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ATLANTA & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), one of the world's leading providers of financial market technology and data powering global capital markets, and NATIVX, the public exchange for compute, today announced plans to launch GPU compute futures contracts based on NATIVX's COIL Index, which tracks the price of tokenized, energy-normalized compute and connectivity.

"Driven by the transformative force of AI, compute has quickly become an important asset class and is uniquely situated to benefit from the additional pricing transparency and risk management that comes from futures markets," said Trabue Bland, SVP of Futures Markets at ICE. "The new contracts will offer price discovery for customers globally through a hedgeable index that will benefit from trading alongside ICE's natural gas and power futures contracts."

COIL is designed to track tokenized GPU compute prices in an energy-normalized index that is built around maximizing constituent capacity. It reflects compute and connectivity, normalized to one stable unit and auditable at every step. The new futures contracts will be U.S. dollar denominated and cash-settled.

"AI's continued growth depends on turning compute from a fragmented, unpredictable operating cost into transparent and manageable market infrastructure,” Cole Crawford, Founder and Chairman of NATIVX. “Compute is now an asset class, and like every asset class, it needs a public price and a market. By combining our energy-normalized index with ICE's global futures marketplace, we're giving the world's largest new commodity the transparent and regulated venue it has been missing."

GPU compute and energy are deeply intertwined — power represents a significant input cost in running large-scale compute infrastructure, and fluctuations in electricity prices directly impact the economics of AI workloads. By normalizing compute prices to a consistent energy unit, the COIL Index strips out the noise introduced by regional power cost disparities, giving market participants a clearer basis for comparison.

Listing these contracts alongside ICE's established power and natural gas futures creates a uniquely integrated hedging environment where operators and consumers of compute can manage their GPU exposure in the same venue where they already hedge their underlying energy costs, while energy market participants gain a direct window into one of the fastest-growing sources of electricity demand in the world.

The contracts are expected to be launched later this year, subject to completion of relevant regulatory processes.

About Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) is a Fortune 500 company that designs, builds, and operates digital networks that connect people to opportunity. We provide financial technology and data services across major asset classes helping our customers access mission-critical workflow tools that increase transparency and efficiency. ICE’s futures, equity, and options exchanges -- including the New York Stock Exchange -- and clearing houses help people invest, raise capital and manage risk. We offer some of the world’s largest markets to trade and clear energy and environmental products. Our fixed income, data services and execution capabilities provide information, analytics and platforms that help our customers streamline processes and capitalize on opportunities. At ICE Mortgage Technology, we are transforming U.S. housing finance, from initial consumer engagement through loan production, closing, registration and the long-term servicing relationship. Together, ICE transforms, streamlines, and automates industries to connect our customers to opportunity.

Trademarks of ICE and/or its affiliates include Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, ICE block design, NYSE and New York Stock Exchange. Information regarding additional trademarks and intellectual property rights of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and/or its affiliates is located here. Key Information Documents for certain products covered by the EU Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products Regulation can be accessed on the relevant exchange website under the heading “Key Information Documents (KIDS).”

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 -- Statements in this press release regarding ICE’s business that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, as filed with the SEC on February 5, 2026.

About NATIVX

NATIVX is the public market for compute and connectivity, the exchange where capacity is priced, traded, and settled against the COIL Index. Based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, NATIVX publishes the COIL index, including its COIL-T (training), COIL-I (inference), COIL-G (graphics), and COIL-CO (connectivity) sub-indices, and operates the exchange on technology licensed from Synova Global. Learn more at NATIVX.exchange.

About Synova Global

NATIVX is built on technology licensed from Synova Global, its underlying technology provider. Synova Global develops the core index, exchange, and settlement technology; NATIVX publishes the COIL index and operates the public exchange on that licensed foundation.

Category: Exchanges

SOURCE: Intercontinental Exchange

Key Takeaways ICE generated record Fixed Income and Data Services revenue of $322M, up 7% year over year.Intercontinental Exchange is investing in private credit, digital assets and tokenized securities initiatives.ICE is embedding AI across mortgage and data platforms while managing higher operating expenses. Shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE - Free Report) have lost 31.1% over the past year compared with the industry’s decline of 20.3%. ???The company’s share price closed at $124.49 on Thursday and reached a 52-week low of $124.33.

