Ice Posts Strongest Mortgage Tech Quarter In Three Years, Adds Uwm To Msp

Intercontinental Exchange Inc.,  the operator of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and parent company of ICE Mortgage Technology, reported its strongest quarterly mortgage business performance in three years during the fourth quarter of 2025.

ICE Mortgage Technology generated $532 million in total revenue, up 5% from a year earlier, according to filings posted Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“On a pro forma basis, including Black Knight, this represents our strongest quarterly performance since the third quarter of 2022,” chief financial officer Warren Gardiner told analysts during a conference call.

Transaction revenue reached $141 million, a 20% year-over-year increase. Gardiner said the growth was driven by the Encompass loan origination platform, where clients are increasingly exceeding minimum usage levels amid an improving origination environment, along with double-digit growth in Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) usage that’s supported by strong refinancing activity. 

Recurring revenue totaled $391 million, in line with company expectations.

“As we discussed in prior quarters, some customer renewals came in at lower minimums. Importantly, these renewals are paired with higher per transaction pricing, which becomes increasingly beneficial as origination volumes normalize,” Gardiner said. “The impact from lower minimums was largely offset by strong implementations and product expansions, particularly within origination technology.”

For the full year, ICE Mortgage Technology reported $2.1 billion in revenue against $2.1 billion in operating expenses, resulting in operating income of $14 million and an operating margin of 1%. On an adjusted basis, operating income totaled $859 million, with an adjusted operating margin of 41%.

The company expects total mortgage technology revenue to grow in the low- to mid-single-digit range in 2026. That’s driven in part by continued gains in recurring revenue and merger-related synergies, which nearly doubled from $55 million at year-end 2024 to approximately $100 million at year-end 2025. These gains are expected to offset client attrition tied to certain merger-and-acquisition activity in 2025.

ICE also said United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) went live on its MSP servicing platform in January, roughly nine months after signing a contract. UWM chose to bring servicing in-house following rival Rocket Companies’ acquisition of Mr. Cooper Group, to which it had previously delegated servicing activities.

Ben Jackson, president of Intercontinental Exchange, addressed the planned sunset of Encompass SDK and certain legacy technologies by the end of 2026. He said that providing additional time reflects client prioritization rather than competitive pressure.

“We gave them more time to do it because we know it wasn’t slowing down our pace of innovation in other areas,” Jackson said. “And we have not seen it in any way, shape or form as a hindrance to our sales success, nor have we seen it impacting any kind of attrition or changing the competitive landscape.” 

Overall, ICE reported net income of $851 million in the fourth quarter and $3.3 billion for the full year.