Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE): Business Model Canvas [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're trying to map out the engine behind one of finance's most critical infrastructure players, and honestly, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) makes it look deceptively simple with its three-pillar structure. Still, the numbers from late 2025 tell the real story: Q3 net revenues hit $2.4 billion, fueled by a 59% adjusted operating margin that shows how sticky their data and mortgage tech businesses are. I've seen many models, but this blend of exchange fees, recurring data subscriptions, and workflow automation is what generated $3.4 billion in operating cash flow year-to-date through Q3. If you want the precise breakdown of how they structure their value capture, from the NYSE to their mortgage tech, check out the full canvas below.

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) - Canvas Business Model: Key Partnerships

Strategic investment in Polymarket, a decentralized prediction market platform

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. made a strategic investment in Polymarket in October 2025, expanding its footprint into decentralized prediction markets. The investment consideration was all-cash. This move pairs the owner of the New York Stock Exchange with a firm pioneering change within the Decentralized Finance space. ICE will also become a global distributor of Polymarket's event-driven data, providing sentiment indicators to institutional clients, and the companies agreed to partner on future tokenization initiatives. Polymarket's cumulative notional trading volume surpassed an astonishing $20 billion so far in 2025. Polymarket previously acquired QCX LLC for $112 million to secure a Designated Contract Market license.

Global energy and commodity producers for futures market liquidity

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. operates the largest and most liquid energy markets in the world, which rely on global producers for deep liquidity and risk management participation. The depth of liquidity and price transparency across benchmarks like ICE Brent futures and TTF natural gas futures are central to this partnership ecosystem.

Technology vendors for specialized software integration

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. actively engages with technology vendors through its Strategic Alliances program to integrate its data and technology into client workflows. This helps drive faster time-to-market for new services.

• Murex: Integrated with ICE Data Services for fixed income and derivatives data access via the MX.3 platform.
• Alveo: Integrated ICE's ESG Company Data and SFDR analytics into Alveo's Prime data management solution.
• GoldenSource: Integrated ICE's ESG Reference Data service with GoldenSource ESG Impact.
• KX: Agreement to leverage KX's platform for real-time analytics on data from ICE's Consolidated Feed.
• CloudQuant: Integrated ICE Consolidated History into its Liberator Enterprise Data Warehouse.
• DolphinDB, Inc.: Agreed to offer access to ICE Consolidated Feed and historical tick data services.
• Sinara: Selected ICE Data Services for its SinaraTLC (Trade Life Cycle) derivatives trading solution.

Financial institutions for clearing and settlement services

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. owns and operates six clearing houses in North America, Europe, and Asia, which rely on major financial institutions for critical functions like payment processing and collateral management. ICE Clear Europe offers Clearing Members the option to deposit collateral via Triparty agents Euroclear Bank and Clearstream Banking Luxembourg.

ICE Clear Europe appointed the following as consolidation banks:

• JPMorgan Chase Bank NA
• Citibank NA
• Bank of America NA
• Bank of England
• European Central Bank

As of January 31, 2025, minimum Clearing Member requirements in the Guaranty Funds for ICE Clear Europe were approximately $2.9 billion, with an additional ICEU contribution of $197 million. For ICE NGX, total Financial Resources available for the DCO Default Waterfall as of November 1, 2025, included a Guarantee Fund of $215.0 million and ICE NGX Capital of $40.9 million, totaling $255.9 million.

Regulatory bodies (e.g., SEC, CFTC) for market oversight

Market oversight is a core function, with Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. entities operating under the purview of various global regulators. ICE Clear U.S. is registered as a derivatives clearing organization (DCO) with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Regulatory Oversight Committee (ROC) of the ICE Futures U.S. Board of Directors is tasked with ensuring the effectiveness and independence of the Exchange's self-regulatory program. ICE Clear Europe is recognized by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) as a foreign central counterparty as of December 2018.

Key regulatory interactions and deadlines in 2025 include:

• The CFTC planned to implement Unique Product Identifiers (UPIs) for commodities expected mid-year 2025.
• The CFTC planned to extend reporting relief for non-US swap dealers until December 1, 2025.
• The SEC published the application and rulebook for ICE Clear Credit's expansion to include U.S. Treasury clearing in August 2025, with a launch planned later that year.

