Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) shares cratered in premarket trading Tuesday, falling 20% to $675.39, after federal mortgage finance officials moved to dismantle the company’s long-standing monopoly in mortgage credit scoring. The decline followed a 2.6% drop on Monday and put the stock on track for its worst daily move in more than six years, reaching levels last seen in April 2023.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency, led by Director Bill Pulte, announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will consolidate their two separate mortgage pricing grids into a single unified grid. The new structure will include VantageScore, the credit scoring model developed by Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, alongside FICO Classic. Pulte wrote that the change is meant to simplify mortgage pricing for borrowers and increase competition in credit scoring.
The competitive shift escalated when Rocket Mortgage, one of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders, said it would default to VantageScore 4.0 for eligible loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac beginning in the fourth quarter. Rocket Companies stock rose 1.6% in premarket trading, while TransUnion fell 4.3% and Equifax dropped about 4%.
FICO has struggled throughout the year. The stock is down 50% in 2026 and has fallen sharply from its November 2024 record close of $2,382.40. It traded near a 52-week low around $832, down from a 52-week high of $1,998.01. Technical indicators have worsened, with shares falling below key support around $876 and forming a death cross pattern, where the 50-week moving average crossed below the 200-week moving average. Analysts at Wells Fargo, UBS, RBC, Bank of America, and JPMorgan have recently reduced price targets. Wells Fargo lowered its target from $1,450 to $1,350, while UBS cut its target from $1,200 to $1,130.
Despite the selloff, Fair Isaac reported quarterly revenue of $674 million, up from $536 million a year earlier, and nine-month revenue of $1.87 billion, up from $1.47 billion. Net profit rose to more than $236 million from $194 million. The company's forward price-to-earnings ratio has dropped to around 20, below its five-year average of 43. Still, the removal of FICO’s exclusive status creates direct pricing and competitive pressure, with the next technical support seen near the psychological $600 level.
