Shares of Fair Isaac Corp., the company behind the FICO credit score, fell 27% to $618 on September 29, 2026, leaving it with a market value of about $13 billion, Forbes reported. The drop followed two announcements within hours that strengthen rival VantageScore’s position in the US mortgage market.
For a company whose scores have long been the default in American lending, it was one of the sharpest one-day reactions to the growing competition.
Key facts
- Share move: down 27% to $618 on September 29
- Trigger 1: FHFA to merge its separate FICO and VantageScore pricing grids into one
- Trigger 2: Rocket Mortgage names VantageScore its preferred model for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans
- Price gap: FICO mortgage scores cost about $10 each in 2026; VantageScore charges about $1
What happened
Late on September 28, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte said on X that the agency would consolidate its two mortgage pricing grids into one. Earlier in September, the FHFA had opened its pricing to VantageScore but kept separate grids for the two models. A Morningstar analyst told Forbes that a single grid effectively treats the scores as interchangeable.
Less than three hours later, Rocket Mortgage said VantageScore would become its preferred scoring model for loans eligible for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and that it would stop paying for FICO scores on those loans.
Why it matters
FICO has steadily raised the price of its mortgage scores, from under $1 in 2018 to about $10 in 2026, according to Forbes. VantageScore, owned by the three credit bureaus, charges around $1. If lenders can use either score at the same price, FICO’s pricing power in mortgages comes under real pressure.
Not everyone agrees the sell-off is justified. Morningstar’s Rajiv Bhatia called the drop an overreaction and questioned how much FICO’s volumes will actually change. Milliman analyst Jonathan Glowacki noted that the two scores produce the same mortgage price only 40% to 50% of the time, which could lead many lenders to keep buying both.
Sources
- Forbes (Jeff Kauflin) September 29, 2026