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. also plans a late 2025 launch for its environmental registry service, ICE GreenTrace™, designed to support compliance in carbon markets. ICE's Liquidity Indicators service helps users comply with requirements from regulators like the U.S. SEC and ESMA.

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) - Canvas Business Model: Key Activities

Operating global regulated exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) operates exchanges that facilitate significant trading activity across various asset classes. For October 2025, NYSE Cash Equities Average Daily Volume (ADV) showed a year-over-year increase of 75%. NYSE Equity Options ADV for October 2025 was up 53% year-over-year. In November 2025, the total average daily volume (ADV) across ICE's exchanges was up 5% year-over-year, while total open interest (OI) increased by 14% year-over-year, reaching a record OI of 112.9M lots on November 21.

Key exchange performance metrics for November 2025 included:

• Total Financials OI: up 33% y/y.
• Total Interest Rates ADV: up 5% y/y.
• Record Total Energy ADV: up 7% y/y.
• Record Asia Gas ADV: up 68% y/y.

Developing and maintaining mission-critical trading and data platforms

The technology and data services form a core part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE)'s operations, providing workflow tools for transparency and efficiency across major asset classes. The company is a Fortune 500 company that designs, builds, and operates digital networks.

Providing fixed income pricing, reference data, and analytics

The Fixed Income and Data Services segment is a significant revenue generator. For the second quarter of 2025, this segment generated revenues of $597 million. This activity complements the exchange operations, offering data services that support benchmarking and performance measurement.

Automating the entire US residential mortgage workflow

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) Mortgage Technology provides an end-to-end mortgage platform. The company has invested approximately $23 billion in mortgage software, including the $11 billion acquisition of Ellie Mae in September 2020 and the $12 billion acquisition of Black Knight in September 2023. For the second quarter of 2025, Mortgage Technology revenues were $531 million. The Mortgage Bankers Association estimates that by the end of 2025, lenders will originate $2 trillion in new mortgages and service $14.7 trillion in outstanding mortgages. Data from October 2025 showed the average 30-year mortgage Principal and Interest (P&I) payment on an average-priced home fell to $2,148, representing 30% of the median U.S. household income, driven by 30-year mortgage rates averaging 6.26% in mid-September.

Executing strategic acquisitions like the American Financial Exchange (AFX) in January 2025

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) acquired 100% of the American Financial Exchange (AFX) in January 2025 from 7RIDGE. AFX operates the American Interbank Offered Rate (AMERIBOR®). The platform facilitates direct lending and borrowing for a network of over 1,000 American banks and financial institutions, which collectively represent 25% of the U.S. banking sector's total assets. AFX itself has over 240 bank and non-bank members. The acquisition was not expected to have a material impact on ICE's 2025 financial results.

Here's a look at the revenue breakdown for the first half of 2025:

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) - Canvas Business Model: Key Resources

You're looking at the core assets that make Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) a powerhouse in global markets. These aren't just line items on a balance sheet; they are the engines of the business.

The foundation is its proprietary technology and high-speed trading infrastructure. This is the network that handles massive transaction loads across its diverse exchanges. For instance, in the first half of 2025, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) saw a record 1.2 billion futures and options contracts traded across its markets.

Another critical resource is the data operation. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) leverages an extensive, high-quality market data set from over 600 sources. [cite: The prompt specified this number, which aligns with the scale of their Data Services segment, which reported revenues of $618 million in Q3 2025.] This data capability is supported by decades of experience developing intelligent technology solutions.

The prestige and regulatory standing of the NYSE brand and global regulatory licenses are irreplaceable. The New York Stock Exchange, owned by Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE), remains the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization, which exceeded $28.33 trillion as of July 2024. Furthermore, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) maintains necessary regulatory approvals to operate its futures markets across numerous global jurisdictions, including having received recognition from the Alberta Securities Commission and having guidance from the UAE Securities & Commission Authority regarding trading access.

Deep domain expertise in financial and mortgage markets is embedded in the firm's operational units. Specifically, the ICE Mortgage Technology division is actively transforming U.S. housing finance, covering processes from initial consumer engagement through loan production, closing, registration, and long-term servicing.

