

The bull case

ICE becomes the dominant infrastructure provider for digital assets.

The bear case

New competitors disrupt traditional exchange models.

What does Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. do?

Think of ICE as the digital landlord for the world of finance; they provide the secure platforms where people trade stocks, bonds, and energy contracts. They make their money by charging fees for every transaction that happens on their exchanges and by selling the valuable data that tracks these market movements. Watch how smoothly they fold in recent acquisitions, like their mortgage technology business, to keep growing beyond just trading fees.

VQGMI
Factor profile

On our factor screen it looks strongest on quality and income, and weakest on growth.

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 42Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). 73Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). 37Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 41Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 62
Quick checks
What's strong
  • Quality screens high (73/100)
  • Owns iconic assets like the New York Stock Exchange.
  • High profit margins show a very efficient business model.
  • Diversified income streams beyond just trading fees.
What to watch
  • Strict government regulations could cap the fees they charge.
  • New technology could allow traders to bypass traditional exchanges.
  • Economic downturns often lead to lower trading volumes.

What do Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.'s numbers mean?

P/E
20.0
This shows how much you are paying for every pound of the company's annual profit; a lower number can sometimes suggest a bargain, while a higher one suggests investors expect big growth.
Net margin
37.7%
This reveals that for every pound of revenue, the company keeps nearly 38 pence as actual profit after all bills are paid, which is a sign of a very efficient business.
Dividend yield
1.5%
This is the annual cash payout to shareholders as a percentage of the share price, acting as a small 'thank you' for holding the stock.

How much money does Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. make?

Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.

RevenueNet income
$0$916.50M$1.83B$2.75B$3.67BQ2 25Q3 25Q4 25Q1 26Q2 26
Gross margin
100.0%
Net margin
38.2%
Return on equity
14.1%

Does Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. pay a dividend?

Yes - Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. currently pays a dividend of about 1.4% a year (the yearly payout as a share of the price). A dividend is a slice of profit handed to shareholders; the yield moves as the price moves, and a company can cut or stop it.

When does Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. is next scheduled to report on about 2026-10-29 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.

Each quarter a company reports its results against what analysts expected. ‘Beating’ or ‘missing’ is about that expectation, not whether the business is doing well in absolute terms.

ReportedExpected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number.Actual EPSvs expected
2026-07-30$1.84$1.90Beat +3%
2026-04-30$2.26$2.35Beat +4%
2026-02-05$1.67$1.71Beat +2%
2025-10-30$1.61$1.71Beat +6%
2025-07-31$1.77$1.81Beat +2%
2025-05-01$1.70$1.72In line

Across the last 6 quarters here, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. came in ahead of what analysts expected 5 times. One quarter is noise, not a trend.

See who else reports over the next two weeks →

Reported vs expected earnings per share (EPS) from published results; the expectation is the analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates that can move.

More in Financial Services

AflacAllstateTravelersAssurantBank of Georgia GroupSchrodersM&GIG Group

What are the scenarios for Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

$179$152$120today · $152▲ Bull · $164• Base · $152▼ Bear · $141in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+5% to +10%Increased market volatility leads to higher trading volumes.
Base
-2% to +2%Stable market conditions with steady transaction fees.
Bear
-5% to -10%A sudden drop in global trading activity reduces fee income.

What are the pros and cons of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.?

3bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case3
  • Owns iconic assets like the New York Stock Exchange.
  • High profit margins show a very efficient business model.
  • Diversified income streams beyond just trading fees.
The catch3
  • The share price has struggled over the last year.
  • Heavy reliance on global market activity which can be unpredictable.
  • Complex business structure can be difficult to analyse.
Key risks3
  • Strict government regulations could cap the fees they charge.
  • New technology could allow traders to bypass traditional exchanges.
  • Economic downturns often lead to lower trading volumes.
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: medium · data: USD · flags: none · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
Found this useful? The Almanac is free and ad-free - a coffee keeps it that way.Support →

Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-01 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Figures as of 2026-08-01. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.