FICO vs VRSK: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of September 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. FICO and VRSK share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined FICO and VRSK exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Fair Isaac Corporation, known by its ticker FICO, is best known for the FICO Score, the credit score most U.S. lenders use to gauge consumer credit risk. The business splits into two segments: Scores, which licenses the FICO Score to lenders and the three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) at extraordinarily high margins (the Scores segment operating margin has run around 91%), and Software, which sells the FICO Platform and analytic decisioning tools to banks, insurers, and other enterprises on a recurring-revenue model. Scores is the profit engine, while Software is the growth-and-stickiness story as customers migrate onto the platform.

Full FICO guide

Verisk Analytics traces back to 1971 as the Insurance Services Office (ISO), a non-profit ratings and data cooperative for property and casualty insurers, and it has since become a for-profit data-and-analytics company that sells almost exclusively into insurance. It operates through two main lines, Underwriting solutions (the larger piece, around $552 million in Q1 2026) and Claims solutions (around $231 million), providing risk-scoring data, policy-language standards, catastrophe and property analytics, fraud detection, and claims-estimating tools. Roughly 83% of revenue is recurring subscription-style, client retention runs above 95%, and the company generates over $3.1 billion in annual revenue at very high margins.

Full VRSK guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• FICO drivers: Scores pricing power; Software platform shift.
• VRSK drivers: Recurring, subscription-heavy revenue; Entrenched position in insurance data.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The biggest 2026 risk is competitive and regulatory: FHFA and the GSEs now allow VantageScore 4.0 (a joint venture of the three credit bureaus) alongside FICO for mortgages, threatening FICO's long-held mortgage-scoring monopoly and inviting pricing pressure. For VRSK, the most cited risk is valuation versus growth: the stock trades at a premium multiple while organic growth sits in the mid-single digits, so any deceleration can pressure the multiple.

Pick FICO if you believe its drivers more; VRSK if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the FICO and VRSK guides.

FICO. FICO grew fiscal 2026 revenue and EPS more than 20% and 30% respectively, powered by Scores price increases and a mortgage-origination rebound. Despite that growth the shares fell sharply during 2026 (down roughly a third or more from their peak) as competition and pricing changes compressed the multiple from a trailing P/E near 40x toward a forward P/E around 24x, still a premium to the broader software group.

VRSK. Verisk reported Q1 2026 revenue of about $783 million (up roughly 4%) with diluted adjusted EPS of about $1.82, and reaffirmed full-year 2026 guidance. The stock traded near $185 in early July 2026 with a market cap around $25 billion, an EV/EBITDA near 19, and a dividend around $2.00 per share. The premium multiple reflects the recurring-revenue quality, while the modest top-line growth is why some observers flag valuation risk.

Headline figures (approximate, July 2026): FICO shows revenue (ttm) ~$2.25B, fy2026 revenue guidance ~$2.45B (up ~23% YoY), q2 fy2026 revenue ~$692M, q2 fy2026 gaap eps ~$11.14; VRSK shows revenue (ttm) ~$3.1B, 2026 revenue guidance ~$3.19B to $3.24B, 2026 adjusted eps guidance ~$7.45 to $7.75, market cap ~$25B.

FICO and VRSK are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined FICO and VRSK exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.