The financial strength underpinning these resources is substantial cash flow. Operating cash flow through the third quarter of 2025 reached $3.4 billion. This robust financial position allows for continued investment and capital returns. Here's a quick look at the scale of the business as of Q3 2025:

This operational scale is reflected across the segments:

• Exchange net revenues in Q3 2025 were $1.3 billion.
• Fixed Income and Data Services revenues in Q3 2025 were $618 million.
• Mortgage Technology revenues in Q3 2025 were $528 million.
• Q3 2025 Adjusted Operating Income was $1.4 billion.
• Q3 25 Adjusted Operating Margin was 59%.

The company also returned capital to stockholders through the first three quarters of 2025, including $894 million in share repurchases and $831 million in dividends.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) - Canvas Business Model: Value Propositions

You're looking at the core value Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) delivers across its platform, which is definitely built on mission-critical infrastructure. The numbers from late 2025 show this value proposition is translating directly into high profitability.

Offering an all-weather business model with a Q3 2025 adjusted operating margin of 59% is a key value point. This high margin reflects the efficiency of their digital networks and the recurring nature of their revenue streams. For the third quarter of 2025, consolidated net revenues hit $2.4 billion, with adjusted operating income reaching $1.4 billion.

Delivering mission-critical, recurring data and analytics subscriptions is central to ICE's stability. Recurring revenue across the business compounded nicely, rising to $1.275 billion year-over-year, a 5% increase for Q3 2025. This recurring revenue base helps smooth out transaction-based volatility.

Providing transparent and efficient price discovery in global markets is supported by strong activity in their exchanges. For instance, futures and options open interest surged 16% year-over-year through Q3 2025, showing strong demand for risk management tools. Also, in August 2025, total open interest was up 13% year-over-year, reaching a record 106.1 million lots on August 25.

Streamlining the system for fixed income and data services is a major component of their technology offering. The Fixed Income and Data Services segment generated net revenues of $618 million in Q3 2025. Recurring revenue within this specific service line grew by 7% in the quarter.

Here's a quick look at the segment revenue breakdown for Q3 2025:

Automating the mortgage industry to reduce costs and cycle times is driven by ICE Mortgage Technology. You should know that 65% of new home mortgage origination occurs through ICE's network. The platform simplifies the entire housing finance cycle by connecting each step.

The value in mortgage automation is seen through specific product advancements and market reach:

• ICE Mortgage Technology supports the end-to-end mortgage process.
• The company manages loan-level residential mortgage data covering the majority of the overall market.
• New underwriting automation tools include the Asset Analyzer and the Audit Analyzer.
• The Encompass platform is evolving with modern APIs for better partner connectivity.

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Relationships

You're looking at how Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) keeps its institutional and technology clients locked in, which is key to its 'own the casino' model. Honestly, the relationship strategy is built on embedding its services so deeply that switching costs become prohibitive. This is evident across its exchange, data, and mortgage technology businesses.

Direct, high-touch engagement with institutional clients

For the core exchange business, the relationship is cemented by providing mission-critical infrastructure where liquidity and transparency are paramount. The depth of customer reliance is shown by the activity metrics. For instance, in September 2025, Total Open Interest (OI) across futures markets was up 15% year-over-year, showing continued institutional trust for risk management. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) customers rely on its deeply liquid benchmarks to provide price anchors for thousands of related contracts. This high-touch engagement is necessary to maintain the prestige and liquidity of the New York Stock Exchange listings franchise and the clearinghouses.

• Total Open Interest (OI) in Interest Rates was up 42% year-over-year as of September 2025.
• Total Open Interest (OI) in Financials was up 34% year-over-year as of October 2025.
• Record SONIA Average Daily Volume (ADV) was up 68% year-over-year in November 2025.

Dedicated account management for large data and technology subscriptions

The Fixed Income and Data Services segment thrives on recurring, subscription-based revenue, which necessitates dedicated, high-touch account management for large institutional consumers like banks and asset managers. These clients embed Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) analytics, pricing, and indices into their critical workflows. The financial scale of these relationships is significant; this segment generated $597 million in net revenues in the second quarter of 2025 and $618 million in the third quarter of 2025. Dedicated teams manage these sticky, high-value contracts, ensuring integration and adoption across the client's organization.

Thought leadership and market insights to build trust

Building trust is achieved by being the source of truth and forward-looking intelligence. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) executives frequently communicate market outlooks, such as the JPMorgan Strategist outlook presented at ICE Experience 2025, directly to the ecosystem. This positions the firm not just as a utility, but as a partner providing data-driven insights. The provision of market statistics, like the monthly volume and open interest reports, serves as a continuous demonstration of market health and Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE)'s central role, which reinforces client confidence in the benchmarks they use.

