- Equifax released Mortgage Score Select, a mortgage credit file product that lets lenders choose a single preferred score such as VantageScore 4.0, Classic FICO, or FICO Score 10T, and repull the file within 24 hours for $1 plus any chosen score cost.
- The product ties Equifax more tightly into lenders' workflows by aligning with upcoming FHA acceptance of VantageScore 4.0 and by giving originators clearer control over which score is attached to each mortgage file.
- We will now look at how Equifax's investment narrative could be shaped by Mortgage Score Select's lender choice and FHA alignment.
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Equifax Investment Narrative Recap
To own Equifax you need to be comfortable with a data and analytics group that leans heavily on U.S. credit and mortgage activity, while trying to push more of its mix toward recurring verification and government work. Mortgage Score Select fits that story by keeping Equifax embedded in lender workflows, but the near term driver still looks like overall lending volumes rather than this single product.
The main risk to watch is not product adoption, it is execution and trust. Legal settlements around prior data and scoring issues, regulatory scrutiny on mortgage pricing, high debt levels and a recent dip in Government Verification revenue together create real pressure on margins if anything else goes wrong.
Among recent developments, the cloud and AI buildout sits closest to Mortgage Score Select in terms of practical impact. Management has completed around US$3b of cloud investment and is targeting US$150m of AI related productivity savings from 2026 to 2028, which directly matters for how profit drops through from new offerings like this.
If Equifax can use that cloud and AI stack to launch similar multi score and multi data tools faster and at lower incremental cost, lenders get more flexibility while the group leans into its verification and analytics narrative. If rollout stumbles or savings do not materialize as planned, high funding costs and ongoing legal spend could make that growth story harder to sustain.
What The Current Equifax Consensus Is Asking You To Believe
Equifax's current analyst blueprint leans on a steady 8.6% yearly rise in revenue over the next few years and a sizeable lift in profitability. Earnings today sit around US$691.4 million, with consensus pointing to US$1.3b by 2029. That implies an increase of roughly US$608.6 million in profit on current estimates, with analysts using 2029 as the anchor year for those forecasts.
On those same numbers, the analyst framework ties the Equifax story to US$8.3b of revenue and US$1.3b of earnings by 2029, using a P/E of 21.1x on that future profit pool. The comparison is drawn against a current multiple of 24.2x for the stock and about 21.6x for the wider US Professional Services group. That setup effectively builds in some valuation compression while still leaning on margin expansion to bridge the gap between earnings today and the longer term profit target.
For lenders and investors watching Mortgage Score Select, the message in those assumptions is simple. The product is expected to live inside a broader revenue line that trends at high single digit growth and a margin profile that analysts think can climb from 10.7% to 15.5% over three years. Mortgage specific volumes, government contracts and verification tools like The Work Number all sit inside that same envelope, so any shortfall in one bucket needs to be offset elsewhere for the 2029 earnings path to hold.
Equifax's narrative projects US$8.3b revenue and US$1.3b earnings by 2029. This requires 8.6% yearly revenue growth and an earnings increase of roughly US$608.6 million from US$691.4 million today.
Uncover how Equifax's fair value indicates a 42% potential upside to its current price, a gap that could narrow quickly for Equifax investors.
Exploring Other Perspectives
One alternate view on Equifax leans hard into pricing risk. The most bearish analysts worry that wider use of lower cost scores could pressure mortgage revenue, so they plug in about 7.7% yearly top line growth to roughly US$8.1b and a 15.2x P/E by 2029. Those pre news assumptions could shift if Mortgage Score Select meaningfully changes lender behavior. Treat this as one lens and compare several viewpoints before you decide how Equifax fits your portfolio.
Explore 2 other Equifax fair value estimates, including one that suggests it could be worth just $203.10!
Reach Your Own Conclusion
Don't just follow the ticker. Dig into the data and build a conviction that's truly your own.
- A great starting point for your Equifax research is our analysis highlighting 4 key rewards and 1 important warning sign that could impact your investment decision.
- See our latest analysis for Equifax. The report includes a comprehensive fundamental analysis summarized in a single visual, the Snowflake, making it easy to evaluate Equifax's overall financial health at a glance.
Looking For More Equifax Investment Ideas?
If Mortgage Score Select changes how you see Equifax, it can help to widen the lens and compare it with other opportunities that fit different risk and income profiles. The Simply Wall St Screener lets you sift through the market using clear fundamentals so you can build a watchlist that matches your own style rather than relying on a single credit data stock.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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