Blowout Q1 Financial Results
Reported revenue of $1.26 billion, up 25% year-over-year, and cash EPS of $5.80, up 29%; Q1 revenue beat vs guidance of ~$50 million with ~2/3 attributable to stronger business performance (not macro).
Corpay Inc
· CPAY
May 7th, 2026
Summary
- Earnings Call Date:
- 2026-05-07
- Change Since:
- +12.60%
- Next Earnings Date:
- 2026-08-12
Earnings Call Sentiment
PositiveThe call conveyed a strongly positive quarter and upgraded full-year guidance driven by robust organic growth (11%), a Q1 beat, and high-performing recent acquisitions (Alpha and Avid). Corporate Payments and cross-border businesses exhibited especially strong momentum, balance sheet metrics and share buybacks demonstrate financial flexibility, and management outlined a clear portfolio rotation strategy. Headwinds include float revenue compression, higher operating costs and modest margin pressure from acquisitions, plus some execution dependence for the middle-market push and sensitivity to macro/fuel prices. Overall, the highlights substantially outweigh the lowlights.
Company Guidance
Corpay raised full‑year 2026 revenue guidance to $5.29 billion at the midpoint (implying ~17% y/y growth) and raised full‑year cash EPS guidance to $26.70 at the midpoint (about 25% y/y), driven by the $50 million Q1 revenue beat (and a $0.35 Q1 EPS beat) plus an incremental $50 million of rest‑of‑year revenue (largely higher fuel price expectations) offset by a $75 million reduction for the March 31 PayByPhone divestiture; management continues to expect 10% organic revenue growth for the year. For Q2 they guided revenue of $1.295 billion (18% y/y), organic growth of 9–11%, and adjusted EPS of $6.55 (28% y/y); the outlook also reflects the benefit of year‑to‑date share repurchases (≈$786 million for 2.4 million shares) which, along with expected lower share count, should largely offset higher interest expense (note the company expects a refinancing that upsizes the facility by >$1 billion and trims rates by ~10 bps but has not been incorporated into guidance).
Sustained Organic Growth
Q1 organic revenue growth of 11%, marking four consecutive quarters at 11%; company continues to target 10% organic growth for full-year 2026.
Raised Full-Year Guidance
Raised 2026 revenue guidance to $5.29 billion at the midpoint (implying ~17% full-year revenue growth) and raised cash EPS guidance to $26.70 at the midpoint (implying ~25% cash EPS growth).
Strong Corporate Payments Momentum
Corporate Payments organic revenue growth of 16% (18% excluding ~200bps float revenue compression) and comprised 40% of total revenue in Q1; spend volumes increased organically 43% to $82 billion.
Acquisitions and Investments Performing
Alpha organic revenue grew ~17% in Q1 (excluding flow compression) and Avid (minority investment) recorded sales growth >20% YoY with EBITDA up 50% versus Q1 2025; ~15% of Alpha clients migrated to Corpay platform in Q1.
Vehicle Payments and Lodging Improvement
Vehicle Payments organic growth of 10% across U.S., Europe and Brazil; Lodging showed meaningful sequential improvement (management cited lodging same-store sales +6% and Q1 landing flat overall with improved momentum into H2).
Operational Metrics and Sales Execution
Customer retention finished at 93.5% (now includes cross-border), new sales/bookings up 24%, and same-store sales flat for the quarter overall — indicating good commercial performance and client stickiness.
Capital Allocation and Share Repurchases
Repurchased $786 million of stock in the quarter (2.4 million shares), used $450 million of PayByPhone sale proceeds toward repurchases; $1.8 billion authorized repurchases outstanding and Board approved an additional $1 billion.
Balance Sheet and Financing Strength
Leverage ratio of 2.7x with $1.4 billion of revolver borrowing capacity; commitments received to upsize credit facility by >$1 billion, extend maturities and reduce interest rates by ~10 bps, with $1 billion planned to pay down Term Loan B.
Cross-Border Product Progress
Cross-border business continuing strong sales; signed JP Morgan and BVNK agreements to add blockchain rails to settlement network, expanding multicurrency account geography and tech migration plans.
Q2 Guidance and Near-Term Outlook
Q2 revenue guidance midpoint $1.295 billion (+18% YoY) with expected organic growth 9–11%, and Q2 adjusted EPS guidance $6.55 midpoint (+28% YoY), showing continued top-line and EPS momentum into Q2.
Operator
Hello, and welcome, everyone, joining today's Corpay First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this call is being recorded. We are standing by if you should need any assistance. It is now my pleasure to turn the meeting over to Jim Eglseder, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
James Eglseder
Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today for our earnings call to discuss first quarter 2026 results. With me today are Ron Clarke, our Chairman and CEO; and Peter Walker, our CFO. Our earnings release and supplemental materials for the quarter are available on the Investor Relations section of corpay.com. Please refer to these materials for an explanation of the non-GAAP financial measures discussed on this call along with a reconciliation of those measures to the nearest applicable GAAP measures. Our remarks today will include forward-looking statements about expected operating and financial results, strategic initiatives, acquisitions and synergies and divestitures, among other matters. Forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Some of those risks are mentioned in today's press release on Form 8-K and can also be found on our annual report on Form 10-K. These documents are available on our website and at sec.gov.
So now I'll turn the call over to Ron Clarke, our Chairman and CEO. Ron?
Ronald F. Clarke
Okay, Jim, thanks. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining today's call. Upfront here, I'll plan to cover 4 subjects. First, provide my take on Q1 results. Second, I'll share ou...
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