ICE Data - Revenue and Profitability

 ICE Data (officially categorized under the Fixed Income and Data Services segment) is an exceptionally profitable business and serves as the "steady engine" for its parent company, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).¹

As of late 2025, this segment is a high-margin, recurring revenue powerhouse that protects the company from the volatility of the stock and energy markets.²

1. The Numbers: Revenue and Profitability (2024–2025)

Based on the most recent financial reports, the segment generates billions in high-margin revenue with a significant portion being "sticky" subscriptions.³

• Annual Revenue: In 2024, the Fixed Income and Data Services segment generated $2.3 billion in net revenue.⁴ By Q3 2025, quarterly revenue grew to $618 million, putting the segment on track for a record year.⁵

• Operating Margins: This is a highly efficient business.

  • GAAP Operating Margin: Roughly 37–39%.⁶

  • Adjusted Operating Margin: Approximately 45%.

• Recurring Revenue: About 80% of the segment's revenue is recurring (subscription-based). This means that even if trading volumes on the NYSE drop, ICE Data continues to collect fees for pricing feeds, indices, and analytics.

2. What Makes it So Profitable?

The profitability of ICE Data stems from its "proprietary" nature. Because ICE owns the exchanges (like the NYSE), they own the data generated by those exchanges.

• Pricing & Reference Data: This is their "crown jewel." Thousands of financial institutions rely on ICE for the "End of Day" prices of bonds. Because there is no central exchange for many bonds, ICE’s evaluated pricing is the industry standard.

• ICE Indices: They provide the benchmarks for hundreds of ETFs.⁷ As more money moves into passive investing, ICE collects a "basis point fee" on the Assets Under Management (AUM) tied to those indices.

• Low Marginal Cost: Once the data infrastructure is built, adding a new customer costs almost nothing, meaning every new dollar of revenue is nearly 100% profit.

3. Comparison to Other Segments

Within the broader ICE portfolio, "Data" sits between the high-flying Exchanges and the recovering Mortgage arm:

Segment	Adjusted Margin	Role in Company
Exchanges	~75%	High risk, high reward; driven by market volatility.
Fixed Income & Data	~45%	The Stabilizer. Predictable, high-growth subscription income.
Mortgage Technology	~35-42%	High growth potential but sensitive to interest rates.

4. Strategic Outlook for 2025/2026

In 2025, ICE has focused on "ICE-Q," a next-generation data platform that uses AI to analyze proprietary mortgage and climate data.⁸ This is part of their strategy to move from "selling raw data" to "selling insights," which typically command even higher price points and margins.

---