FDS vs ICE vs CME Stock Comparison

Factset Research Systems, Intercontinental Exchange and Cme Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
FDS Factset Research Systems Inc
$309.58 +13.4% 1M +6.6% 1Y
Market cap
$10.91B
P/E
21.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.48B
Div. yield
1.46%
Financial Data and Analytics Financial Services
3 wins
CME Cme Group Inc.
$293.48 +11.0% 1M +8.3% 1Y
Market cap
$104.90B
P/E
23.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.97B
Div. yield
3.41%
Exchanges Financial Services
9 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Cme leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (Cme 9, Factset Research Systems 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionFDSICECMELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $10.91B $87.19B $104.90B CME
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.2x 21.7x 23.8x FDS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 16.7x 17.9x 25.0x FDS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.7% +6.9% +9.0% CME
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 21.5% 30.1% 63.3% CME
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 16.9% 8.5% 11.7% FDS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 2.6x 0.2x CME
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.46% 1.31% 3.41% CME
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +6.6% -2.8% +8.3% CME
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -6.7%/yr +2.8%/yr +6.1%/yr CME
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 48.3% 25.8% 25.5% CME
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 56/100 54/100 61/100 CME

Percentile Scorecard

FDSICECME

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisFDSICECME
Valuation 30 #658 of 940 59 #40 of 96 43 #55 of 96
Growth 29 #466 of 655 45 #37 of 66 23 #51 of 66
Profitability 85 #97 of 633 83 #12 of 64 92 #6 of 64
Financial Health 63 #266 of 714 36 #60 of 93 53 #44 of 93
Shareholder Returns 72 #201 of 709 46 #21 of 38 92 #4 of 38
Overall 56 54 61
  • FDS ranked among 1,003 companies in Financial Services
  • ICE ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets
  • CME ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodFDSICECMESPY
1 month +13.4%+0.7%+11.0% -0.2%
3 months +9.0%+1.7%+12.9% +3.9%
6 months +34.9%-0.6%+3.1% +8.2%
Year to date +6.7%-4.0%+7.5% +12.9%
1 year +6.6%-2.8%+8.3% +12.3%
3 years -26.4%+48.4%+40.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year -9.7%+14.1%+12.0% +23.3%
5 years -29.4%+14.7%+34.4% +67.9%
5 years, per year -6.7%+2.8%+6.1% +10.9%
10 years +100.7%+192.0%+193.1% +261.1%
10 years, per year +7.2%+11.3%+11.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureFDSICECMESPY
Volatility, 1Y 48.3%25.8%25.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 50.4%27.5%27.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.050.16-0.38 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.14-0.110.32 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -61.7%-35.1%-33.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.7%-11.2%-10.1% -1.2%
52-week high $335.45$175.10$326.46 $779.14
52-week low $190.06$122.91$218.58 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleFDSICECME
P/E now vs peer median 21.2xmedian 13.0x 21.7xmedian 28.3x 23.8xmedian 28.3x
P/S now vs peer median 4.4xmedian 3.2x 6.5xmedian 2.9x 15.0xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.6xmedian 7.4x 15.0xmedian 13.5x 21.8xmedian 13.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.4xmedian 10.8x 17.2xmedian 16.0x 24.2xmedian 16.0x
P/B now vs peer median 5.5xmedian 1.2x 2.9xmedian 2.4x 3.9xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 3.22median 0.87 0.65median 0.54 1.74median 0.54

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsFDSICECME
Revenue $2.48B $13.43B $6.97B
Gross profit $1.25B – –
Operating income $699.96M $5.47B $4.58B
Net income $533.48M $4.10B $4.42B
Free cash flow $707.48M $5.08B $4.33B
EPS (diluted) $14.57 $7.13 $12.31
Cash & equivalents $233.34M $1.07B $2.20B
Total debt $1.37B $19.85B $13.69B
Shares (diluted) 36.61M 566.00M 358.64M
Enterprise value $9.77B $80.99B $93.23B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricFDSICECME
P/E 21.2x 21.7x 23.8x
P/FCF 15.4x 17.2x 24.2x
P/Operating cash flow 13.3x 15.8x 23.7x
P/S 4.4x 6.5x 15.0x
P/B 5.5x 2.9x 3.9x
P/Tangible book 71.6x 5.9x 4.3x
EV/EBITDA 13.6x 15.0x 21.8x
EV/EBIT 17.2x 19.2x 23.2x
EV/Revenue 4.9x 7.8x 15.2x
EV/FCF 17.0x 20.7x 24.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.6x 19.1x 23.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.22 0.65 1.74

