---
title: "Fair Isaac froze its $10 mortgage score with no 2027 guide as Rocket Mortgage picked VantageScore at 99 cents"
description: "Fair Isaac beat estimates for its fiscal fourth quarter, then declined to give any fiscal 2027 forecast or to say whether its score prices rise or fall next year, freezing its $10 mortgage price for enrolled lenders after regulators put a 99-cent rival on the same grid. The shares, down 57.93 percent over twelve months, closed up 0.91 percent on the print."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Economy"
published: 2026-11-10T14:15:04.228Z
modified: 2026-11-10T14:15:04.228Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/fair-isaac-froze-its-10-mortgage-score-with-no-2027-guide-as-rocket-mortgage-picked-vantagescore-at-99-cents
language: en
keywords: "Fair Isaac, Earnings, Credit Scores, Mortgages, VantageScore, FHFA"
---

# Fair Isaac froze its $10 mortgage score with no 2027 guide as Rocket Mortgage picked VantageScore at 99 cents

> Fair Isaac beat estimates for its fiscal fourth quarter, then declined to give any fiscal 2027 forecast or to say whether its score prices rise or fall next year, freezing its $10 mortgage price for enrolled lenders after regulators put a 99-cent rival on the same grid. The shares, down 57.93 percent over twelve months, closed up 0.91 percent on the print.

On its November 4 call, Will Lansing, [Fair Isaac](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/fair-isaac-fico)'s chief executive, called fiscal 2026 "the most successful financial year in FICO's history," then [declined to forecast the next one](https://theinference.org/article/fair-isaac-fico-pulled-2027-guidance-as-six-banks-cut-price-targets-from-650-to-925): "[we are not providing fiscal year 2027 guidance at this time](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/fair-isaac-fico-q4-2026-220559982.html)," with mortgage pricing agreements still being negotiated. [1]

The fiscal fourth quarter, the three months to September 30, was a beat: revenue of $657.0 million, up 27.4 percent from a year earlier, and adjusted earnings of $11.10 a share against the $10.69 expected. [3][4] The shares closed the next day at $707.40, up 0.91 percent, a fifth of their average 5.11 percent move on the last eight prints and 57.93 percent below their level a year ago. [3]

*Chart: **Revenue jumped more than a third in fiscal 2026 after score prices rose** Line chart of Fair Isaac's quarterly revenue from the quarter ended December 2023 to September 2026, rising from $382 million to $657 million with a jump above $690 million in early 2026.*

*Revenue by calendar quarter, quarter-end December 2023 through September 2026 (FICO fiscal Q1 2024 through Q4 2026). Source: Fair Isaac SEC filings. [9]*

## The price lever met a 99-cent rival

The growth was price, not volume. Mortgage origination scores revenue rose 72 percent while originations fell by a high-single-digit percentage, and the average score price slipped from the prior quarter as lenders shifted toward cheaper home-equity lines. [1] In October Fair Isaac [froze its $10 wholesale score price for enrolled lenders and brokers through 2027](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4657132-fair-isaac-stock-slumps-after-holding-pricing-for-preferred-lenders), under a Preferred Program that bundles the newer 10T score. [1][5]

The freeze followed a regulatory rout. In the last week of September the Federal Housing Finance Agency placed VantageScore, the credit bureaus' rival score, on the same mortgage pricing grid as the classic FICO Score, [TransUnion](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/transunion) extended 99-cent pricing for it through 2028, and Rocket Mortgage, the largest US mortgage lender, [made it the preferred model for eligible loans](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimosman/2026/09/30/fico-stock-crashed-27-a-mortgage-price-war-could-send-it-lower/) [6][7][2]. Fair Isaac [fell 26.5 percent on September 29, its worst day since 1989](https://theinference.org/article/fico-s-worst-day-since-1989-the-toll-got-repriced-before-anyone-can-count-it). [6][7][2]

