Fair Isaac investors would be forgiven if they felt like they had whiplash.

Fresh off the stock's worst quarterly performance on record, shares surged 9.5% to $648.12 on Thursday. That's quite the reversal after the stock closed on Wednesday at $592.47, its lowest closing price since Jan. 10, 2023, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

The only question for investors to ask is if shares of Fair Isaac, maker of the FICO score, have finally bottomed after falling more than 48% in September.

Judging by the charts, it doesn't look good.

FICO stock has been in a steep downtrend since November 2024, when it closed at a record high of $2,382.40. Shares on Thursday were down 73% from that record.

FICO stock was also 37% below its 50-day moving average, at the $1,039.15 price level, and 46% below its 200-day moving average, at the $1,224.31 level.

None of that should be reassuring to investors, especially as Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has made moves that appear to be aimed at breaking FICO's near monopoly on credit scores.

FICO stock fell 26% on Tuesday and logged its worst daily percentage decline since 1989 after Pulte said mortgage pricing will be simplified and that the new structure will incorporate VantageScore, a direct competitor to the FICO score.

Adding to the pain for FICO, Rocket Mortgage, part of Rocket Cos., said this week it will be the first mortgage lender to use VantageScore 4.0 as its preferred credit scoring model for all eligible loans.

Jefferies warned that FICO's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or Ebitda, could decline by about 20% if VantageScore 4.0 becomes a real competitive threat.

Jefferies also estimated that VantageScore could potentially secure upward of 80% of the market share for conforming mortgages under the new pricing scheme.

Mizuho analyst Sean Kennedy said in a research note on Tuesday that this will weaken "FICO's long-term dominance of the mortgage credit scoring market."

"However, we believe FICO will have limited volume loss near-term due to industry gaming as we continue to expect lenders to pull both scores," Kennedy said.

But even with all the negativity, there was a reason FICO stock was rising Thursday.

The company said it made a significant shift in the delivery of FICO credit scores to the mortgage industry with the launch of the FICO Mortgage Direct License Program.

This would allow credit reporting companies to distribute FICO scores directly to customers and eliminate the reliance on the three nationwide credit bureaus to increase "choice and optionality."

Pulte late Wednesday signaled he also wasn't purposefully targeting the company.

"I spoke with FICO CEO Will Lansing tonight to ensure FICO Direct is approved on our end. We do not care who wins-we just want them and Vantage to compete-not be a cartel or abusive monopolies," Pulte posted to social media.

Whatever the reason, whether the belief the stock bottomed on Wednesday or that the administration's stance on FICO might be softening, the relief for investors on Thursday must have been welcomed.