Growth

14 metrics
MetricFDSICECME
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.7% 6.9% 9.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.9% 11.9% 9.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 2.4% – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 4.1% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -6.5% 16.4% 10.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 3.6% 13.9% 12.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -10.6% 34.1% 17.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 4.4% 33.1% 13.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -6.3% 36.6% 19.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 6.6% 33.3% 13.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 13.2% 13.1% 6.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 8.4% 14.9% 9.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 14.6% 13.9% 6.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.6% 14.1% 9.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricFDSICECME
Gross margin 50.6% – –
EBITDA margin 35.6% 52.3% 69.8%
Operating margin 28.3% 40.7% 65.7%
Pretax margin 26.2% 39.7% 82.8%
Net margin 21.5% 30.1% 63.3%
FCF margin 28.6% 37.8% 62.1%
Operating cash flow margin 33.2% 41.1% 63.5%
Return on equity 26.4% 13.9% 16.6%
Return on assets 12.8% 2.3% 2.3%
Return on invested capital 16.9% 8.5% 11.7%
Return on capital employed 22.8% 9.7% 12.3%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.1x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x 1.3x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 3.4% 2.0% 1.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricFDSICECME
Debt / assets 33.1% 11.4% 1.8%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.7x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 2.6x 0.2x
Debt / FCF 1.9x 3.9x 0.8x
Liabilities / assets 51.6% 83.0% 86.2%
Equity / assets 48.4% 17.0% 13.8%
Interest coverage 12.8x 6.8x 26.2x
Current ratio 0.6x 1.0x 1.0x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.0x 0.0x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.0x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 5.00 0.73 0.56

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricFDSICECME
Dividend yield 1.5% 1.3% 3.4%
Net buyback yield 5.6% 2.3% –
Shareholder yield 7.1% 3.6% 3.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 27.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 22.5% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 6.1% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 8.3% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusFDSICECME
Forward P/E 16.7xFY2027 17.9xFY2026 25.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $18.55FY2027 $8.69FY2026 $11.74FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +3.0%FY2027 +25.0%FY2026 +4.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.9% -3.2% +19.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.68BFY2027 $10.54BFY2026 $7.27BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.1%FY2027 +6.1%FY2026 +11.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +9.7% +16.0% +7.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersFDSICECME
Held by institutions 100.0% 92.5% 88.9%
Institutions holding 769 1,653 1,691
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.1% +1.4% +0.4%
Institutions buying 415 735 822
Institutions selling 244 694 655
Buyers to sellers 1.70 1.06 1.25

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

FDSICECME
FDS 1.00 0.42 0.21
ICE 0.42 1.00 0.51
CME 0.21 0.51 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, FDS, ICE and CME?

Cme (CME) is the largest by market capitalisation: Factset Research Systems (FDS) $10.91B, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) $87.19B, Cme (CME) $104.90B.

Which stock is cheaper, FDS, ICE and CME?

Factset Research Systems (FDS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Factset Research Systems (FDS) 21.2x, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 21.7x, Cme (CME) 23.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Factset Research Systems (FDS) is cheapest (Factset Research Systems (FDS) 16.7x, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 17.9x, Cme (CME) 25.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Cme (CME) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Factset Research Systems (FDS) +6.7%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) +6.9%, Cme (CME) +9.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Cme (CME) has the highest net margin (Factset Research Systems (FDS) 21.5%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 30.1%, Cme (CME) 63.3%). On return on invested capital, Factset Research Systems (FDS) leads (Factset Research Systems (FDS) 16.9%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 8.5%, Cme (CME) 11.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cme (CME) returned the most: Factset Research Systems (FDS) +6.6%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) -2.8%, Cme (CME) +8.3%. Over five years, Cme (CME) compounded fastest (Factset Research Systems (FDS) -6.7%/yr, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) +2.8%/yr, Cme (CME) +6.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Cme (CME) has the highest dividend yield: Factset Research Systems (FDS) 1.46%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 1.31%, Cme (CME) 3.41%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cme (CME) has been the steadiest (Factset Research Systems (FDS) 48.3%, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 25.8%, Cme (CME) 25.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, FDS, ICE and CME?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Cme (CME) leads on 9. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.