Scoring giant FICO slumps as VantageScore competition concerns mount

Fair Isaac

10/04/2026 17:21

** Shares of Fair Isaac FICO.N, better known as FICO, slide as much as 15.1%, hitting their lowest since November 2023

** Stock of the credit-scoring giant last down 12.8% at $935.17

** Clear Street analyst Owen Lau points towards a report that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is set to increase competition regarding credit scores by making VantageScore operational in housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

** "There could also be increased competition among credit bureaus (i.e. potentially single file credit report)" - Lau

** Mortgage Bankers Association last year urged FHFA to remove the tri-merge credit report mandate for every loan purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

** The housing giants require lenders to use reports from all three major credit bureaus to assess borrower's creditworthiness

** VantageScore, a credit score modeling and analytics company, was founded in 2006 by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion as a competitor to FICO score

** 15 of 22 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, 6 "hold" and 1 "sell"; median PT $1,975 - data compiled by LSEG

** As of last close, FICO stock down 36.6% YTD

 (Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)

 ((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))