Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE)

Sector: Financial Services Industry: Financial Data & Stock Exchanges CIK: 0001571949
Market Cap 91.82 Bn
P/B 3.21
P/E 29.04
P/S 7.33
ROIC (Qtr) 7.58
Div Yield % 1.18
Rev 1y % (Qtr) -0.86
Total Debt (Qtr) 19.51 Bn
Debt/Equity (Qtr) 0.68

About

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE), a company with the ticker symbol ICE, operates in the financial services industry. Specifically, it is a leading operator of global exchanges, clearing houses, and provider of market data and connectivity services. The company's diverse range of businesses includes the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the largest and most liquid stock exchange in the world, as well as several other exchanges such as the ICE Futures exchanges, which provide trading platforms for a variety of financial and commodity products. ICE...

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Price action

Investment thesis

Bull case

  • Strong tangible asset base of 94.67B provides 4.85x coverage of total debt 19.51B, indicating robust asset backing and low credit risk.
  • Operating cash flow of 4.89B provides strong 21.37x coverage of stock compensation 229M, indicating sustainable incentive practices.
  • Operating cash flow of 4.89B provides exceptional 88.96x coverage of minority interest expenses 55M, showing strong core operations.
  • Tangible assets of 94.67B provide exceptional 262.24x coverage of deferred revenue 361M, showing strong service capability backing.
  • Robust free cash flow of 4.09B exceeds capital expenditure of 801M by 5.11x, indicating strong organic growth funding capability.

Bear case

  • Operating cash flow of 4.89B barely covers its investment activities of (2.09B), with a coverage ratio of -2.34, indicating heavy reliance on external financing for growth which may not be sustainable in a tighter credit environment.
  • Operating cash flow of 4.89B provides thin coverage of dividend payments of (1.09B) with a -4.49 ratio, suggesting potential dividend sustainability issues if operational performance deteriorates.
  • Cash reserves of 2.21B provide limited coverage of acquisition spending of (49M), which is -45.18x, suggesting aggressive expansion might strain liquidity if market conditions deteriorate.
  • Free cash flow of 4.09B represents just -1.86x of debt issuance (2.20B), suggesting concerning reliance on leverage rather than internal cash generation for growth.
  • High financing cash flow of 1.86B relative to working capital of 1.07B, which is 1.75x suggests concerning dependence on external funding for operational needs.

Peer comparison

Companies in the Financial Data & Stock Exchanges
S.No. Ticker Company Market Cap P/E P/S Total Debt (Qtr)
1 SPGI S&P Global Inc. 157.13 Bn 37.25 10.47 11.87 Bn
2 CME Cme Group Inc. 96.82 Bn 26.05 15.13 152.46 Bn
3 ICE Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. 91.82 Bn 29.04 7.33 19.51 Bn
4 MCO Moodys Corp /De/ 90.39 Bn 40.28 12.05 7.36 Bn
5 COIN Coinbase Global, Inc. 62.10 Bn 19.30 8.10 7.59 Bn
6 NDAQ Nasdaq, Inc. 54.56 Bn 33.58 6.68 9.55 Bn
7 MSCI MSCI Inc. 43.97 Bn 35.94 14.39 5.62 Bn
8 CBOE Cboe Global Markets, Inc. 25.92 Bn 26.50 5.61 1.57 Bn

Industry comparisons

Current Valuation Value Ind Avg Percentile
EV to Assets EV to Assets 0.77 2.79
EV to Cash from Ops. EV/CFO 22.26 33.08
EV to Debt EV to Debt 5.58 17.54
EV to EBIT EV/EBIT 22.04 18.27
EV to EBITDA EV/EBITDA 17.21 20.66
EV to Free Cash Flow [EV/FCF] EV/FCF 26.62 -39.00
EV to Market Cap EV to Market Cap 1.19 1.08
EV to Revenue EV/Rev 8.70 29.85
Price to Book Value [P/B] P/B 3.21 -0.11
Price to Earnings [P/E] P/E 29.04 23.23
Dividend Metrics Value Ind Avg Percentile
Dividend Coverage Ratio Div Coverage (Qtr) 2.90 2.12
Dividend Payout Ratio % Div Payout % (Qtr) 34.20 32.37
Dividend per Basic Share Div per Share (Qtr) 1.89 2.63
FCF Dividend Payout Ratio % FCF Div Payout % (Qtr) 26.42 26.82
Interest Coverage Int. cover (Qtr) 6.09 8.16
Growth Metrics Value Ind Avg Percentile
Capex Growth (1y) % Capex 1y % (Qtr) -25.35 -11.26
Cash and Equivalents Growth (1y) % Cash & Equiv 1y % (Qtr) -6.50 21.19
Dividend Growth (1y) % Div 1y % (Qtr) 6.78 1.08
EBIAT Growth (1y) % EBIAT 1y % (Qtr) 20.04 10.39
EBITDA Growth (1y) % EBITDA 1y % (Qtr) 11.35 15.05
EBIT Growth (1y) % EBIT 1y % (Qtr) 19.57 17.06
EBT Growth (1y) % EBT 1y % (Qtr) 29.67 21.11
EPS Growth (1y) % EPS 1y % (Qtr) 30.50 31.00
FCF Growth (1y) % FCF 1y % (Qtr) 19.20 30.56
Gross Profit Growth (1y) % Gross Profit 1y % (Qtr) 6.48 13.67
Liquidity Ratios Value Ind Avg Percentile
Asset Utilization Ratio Asset Util Ratio (Qtr) 0.09 0.61
Cash Payout Ratio Cash Payout (Qtr) 0.19 0.24
Cash Ratio Cash Ratio (Qtr) 0.02 0.51
Current Ratio Curr Ratio (Qtr) 1.01 1.97
Debt to Equity Ratio Debt/Equity (Qtr) 0.68 0.56
Interest Cover Ratio Int Coverage (Qtr) 6.09 8.16
Times Interest Earned Times Interest Earned (Qtr) 6.09 8.16
Profitability Value Ind Avg Percentile
EBITDA Margin % EBITDA Margin % (Qtr) 51.90 -985.15
EBIT Margin % EBIT Margin % (Qtr) 39.45 -991.90
EBT Margin % EBT Margin % (Qtr) 32.97 -1,071.07
Gross Margin % Gross Margin % (Qtr) 77.80 72.61
Net Profit Margin % Net Margin % (Qtr) 25.20 -1,440.85