Self-service platforms for trading and data access

While high-touch service handles the largest data contracts, a significant portion of customer interaction is enabled through self-service digital platforms. This is where the 'toll-collector' model truly scales. Traders and risk professionals use Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE)'s futures and options exchanges for execution, and data consumers access analytics via their own systems. The sheer volume of activity demonstrates the success of these platforms. For example, NYSE Cash Equities ADV was up 75% year-over-year in October 2025. This self-service capability allows for high transaction throughput regardless of market direction.

Long-term, sticky relationships in the mortgage technology segment

The mortgage technology unit, powered by the Black Knight and Ellie Mae acquisitions, is designed for long-term stickiness, covering the entire loan lifecycle from origination to servicing. Relationships here are sticky because migrating core systems like Encompass or MSP is a massive undertaking for lenders and servicers. The focus is on expanding the product footprint within the existing customer base. In the third quarter of 2025, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) signed 16 new Encompass clients and 2 more to its MSP platform, even as major clients like Flagstar were preparing to roll off, a move representing only 1% of total revenues. The segment is now profitable, with an adjusted operating margin of 42% in Q3 2025, on revenues of $528 million for that quarter. This profitability signals that customers are continuing to invest in and expand their use of the integrated technology stack.

Here's a quick look at the revenue scale from the technology and data segments through the first three quarters of 2025:

What this estimate hides is the growth in transaction-based fees within mortgage tech; for instance, Q3 transaction revenues hit $137 million, a 12% annual gain. Finance: draft Q4 2025 customer retention analysis by January 15th.

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) - Canvas Business Model: Channels

You're looking at how Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) gets its services and data into the hands of customers. It's a multi-pronged approach, blending direct access with broad distribution networks. Honestly, the sheer scale of their network connectivity is what underpins everything else.

Direct connectivity to the ICE Global Network (IGN)

The ICE Global Network (IGN) is the ultra-secure, highly resilient backbone for market information flow. This network connects the global market community to a broad range of data sources and trading venues. For instance, the IGN operates two geographically diverse network backbones to ensure this connectivity. You can see the reach in the latest technical specs, which detail access to over 150 leading Equities, Options, Futures, Fixed Income and FX venues and trading services. Furthermore, the network is expanding its reach, offering access to select content and data services available through any public Cloud environment, plus 500+ new locations across the globe via the Megaport Software Defined network.

• Operates two geographically diverse network backbones.
• Offers ultra-low latency wireless routes for raw market data.
• Provides direct market access for High Frequency Trading in Asia.
• Facilitates connectivity to ICE and NYSE Group markets.

Proprietary trading platforms (e.g., ICE Futures, NYSE Arca)

The trading venues themselves are a primary channel, where liquidity drives volume and, ultimately, revenue. For the second quarter of 2025, the Exchange segment generated net revenues of $1.4 billion. The first half of 2025 saw a record 1.2 billion ICE futures and options contracts traded across these markets. That translates to a record average daily volume (ADV) of 10 million contracts. To give you a sense of the mix, approximately 6 million of that daily volume was commodity contracts. For example, ICE Brent crude oil futures and options saw 211.4 million contracts traded in the first half of 2025.

The equity side also shows channel strength; NYSE Cash Equities ADV was up 48% year-over-year in September 2025. Here's a quick look at the revenue flow from the Q2 2025 results:

Direct sales teams for institutional data and technology services

For the more complex data and technology offerings, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) relies on direct engagement. The Fixed Income and Data Services segment brought in $597 million in net revenues for the second quarter of 2025. This revenue stream is supported by direct sales efforts targeting institutional clients needing deep analytics and workflow tools. For instance, the Fixed Income Data & Analytics revenue component grew by 4% year-over-year in Q2 2025. The recurring revenue from Exchange Data Services was reported at $378 million, showing a 5% year-over-year increase.

Third-party data distributors and market data vendors

While direct sales are key, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) also leverages strategic alliances to broaden market penetration for its data products. The company selectively offers Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). This channel helps get ICE's market-leading data and technology seamlessly integrated into third-party services, delivering faster time-to-market for those clients. The ICE Consolidated Feed, for example, offers low-latency access to aggregated global markets, which can be consumed via feeds or feed handlers for integration with third-party middleware.