Asked on the call whether average prices rise or fall next year, Lansing said transparency on pricing "has not been helpful" and declined to answer. [1]

*Chart: **Operating margin fell 1,320 basis points to a nine-quarter low** Column chart of Fair Isaac's quarterly GAAP operating margin from December 2024 to September 2026, peaking at 58.2 percent in March 2026 and falling to 40.6 percent in September 2026.*

*GAAP operating margin as a percent of revenue, by calendar quarter, quarter-end December 2024 through September 2026 (FICO fiscal Q1 2025 through Q4 2026). Source: Fair Isaac SEC filings. [8]*

## Two charges did most of the margin damage

GAAP operating margin fell to 40.6 percent of revenue, from 53.8 percent, the weakest in nine quarters. [3][8] A $65 million antitrust settlement accrual and a $27 million restructuring charge, tied to an October cut of about 15 percent of staff, did most of the damage: excluding them, operating expense fell 4 percent sequentially and non-GAAP operating margin reached 61 percent, from 54. [1][7]

Free cash flow for the year was $1.03 billion, up 40 percent, with no meaningful loss of volume to competition. [1] The buyback stopped anyway. Fair Isaac spent $3.028 billion in fiscal 2026 retiring a tenth of its shares at an average of $1,204 apiece, against a $707.40 close, then paused to repay the term loan behind an accelerated repurchase, leaving $5.26 billion of debt and net leverage at 3.29 times EBITDA. [1][3]

## What January decides

Consensus for the December quarter is $608.2 million of revenue and $9.40 a share. [3] On January 1, 2027, the new pricing takes effect and the Federal Housing Administration begins accepting Score 10T, still unimplemented by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. [1] Until then the number that matters is the one Fair Isaac will not disclose.

## Takeaway

Fair Isaac beat fiscal Q4 estimates but gave no fiscal 2027 guidance and would not say where score prices go, leaving January 1's pricing reset and the FHA's Score 10T adoption as the next tests against a 99-cent VantageScore rival.

## Sources

1. [Motley Fool via Yahoo Finance, Fair Isaac (FICO) Q4 2026 Earnings Call Transcript, 5 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/fair-isaac-fico-q4-2026-220559982.html)
2. [24/7 Wall St, FICO Just Stopped Giving Guidance as It Rewrites Mortgage Pricing, 5 November 2026](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/11/05/fico-just-stopped-giving-guidance-as-it-rewrites-mortgage-pricing/)
3. [Altamira Equity, FICO: The Beat Was Clean, the Margin Was Not, 10 November 2026](https://www.altamiraequity.com/fico-q4-fy2026-earnings-recap/)
4. [Associated Press via MSN, Fair Isaac: Fiscal Q4 Earnings Snapshot, 4 November 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/economy/fair-isaac-fiscal-q4-earnings-snapshot/ar-AA2gLst1)
5. [Seeking Alpha, Fair Isaac stock slumps after holding pricing for preferred lenders, 26 October 2026](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4657132-fair-isaac-stock-slumps-after-holding-pricing-for-preferred-lenders)
6. [Forbes, Jim Osman: FICO Stock Crashed 27 Percent, a Mortgage Price War Could Send It Lower, 30 September 2026](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimosman/2026/09/30/fico-stock-crashed-27-a-mortgage-price-war-could-send-it-lower/)
7. [Trefis via Yahoo Finance, Does The Fall In Fair Isaac Stock Change Anything?, 28 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/does-fall-fair-isaac-stock-122319607.html)
8. [Fair Isaac quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 10 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000814547)
9. [Fair Isaac (FICO), quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 10 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000814547)


---

Fair Isaac froze its $10 mortgage score with no 2027 guide as Rocket Mortgage picked VantageScore at 99 cents — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/fair-isaac-froze-its-10-mortgage-score-with-no-2027-guide-as-rocket-mortgage-picked-vantagescore-at-99-cents