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Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Q3 Earnings, Revenues Top

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Intercontinental Exchange (ICE - Free Report) reported third-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings per share of $1.30, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.23. The bottom line improved 26.2% on a year-over-year basis.

The company witnessed improved revenues at Exchanges, Fixed Income, and Data Services and Mortgage Technology segments.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Performance in Detail  

Intercontinental Exchange’s revenues of $1.8 billion increased 28% year over year on higher revenues at Exchanges, Fixed Income, and Data Services and Mortgage Technology. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.7%.

Net revenues from Exchanges were $959 million, up 17% year over year. Fixed Income and Data Services revenues were $458 million, which increased 6% year over year. Mortgage Technology revenues more than doubled year over year to $366 million.

Adjusted operating expenses were $755 million for the third quarter, up 23.6% from the year-ago figure.

Adjusted operating income improved 30.9% year over year to $1 billion. Adjusted operating margin expanded 100 basis points (bps) from the year-ago quarter to 58%.

Exchanges' adjusted operating income of $650 million was up 20.6% year over year. Adjusted operating margin expanded 200 bps to 66%.

Fixed Income and Data Services' adjusted operating income increased 8.2% to $184 million. Adjusted operating margin expanded 100 bps to 39%.

Mortgage Technology’s adjusted operating income of $213 million more than doubled year over year. Adjusted operating margin contracted 600 bps to 58%.

Financial Update

As of Sep 30, 2021, Intercontinental Exchange had cash and cash equivalents of $1.65 billion, up nearly 5.1% from the level as of Dec 31, 2020. Long-term debt of $12.4 billion was down 12.3% from the 2020-end level.

Total equity was $21.6 billion as of Sep 30, 2020, up 10.5% from 2020 end.

Operating cash flow was $2.1 billion in the first nine months of 2021, up 17.4% year over year. Free cash flow was about $2 billion, up 22.2% year over year.

Fourth-Quarter 2021 Guidance

Total recurring revenues are estimated between $892 million and $907 million.

Operating expenses are projected in the range of $922-$932 million. Adjusted operating expenses are expected to be in the range of $737 million to $747 million and include $50 million related to Bakkt.

Non-operating income is expected to be in the range of $1.185 billion to $1.190 billion, including an expected gain on the Bakkt merger of approximately $1.3 billion.

Adjusted non-operating expense is expected to be in the range of $100 million to $105 million.

Weighted average shares outstanding are anticipated between 563 million and 569 million shares.

Zacks Rank

Intercontinental Exchange currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).  You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Performance of Other Securities and Exchanges

Third-quarter earnings of Nasdaq (NDAQ - Free Report) , MarketAxess Holdings (MKTX - Free Report) and CME Group (CME - Free Report) beat the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate.

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