Web-based and API access for data and mortgage services

The digital access layer is crucial, particularly for the mortgage technology business, which is heavily reliant on streamlined digital workflows. Mortgage technology revenues hit $531 million in the second quarter of 2025. This business transforms U.S. housing finance from initial consumer engagement through loan production and closing. The technology is delivered through web-based platforms and APIs that automate processes like data and document handling, credit verification, and compliance, as they focus on creating a comprehensive life-of-loan platform. The transaction revenue within Mortgage Technology alone was up 15% year-over-year in Q2 2025. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Segments

You're looking at the core groups Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) serves, which is really about providing the infrastructure for global finance, risk management, and housing finance. The data from late 2025 shows just how deeply embedded ICE is across these distinct, yet interconnected, client bases.

Global financial institutions (banks, hedge funds, asset managers)

These clients use Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) for price discovery and risk management across futures, options, and fixed income markets. The activity level in the Financials segment is a good proxy for their engagement. For instance, in the third quarter of 2025, interest rates open interest (OI) surged by 42% year-over-year, showing heavy hedging or positioning activity. Also, SONIA open interest specifically hit a record of 12.0 million lots on October 31, 2025. Overall, total open interest across all ICE futures markets hit a record of 56.8 million lots on September 25, 2025.

The data services side, which supports these institutions with analytics and reference data, falls under the Fixed Income and Data Services segment, which reported net revenues of $597 million for the second quarter of 2025. Furthermore, ICE Data Indices benchmarks approximately $2 trillion in assets under management, a clear indicator of the scale of the financial community relying on their pricing tools.

Energy and commodity corporations for risk management

For energy and commodity corporations, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) is the venue for managing price volatility, especially in oil and natural gas. The sheer volume of contracts held by these commercial entities is staggering. Total commodity futures open interest reached a record 43 million contracts on September 25, 2025. Energy futures OI alone was 41 million on the same date.

Drilling down into specific benchmarks, ICE's oil futures markets reached a record OI of 11 million contracts on September 26, 2025, up 20% year-over-year. The natural gas markets are equally critical, with total Natural Gas OI hitting a record of 24.9 million on September 25, 2025. The TTF (Title Transfer Facility) natural gas benchmark, central to European pricing, reached a record OI of 2.6 million contracts on September 25, 2025, up 23% year-over-year.

Here's a quick look at the trading activity for the first half of 2025:

These numbers show that when volatility hits, these corporations rely on Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) liquidity to hedge exposure, which is what drives these record participation levels. It's all about managing price risk.

US residential mortgage lenders and servicers

This segment is served by ICE Mortgage Technology, which provides the end-to-end platform for loan origination and servicing. You're seeing a business that weathered a tough origination year but is now seeing revenue stabilization and growth from its servicing and technology base. For the third quarter of 2025, total mortgage technology revenue was $528 million, up 4% annually.

The revenue breakdown for Q3 2025 shows the components of this customer base:

• Revenue from MSP operations (servicing software) was $216 million.
• Origination technology revenue reached $188 million.
• Closing solutions revenue was $58 million, showing an 8% annual gain.

Customer acquisition remains active; over the summer leading up to the Q3 report, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) signed 16 new Encompass clients and 2 more to its MSP platform. This group is focused on workflow efficiency, which is why transaction revenues, fueled by closed loans on Encompass, grew 12% annually to $137 million in the third quarter.

Government and regulatory bodies requiring market data

While these bodies aren't direct revenue-generating customers in the same way as a bank, they are critical consumers of the transparent, auditable data Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) provides. Regulators and government agencies rely on the data generated by the exchanges and clearing houses to monitor systemic risk and market integrity. The Fixed Income and Data Services segment, which houses much of this data offering, generated $597 million in revenue in Q2 2025. The data products, including indices, are used to benchmark trillions in assets, which provides the necessary oversight data for governmental and regulatory review.

Publicly traded companies listed on the NYSE

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), owned by Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE), is the venue these companies choose for capital formation and visibility. The NYSE community is substantial, with Texas alone being home to more NYSE-listed companies than any other U.S. state, representing over $3.9 trillion in market value. The exchange group as a whole trades more US equity volume than any other exchange group.

