FICO Signals Confidence with $1 Billion Share Repurchase Following Selloff – Buyback Wednesdays

FICO faced a sharp and unprecedented stock decline in May 2025, losing more than $11 billion in market capitalization over just five trading days amid mounting regulatory scrutiny and concerns over its pricing strategies. This substantial market reaction prompted  FICO to announce a $1 billion share repurchase program. While this buyback constitutes only 2% of its market cap, it is worth examining what lead to this share repurchase announcement.

Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), founded in 1956, is a global leader in analytics software, best known for its FICO Scores, used by 90% of top U.S. lenders to assess credit risk. These scores, ranging from 300 to 850, summarize a consumer’s credit history and predict the likelihood of timely loan repayment. Developed nearly 30 years ago in partnership with major credit bureaus—Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, FICO Scores became the industry standard for evaluating creditworthiness.

FICO shares have surged 363% over the past five years, roughly quadrupling since our October 2022 “Buyback Wednesdays” post, when they traded at $405.73. Even after a ~30% pullback from their peak, mid-2025 prices remain about five times higher than they were five years ago.

Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO): $1,843.18

Market Cap: $44.87B

EV: $47.27B

Key Insights

• FICO Scores have become an industry standard in the U.S., with an estimated 90% of leading lenders relying on them for billions of credit-related decisions annually.
• FICO announced a new $1 billion share repurchase plan and has been aggressively repurchasing its shares, reducing shares outstanding by over 16% over the last four years.
• In late 2024, FICO raised the fee for a mortgage score from $3.50 to $4.95, a 41% price increase that directly hit mortgage originators and borrowers.

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