FICO Says It Will Stop Sharing Mortgage Score Pricing And Offers No 2027 Guidance
CEO Will Lansing says transparency "has not been helpful" as the credit-score company moves to custom mortgage pricing and holds back its outlook.
FICO, the maker of the FICO Score and analytics software, will stop publishing the prices and terms of its mortgage score programs, CEO Will Lansing said on the company's fourth-quarter earnings call Wednesday. The company also withheld fiscal 2027 guidance, citing a pricing transition that is still in progress.
FICO Says It Has Been Unfairly Attacked Over Pricing
Asked by an RBC Capital Markets analyst whether average pricing would rise, fall or stay flat next year, Lansing said the company has rethought how it talks about price. FICO has been "attacked for what we consider to be not very good reasons," he said, and has "become the poster child for affordability and housing which is just a crazy thing."
Internally, he said, the company concluded transparency had not helped. "We're not going to share every pricing program," he said, nor the prices or all the terms, which will be customized by customer. Whether the average price of a score is going up, down or sideways, he said, "We're not going to answer that."
A Goldman Sachs analyst asked what share of 2027 mortgage originations would be under committed agreements. Lansing said that kind of detail "hasn't helped us in the past." He also said FICO has never shared internal mortgage volume estimates.
No Outlook Until Pricing Settles
Lansing said FICO is "not providing fiscal year 2027 guidance at this time." Programs and agreements are still being finalized, he said, and mortgage-market outcomes are uncertain, with high interest rates and affordability problems keeping originations below historical norms. He acknowledged this was not what investors expected and said it does not reflect a change in long-term confidence.
He called it "likely" FICO will give guidance once more pricing is set. The fiscal year starts October 1, he noted, while pricing resets January 1, and negotiations with lenders are under way now.
The backdrop is a strong year: fourth-quarter revenue of $657 million, up 27%, and fiscal 2026 revenue of $2.535 billion, also up 27%. Scores revenue rose 33% in the quarter to $414 million.
The Preferred Program And 10T
The one program management named is the FICO Preferred Program, launched in October through tri-merge resellers (those that assemble credit files from all three bureaus). Enrolled lenders and brokers get no 2027 wholesale price increase and a bundle of classic FICO Score and FICO Score 10T. Lansing said the program is not exclusive and that gaming of the two-score system "is real."
The FHA will use FICO Score 10T from January 1, 2027, he said. The government-sponsored mortgage agencies have yet to implement it. FICO's 10T Adopter Program has grown to 84 lenders, covering over 60% of volume from the top 50 mortgage originators for originated FHA units, according to management.
Lansing said he expects 2027 to be "a big year for 10T," though lenders in the conforming market are still waiting for the mortgage agencies to sign off.
Sources
- Fair Isaac: Fiscal Q4 Earnings Snapshot | wfaa.com — Associated Press
- Fair Isaac (FICO) Surpasses Q4 Earnings and Revenue Estimates — Yahoo Finance
- Fair Isaac (FICO) Stock May Be 45% Undervalued After Mortgage Pricing Update — Yahoo Finance
- Fair Isaac (FICO) Wins A Fresh Auto Score 10 Upgrade From A Regional Lender — Yahoo Finance
- Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) Faces Pricing and Competitive Pressure — Yahoo Finance