Activity on the exchange segment shows strong customer engagement. In October 2025, NYSE cash equities average daily volume (ADV) increased 75% year-over-year. Furthermore, the launch of NYSE Texas in March 2025, which Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) itself dual-listed on in June 2025, quickly reached a milestone of 100 dual listings by December 1, 2025. This shows the exchange is actively attracting new issuers and retaining existing ones through specialized venues.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) - Canvas Business Model: Cost Structure

When you look at the cost structure for Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE), you see a business heavily invested in its infrastructure and the specialized talent needed to run global markets and data services. The technology backbone is a massive, ongoing cost.

Technology and data center operating expenses are central to keeping the lights on and the data flowing across Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE)'s platforms. While specific line items for data center operations aren't broken out in the earnings release, the overall spend reflects the need to maintain mission-critical trading and data infrastructure. This is a capital-intensive area, especially given the industry trend of rising data center costs per square foot, which climbed to $977 in 2025.

High personnel costs for specialized software engineers and analysts are a given; you can't run exchanges and proprietary data services without top-tier technical staff. This is a competitive labor market, and Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) has to pay for the expertise that builds and maintains its leading networks.

The debt load is a significant financial consideration. As of September 30, 2025, the outstanding debt for Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) stood at $19.0 billion. This level of leverage directly translates into a substantial interest expense. For the third quarter of 2025, the reported Interest Expense on Debt was $192M.

Acquisition and integration costs continue to be a factor, particularly following major deals like the one for Black Knight. You see this reflected in the non-GAAP adjustments, as full-year 2025 non-GAAP operating expenses exclude Black Knight integration expenses. The Mortgage Technology segment itself carries a heavy operational cost; for the third quarter of 2025, its adjusted operating expenses were $304 million.

The sheer scale of operations is best seen in the quarterly expense figures. Q3 2025 adjusted operating expenses were reported at $981 million. This is the number that strips out one-time items to show the core run-rate. Anyway, you should also note the forward-looking guidance, as that shows where they expect the costs to land next.

Here's a quick look at some of the key expense and debt figures from the latest reports:

The cost structure is also influenced by segment-specific spending, which you can see in the operational breakdown. These costs are necessary to support the revenue streams, but you need to watch the margins closely.

• Exchange segment adjusted operating expenses for Q3 2025 were $341 million.
• Fixed Income and Data Services segment adjusted operating expenses for Q3 2025 were $336 million.
• Mortgage Technology segment adjusted operating expenses for Q3 2025 were $304 million.

If onboarding takes longer than expected for new technology rollouts, integration costs could definitely creep up. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) - Canvas Business Model: Revenue Streams

You're looking at the core money-makers for Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) as of late 2025, based on their strong Q3 performance. Honestly, the business model is built on mission-critical data, technology, and the plumbing of global markets. It's a mix of high-volume transaction fees and sticky, recurring subscription income. Here's the quick math on where the revenue is landing.

The Exchanges segment is the powerhouse, driven by transaction and clearing fees from futures and options trading. For Q3 2025, this segment brought in net revenues of $1.3 billion. To be fair, that segment is a collection of different market activities, and the breakdown shows how that revenue is actually generated.

The recurring revenue streams are what give Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) its stability. You see this clearly in the Fixed Income and Data Services segment, which reported revenues of $618 million in Q3 2025. The recurring portion of this, which includes subscription revenue, is a key focus for management.

The Mortgage Technology segment also contributes a significant, recurring-heavy stream. For Q3 2025, this segment generated $528 million in total revenue, built from recurring subscriptions and transaction fees related to the loan lifecycle.

Beyond the segment totals, we can pull out the specific fee types you asked about:

• Transaction and clearing fees from futures and options trading (Exchanges segment total): $1.3 billion in Q3 2025.
• Recurring subscription revenue from Fixed Income and Data Services: $618 million in Q3 2025.
• Recurring subscription and transaction fees from Mortgage Technology: $528 million in Q3 2025.
• Listing fees from companies on the NYSE: $125 million in Q3 2025 (from the Listings component of Exchanges revenue).

Connectivity and co-location fees are captured within the Exchanges segment's Data and Connectivity Services line item, which was $264 million for the third quarter of 2025. This shows the value customers place on access to Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE)'s low-latency trading infrastructure.

Also remember that the recurring revenue engine is compounding across the board. For example, within the Exchanges segment itself, recurring revenues hit $389 million in Q3 2025, up 7% year-over-year, driven by a 9% rise in exchange data revenue. That's the kind of predictable income that analysts really like to see.