AFRM vs. ICE: Affirm vs. Intercontinental Exchange Stock Comparison

Company Profile

Affirm (AFRM) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) both fall under the Financial Services industry group, but AFRM is classified in Financial Services while ICE is classified in Capital Markets.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has more than two decades of public-market history since November 16, 2005, whereas Affirm (AFRM) listed on January 13, 2021 and has a much shorter record to draw on.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Affirm (AFRM) carries a highly aggressive beta of 3.70, indicating much higher sensitivity to broad-market moves, whereas Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is closer to market-like at 0.82 — a noticeable difference in market-sensitivity profile.

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

Affirm (AFRM) at 44.49% sits in the top ROE quartile, while Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) at 14.40% is closer to the peer norm — stronger capital efficiency for AFRM.

For every dollar of sales, both Affirm (AFRM) at 43.86% and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) at 38.14% retain more as net profit than most peers, landing in the top net margin quartile of their industries.

Both Affirm (AFRM) at 14.82% and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) at 52.77% run core operations about as efficiently as their industries’ norm — neither stands out on operating profitability.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Affirm (AFRM) at 32.15% sits in the top revenue growth quartile, while Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) at 7.47% is closer to the peer norm — faster top-line expansion for AFRM.

Affirm (AFRM) at 3,586.67% clears its industry range for EPS growth, a much stronger earnings trajectory than Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) at 20.71%, which is closer to a typical peer reading.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

current ratio doesn’t apply on either side: Affirm (AFRM) in Financial Services and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in Financial Services both report balance sheets without a current/non-current split, so their short-term liquidity is better judged through regulatory and funding measures.

debt-to-equity ratio is set aside for both: Affirm (AFRM) in Financial Services and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in Financial Services run businesses where balance-sheet leverage is part of the model, so capital-adequacy and funding measures are the better gauges of balance-sheet risk.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

Affirm (AFRM) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) reports a yield of 1.17%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Affirm (AFRM) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) reports a payout of 27.79%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

Both Affirm (AFRM) at 11.80 and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) at 23.47 land around their industries’ usual P/E ratio levels — neither is getting a clear earnings-multiple discount or premium versus peers.

Both Affirm (AFRM) at 5.03 and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) at 8.82 command a richer price per dollar of sales than most peers, sitting in the upper P/S ratio quartile of their industries.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) at 3.22 is valued about in line with its industry on P/B ratio, while Affirm (AFRM) at 4.01 carries an above-peer premium to book — AFRM is pricier on assets.

Valuation Metrics