FICO shares fall 13.28% as mortgage credit scoring options expand
Key Facts
Shares of Fair Isaac, known by its ticker FICO, closed at $707.00 on October 26, down 13.28%, according to trading data displayed by Stock Analysis. The decline came as options expanded for credit scoring models used in eligible loans purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But open sources do not establish that the stock move came in response to remarks by Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, or identify a direct cause. The stock had closed at $815.31 in the previous session, according to the same data. The decline places developments in competition in the mortgage scoring market in the context surrounding the stock, without by itself establishing the impact of the new policy on the company’s business.
On September 9, 2026, the two institutions expanded access to VantageScore 4.0 to all approved lenders and removed the requirement for prior written approval, according to the FHFA. Lenders may use the model when originating eligible loans and selling them to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, under the institutions’ selling guides. Classic FICO remains an approved option during the transition, so the policy allows lenders to choose between the two models rather than replacing one immediately. A lender must choose the same model for all borrowers on a given loan. The change applies only to eligible loans sold to the two institutions, not all mortgage loans.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began using VantageScore 4.0 on April 22, 2026, in a limited rollout for loans sold to them, before expanding access to all approved lenders in September, according to the FHFA. The model update is linked to a law enacted in 2018 that required the agency to establish a path for validating more advanced scoring models. In 2022, the FHFA announced that the institutions had validated VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T following testing and an extensive review. The agency said newer models take additional data into account, including rental payment history, when assessing credit risk. The initial inclusion of VantageScore 4.0 does not mean a change to the institutions’ current credit reporting requirements.
The FHFA said Classic FICO will remain approved and that no retirement date has been announced; any future change to its eligibility will be preceded by notice. By contrast, FICO 10T is not currently eligible for loan delivery to the institutions, and the agency said it would issue further guidance when it becomes available. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced fee adjustments on September 30 to align them across Classic FICO and VantageScore 4.0. This means the inclusion of a competing model was accompanied by a fee alignment between the two options, while the transition to another model, FICO 10T, remains unavailable for loan delivery so far. The FHFA said historical data sets allow participants to analyze the performance of newer models.
FICO 10T data cover loans acquired by the two institutions from April 2013 through September 2025, while additional VantageScore data run from April 2023 through September 2025, according to the FHFA. On the company’s position, FICO said on its fiscal 2026 third-quarter earnings call that its FICO Score 10T adoption program had reached 70 lenders. It added that participants represent about 55% of loan volume among the largest 50 mortgage originators, and that the program includes both conforming and nonconforming mortgage markets. The company also posted revenue of $674 million in the quarter, up 26% year over year. These figures provide background on the company’s business and its newer model program as lenders gain access to VantageScore 4.0.
In remarks reported by Reuters via Investing.com, Pulte said, "FICO seems uninterested in offering competitive costs and instead uses various means to raise prices on the American people." The report linked the aim of changing pricing policy to strengthening competition between FICO and VantageScore. But the competition-related quote does not establish that the stock move on October 26 was a direct response to it, and the original page to which this link was attributed was not available for verification among open sources. FICO will report fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results on November 4, after the market closes, according to the date shown by Stock Analysis citing a company statement. The upcoming results date gives investors an opportunity to follow the company’s figures after VantageScore use expanded, while the FHFA has not set a date for retiring Classic FICO.