Intercontinental Exchange stock rises on $2 billion Polymarket investment

Investing.com - Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) stock gained Wednesday after the company announced a strategic investment of up to $2 billion in prediction market platform Polymarket. The exchange operator, currently valued at $92.7 billion with a P/E ratio of 30.5, has demonstrated strong revenue growth of nearly 10% over the last twelve months according to InvestingPro data.

The investment comes as prediction markets have gained significant traction following widespread use during the 2024 U.S. election, according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, which reiterated an Outperform rating on ICE with a $202.00 price target.

ICE stated that the investment is not expected to materially impact its 2025 financial results or planned capital return initiatives, with further details to be discussed during the company’s third-quarter earnings call scheduled for October 30.

KBW analyst Kyle Voigt noted that traditional exchanges’ interest in prediction markets is "unsurprising given similarities to CLOBs in other asset classes," referring to central limit order books used in traditional trading venues.

If fully funded with debt, the investment would increase ICE’s leverage ratio to approximately 3.3x from 3.0x currently, with projected year-end 2026 leverage of 3.0x compared to KBW’s previously modeled 2.7x, while "still maintaining capital flexibility," according to the research note.

In other recent news, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) announced a significant investment of up to $2 billion in the prediction market platform Polymarket, valuing the company at approximately $8 billion before the investment. This strategic move will position ICE as a global distributor of Polymarket’s event-driven data, offering institutional investors new sentiment indicators on market-relevant topics. Concurrently, ICE reported record open interest across its futures markets for September 2025, with a 15% year-over-year increase, reaching 56.9 million lots. Energy futures alone hit a record 41.0 million lots, marking an 8% rise from the previous year. Additionally, ICE expanded its Board of Directors with the election of The Rt. Hon. the Lord Hill of Oareford CBE, increasing the board’s size from 10 to 11 members. In another development, OTC Markets Group announced that its trading data is now accessible through the ICE Consolidated Feed, enhancing data availability for global financial institutions. These recent developments highlight ICE’s strategic initiatives and growth in various sectors.

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