---
title: "FICO freezes its $10 mortgage price for a year; Equifax sells the $1 rival through 2028"
description: "Fair Isaac held the wholesale price of its mortgage credit score at $10 into 2027 for lenders already committed to it, and the shares fell 6 percent after hours. November 4, 2026, is the first earnings report since Fannie and Freddie put the $1 rival on the same fee grid, and about 43 percent of revenue rides on the result."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Economy"
published: 2026-10-25T15:22:19.508Z
modified: 2026-10-25T15:22:19.508Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/fico-freezes-its-10-mortgage-price-for-a-year-equifax-sells-the-1-rival-through-2028
language: en
keywords: "FICO, Credit Scores, Mortgages, Pricing, Analyst Targets"
---

# FICO freezes its $10 mortgage price for a year; Equifax sells the $1 rival through 2028

> Fair Isaac held the wholesale price of its mortgage credit score at $10 into 2027 for lenders already committed to it, and the shares fell 6 percent after hours. November 4, 2026, is the first earnings report since Fannie and Freddie put the $1 rival on the same fee grid, and about 43 percent of revenue rides on the result.

## A freeze the market marked down

After the close on October 23, 2026, [Fair Isaac](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/fair-isaac-fico) (NYSE: FICO), the company behind the credit score attached to most US mortgages, said it [will hold that score's wholesale mortgage price at $10 into 2027](https://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/articles/fico-holds-mortgage-score-pricing-201500434.html) for lenders and brokers enrolled in its Preferred Program, with the classic score and the newer 10T bundled in [1][2]. The shares closed the day at $815.31, down 51.77 percent for the year [3], then fell 6 percent in after-hours trading [2].

## One year of $10 against two years of $1

Mortgage scoring is about 43 percent of Fair Isaac's revenue, [as The Inference established last week](https://theinference.org/article/fico-s-growth-is-one-fee-and-the-fhfa-put-a-1-rival-score-on-the-same-pricing-grid), and in the June quarter mortgage-score revenue rose 97 percent on volumes that grew low single digits: the growth was price, not traffic [4]. [The fee more than doubled to $10 in 2025](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/fico-holds-10-pricing-for-mortgage-lenders-amid-new-competition/ar-AA2fWh0l) [5], capping a run of increases one investor tally puts at roughly 800 percent since 2022 [6].

Fair Isaac's freeze runs one year [2]. [Equifax](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/equifax) has [committed VantageScore 4.0, the rival score owned by the three credit bureaus, at $1 through the end of 2028](https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20261008cl67346/equifax-reports-accelerated-adoption-of-vantagescore-40-across-the-mortgage-industry), and [TransUnion](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/transunion) sells it at 99 cents [5][7][8]. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac [opened VantageScore to every approved lender on September 9, 2026, and aligned upfront fees across both scores on September 30](https://www.fhfa.gov/policy/credit-scores) [9].

Nearly 2,000 lenders and resellers have taken Equifax's offer since April, with pulls up 230 percent, and more than 165 use the rival exclusively on some loans, per the company [7]. The $10 protects the lenders FICO already has; the price for everyone else is $1, a $9 difference on every score pulled [9]. The bundle's 10T is even a score Fannie and Freddie cannot yet accept in delivery [9].

## The freeze defends a 91 percent margin

The June-quarter filing shows what is at stake: Scores segment revenue of $458.9 million, up 41 percent, at a roughly 91 percent segment margin [8]. Fair Isaac ended June carrying $5.6 billion of debt, up from $3.1 billion in September 2025, after repurchasing $2.3 billion of stock in the quarter, $1.5 billion of it through a term-loan-funded accelerated buyback [8].

[A restructuring dated October 1, 2026, cuts about 15 percent of positions at a $27 million charge](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/814547/000119312526415732/d127042d8k.htm) [10]. Revenue growth ran 11 to 20 percent for ten quarters, jumped to 38.7 percent in the quarter ended March 2026, and had already faded to 25.7 percent by June [11].

*Chart: **Revenue growth ran 11 to 20 percent for ten quarters, then jumped to 38.7 percent after the fee doubled** Line chart of Fair Isaac's year-over-year revenue growth over twelve quarters, spiking to 38.7 percent in the quarter ended March 2026 and easing to 25.7 percent in the June quarter.*

*Fair Isaac total revenue growth, year over year, by calendar quarter (fiscal year ends September 30), from SEC filings. The fee more than doubled to $10 in 2025. [5][11]*

*Chart: **Quarterly revenue topped $690 million for the first time in the March 2026 quarter** Column chart of Fair Isaac's total revenue across twelve quarters, rising from about $390 million to a first-ever $691.7 million in the quarter ended March 2026.*

*Fair Isaac total revenue by calendar quarter, USD millions, from SEC filings (fiscal year ends September 30). [15]*

## The Street has not marked it down

United Wholesale Mortgage, the largest US mortgage lender, [reaffirmed on October 6, 2026, that it will run FICO scores on every credit pull in its broker operation](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/uwm-reaffirms-commitment-to-fico-scores-to-help-more-consumers-achieve-homeownership-ce785dd9dc8af52c) [12]. Equifax's own fourth-quarter guidance still assumes a FICO score on every mortgage transaction [4]. [Barclays](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/barclays) kept a Buy on October 24 at $875, the lowest named broker target; the TipRanks consensus sits at $1,155.13 [13], while one target on the board, $490, lies about 40 percent below the shares [4].

