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Research Alert: Fico Loses Its Grip - Fhfa Opens Door To Rivals

-- CFRA, an independent research provider, has providedwith the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

FICO's stranglehold on mortgage credit scoring officially ended as FHFA Director Bill Pulte announced that "effective immediately," Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would accept VantageScore, FICO's main competitor, credit models. HUD Secretary Scott Turner said FHA would follow within months. FICO shares plunged 10%+ on the news. Until now, GSEs relied almost exclusively on older FICO models, giving FICO monopolistic control over mortgage financing access. This dominance recently prompted Senator Josh Hawley to investigate FICO's pricing practices. VantageScore costs $0.99 versus FICO's $4.95-$10 plus fees, and uses alternative data like rent payments to score borrowers. We believe this announcement will heavily expand mortgage access, with millions previously excluded by traditional scoring and high costs. This announcement poses a massive headwind for FICO, breaking its monopoly and introducing intense pricing competition unseen in decades. We're watching FICO's April 28 earnings call for management's response.

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Asia

New Zealand Shares Fall; Genesis Energy Posts Lower Fiscal Q3 Retail Electricity Sales

New Zealand shares ended lower on Thursday as most Asian indexes saw losses after shipping worries continued around the Strait of Hormuz.The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 0.47% or 60.67 points to close at 12,884.93.Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz, tightening its control over the strategic waterway after US President Donald Trump said he was indefinitely suspending attacks, with no indication that peace negotiations would resume, according to a Thursday Reuters report."Markets look very on edge here. We are still in a no-war, no-peace zone, and that means even an ⁠unverified scare of escalation can jolt oil and knock risk assets lower," said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo, as quoted by Reuters.In domestic news, Moody's has revised its outlook on New Zealand's AAA credit rating to negative from stable in a move that again signals a need for checks on spending and borrowing, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said.Further, credit card spending in New Zealand increased by 0.7% month on month to NZ$4.87 billion in March after a 0.1% increase in the previous month, while credit card balances fell 0.5% to NZ$6.08 billion in March, data from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand showed.Also, sales volumes continued to decline across New Zealand's housing market for the third consecutive month in March, down 2.4% year-over-year, Cotality saidIn corporate news, Genesis Energy (ASX:GNE, NZE:GNE) reported total retail electricity sales of 1,380 gigawatt-hours (GWh) for the fiscal third quarter ended March 31, down from 1,474 GWh in the same quarter a year earlier.Comvita (NZE:CVT) launched a pro-rata renounceable rights offer to raise up to NZ$30 million to support bank refinancing.

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Asia

Giordano International's Q1 Revenue Up Nearly 4%

Giordano International (HKG:0709) reported HK$1.04 billion in first-quarter revenue, up 3.9% from HK$997 million a year earlier, according to a Thursday Hong Kong bourse filing.Revenue in Greater China rose 7.8% to HK$456 million, while sales in Southeast Asia and Australia jumped 4.2% to HK$398 million. Revenue from the Gulf Cooperation Council region fell 5.2% to HK$182 million.By channel, online revenue climbed 40.5% year over year to HK$163 million, while offline sales increased 2.3% to HK$767 million.Revenue from wholesale to franchisees fell 19% to HK$106 million.Group same-store sales jumped 8.2% to HK$817 million from HK$755 million.As of March 31, the apparel retailer operated 1,565 stores, down from 1,720 a year earlier.

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Asia

Alembic Pharmaceuticals Incorporates Philippines Subsidiary

Alembic Pharmaceuticals (NSE:APLLTD, BOM:506235) has established a subsidiary called Alembic Lifesciences Philippines Inc. in the Philippines, according to a Wednesday filing to the Indian stock exchanges.Shares of the company rose over 2% in Thursday's trading.The company will hold a 99.99% stake in the new entity, which will focus on marketing and distribution of pharmaceutical products in the region, the filing said.

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