ICE shares have declined from their August 2025 peak due to valuation compression, slower growth from the Black Knight acquisition, and elevated debt. Sentiment was further pressured by competitive threats following the approval of perpetual futures products on platforms like Kalshi.

Shares of some of its peers, like CBOE Global Markets, Inc. (CBOE - Free Report) , have increased 8.4%, whereas CME Group Inc. (CME - Free Report) and Nasdaq, Inc. (NDAQ - Free Report) have declined 17.5% and 12.1%, respectively, in the past year. The S&P 500 Index has gained 23.3% during this time.

1-Year Price Performance: ICE, CME, CBOE, NDAQ, Industry & S&P 500
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

ICE’s Average Target Price Suggests UpsideBased on short-term price targets offered by 16 analysts, the Zacks average price target is $195.13 per share. The average suggests a potential 56.7% upside from the last closing price.

 

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ICE’s ValuationIntercontinental Exchange’s shares are trading at a discount compared with the industry. ICE’s shares are trading at a forward price-to-earnings of 14.6X, lower than the industry average of 17.5X. Meanwhile, CME, Cboe Global and Nasdaq are trading at 17.95X, 17.88X and 18.39X, respectively.

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ICE’s Growth Projection EncouragesThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for Intercontinental Exchange’s 2026 earnings per share (EPS) indicates a year-over-year increase of 20.4%. The estimate for 2026 revenues is pegged at $10.99 billion, implying a year-over-year improvement of 10.6%.

The consensus estimates for 2027 EPS and revenues indicate an increase of 5.5% and 4.2%, respectively, from the corresponding 2026 estimates.

The expected five-year earnings growth is pegged at 12.8%, better than the industry average of 12.2%.

Optimistic Analyst Sentiment on ICESix of the seven analysts have raised the estimates for 2026, whereas five of the eight analysts have increased estimates for 2027 over the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 and 2027 has moved 3.8% and 1% north, respectively, over the same period.

Factors Favoring ICE StockICE’s top line is poised to improve, driven by global data services and index business, the ICE Global Network offering, as well as solid desktop, feeds, and derivatives analytics. The company has been achieving expense synergies from strategic acquisitions, which have strengthened its portfolio and expanded its presence. As the operator of the largest mortgage network in the United States, ICE remains well-positioned to capitalize on the ongoing digitization of the residential mortgage industry.  The company is also benefiting from strength in its Exchange business, driven by elevated market volatility, robust risk-management demand and growing market participation.

ICE's Fixed Income and Data Services business remains a key growth driver. In the first quarter of 2026, revenues reached a record $322 million, up 7% year over year, fueled by strong net new business trends in its pricing and reference data offerings. Growing demand for proprietary data, analytics, pricing and index products continues to support recurring revenues and earnings stability. For 2026, management anticipates recurring revenue growth in the mid single-digit range, with results expected to trend toward the higher end.

ICE is investing in several emerging growth areas that could support long-term expansion. The launch of ICE Private Credit Intelligence, development of a tokenized securities platform at the NYSE and partnerships with Polymarket and OKX are expected to strengthen its position in private credit, digital assets and next-generation market infrastructure. These initiatives expand the company's addressable market and provide additional long-term growth avenues.

ICE is increasingly embedding artificial intelligence across its mortgage, data, pricing, and workflow automation platforms. Management believes AI-driven capabilities will increase platform adoption, strengthen customer relationships and create incremental monetization opportunities over time.

Risks for ICETotal operating expenses have increased over the last several years, reflecting higher compensation and benefits, technology and communication costs, and acquisition-related integration activity. ICE guided for the second quarter of 2026, adjusted operating expenses in the range of of $1.030 billion to $1.040 billion.

ICE faces competitive and regulatory challenges that could pressure pricing, increase compliance costs, and shift trading volumes, making future growth and profitability more unpredictable.

ConclusionICE is poised for growth, banking on the strength of its compelling portfolio and expansive risk-management services, which ensure revenue flow, as well as strategic buyouts, a solid balance sheet, and effective capital deployment. However, rising operating expenses and volatile industry trends raise concerns.

Nevertheless, favorable growth estimates, optimistic analyst sentiment, and cheaper valuations are noteworthy. It is, therefore, wise to retain this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.