*Chart: **The lowest named broker target on FICO is Barclays' $875, still about $60 above the shares** Bar chart of FICO analyst price targets from October 2026, all above the October 23 closing price of $815.31 shown as a reference line.*

*Analyst price targets for FICO, dollars per share, from actions dated October 13 to 24, 2026; the reference line marks the October 23, 2026, close of $815.31. [3][12][13]*

## November 4 separates price from volume

The fiscal fourth-quarter report [lands November 4, 2026, after the close](https://www.fico.com/en/newsroom/fair-isaac-corporation-announces-date-reporting-fourth-quarter-fiscal-2026-financial-results) [14]. The quarter it covers ended September 30, the day the fee grid went single, so it holds only three weeks of open access to the rival [9]. Two lines decide it: mortgage-score revenue, and the realized price per score, with volume stripped out [8]. The price is frozen, so the 43 percent line grows only if lenders keep choosing $10 over $1 [8]. A company with real pricing power does not announce a year of not using it.

## Takeaway

FICO froze the $10 wholesale mortgage score price into 2027 while Equifax sells the $1 rival through 2028; November 4 earnings, with 43 percent of revenue exposed, will show whether lenders keep choosing $10.

## Sources

1. [Yahoo Finance (Business Wire), FICO Holds Mortgage Score Pricing at $10 for Lenders Enrolled in Preferred Program, October 23, 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/articles/fico-holds-mortgage-score-pricing-201500434.html)
2. [Morningstar, Fair Isaac: Mortgage Headline Score Price Held at $10 per Score in 2027, October 25, 2026](https://www.morningstar.com/company-reports/1504554-fair-isaac-mortgage-headline-score-price-held-at-10-per-score-in-2027)
3. [The Economic Times, Portfolio Killers: 10 US stocks that wiped out up to 66% of investors' wealth in 2026, October 24, 2026](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/us-stocks/news/portfolio-killers-10-us-stocks-that-wiped-out-up-to-66-of-investors-wealth-in-2026/the-trade-desk-ttd/slideshow/135167341.cms?from=mdr)
4. [The Inference, FICO's growth is one fee, and the FHFA put a $1 rival score on the same pricing grid, October 22, 2026](https://theinference.org/article/fico-s-growth-is-one-fee-and-the-fhfa-put-a-1-rival-score-on-the-same-pricing-grid)
5. [The Wall Street Journal via MSN, FICO holds $10 pricing for mortgage lenders amid new competition, October 23, 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/fico-holds-10-pricing-for-mortgage-lenders-amid-new-competition/ar-AA2fWh0l)
6. [Compounding Quality, Lessons From FICO's Collapse, October 2026](https://www.compoundingquality.net/p/lessons-from-ficos-collapse)
7. [Equifax press release via PR Newswire on Morningstar, Equifax Reports Accelerated Adoption of VantageScore 4.0 Across the Mortgage Industry, October 8, 2026](https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20261008cl67346/equifax-reports-accelerated-adoption-of-vantagescore-40-across-the-mortgage-industry)
8. [Forbes, Jim Osman, FICO Stock Crashed 27%: A Mortgage Price War Could Send It Lower, September 30, 2026](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimosman/2026/09/30/fico-stock-crashed-27-a-mortgage-price-war-could-send-it-lower/)
9. [Federal Housing Finance Agency, Credit Scores policy page, updated October 2, 2026](https://www.fhfa.gov/policy/credit-scores)
10. [Fair Isaac Corporation Form 8-K, Item 2.05, workforce reduction plan, filed October 6, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/814547/000119312526415732/d127042d8k.htm)
11. [Fair Isaac quarterly figures from SEC filings, retrieved October 25, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000814547)
12. [Business Wire via MarketScreener, UWM Reaffirms Commitment to FICO Scores to Help More Consumers Achieve Homeownership, October 6, 2026](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/uwm-reaffirms-commitment-to-fico-scores-to-help-more-consumers-achieve-homeownership-ce785dd9dc8af52c)
13. [TipRanks via The Globe and Mail, Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Technology Companies: Fair Isaac (FICO), Texas Instruments (TXN) and RingCentral (RNG), October 24, 2026](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/FICO/pressreleases/8403309/analysts-have-conflicting-sentiments-on-these-technology-companies-fair-isaac-fico-texas-instruments-txn-and-ringcentral-rng/)
14. [FICO newsroom, Fair Isaac Corporation Announces Date for Reporting of Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2026 Financial Results, October 21, 2026](https://www.fico.com/en/newsroom/fair-isaac-corporation-announces-date-reporting-fourth-quarter-fiscal-2026-financial-results)
15. [Fair Isaac (FICO), quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 25 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000814547)


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FICO freezes its $10 mortgage price for a year; Equifax sells the $1 rival through 2028 — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/fico-freezes-its-10-mortgage-price-for-a-year-equifax-sells-the-1-rival-through-2028