Corpay, Inc. CPAY delivered a strong first-quarter 2026, with adjusted earnings of $5.80 per share, rising 28.6% year over year and surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.5%. Revenues of $1.26 billion increased 25.4% year over year and beat estimates by 4.4%.
Performance reflected broad-based momentum, including 11% organic revenue growth and a 24% jump in new sales/bookings, alongside retention of 93.5%.
Corpay, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Corpay, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Corpay, Inc. Quote
CPAY’s Mix Shift Continues as Corporate Payments Scales
Corporate Payments’ revenues rose 46% year over year to $503.9 million and represented 40% of consolidated revenues in the quarter. Vehicle Payments remained the largest segment at $563.9 million, up 19% year over year, while Lodging Payments was essentially flat at $111 million and Other revenues grew 8% to $82.2 million.
Beneath headline growth, Corporate Payments showed meaningful operating leverage through volume, with spend volume climbing to $81.9 billion. Revenues per spend dollar was 0.62%, down from the prior-year level, reflecting mix and enterprise client wins that carry lower yields.
Corpay’s Vehicle Platform Benefits From Macro & Execution
Vehicle Payments activity advanced, with transactions increasing 4% to 209 million. Revenues per transaction improved to $2.70, helping lift segment revenues despite modest transaction growth.
Management attributed part of the quarter’s upside to higher fuel prices, but also emphasized that the majority of the revenue beat versus internal expectations was driven by stronger underlying execution across the portfolio rather than macro alone.
CPAY’s Lodging Trends Improve as Monetization Holds
Lodging Payments posted 7.4 million room nights, down 25% from the prior-year period, yet revenues per room night increased to $15.06. That monetization lift helped keep segment revenues stable year over year despite lower volume.
On the earnings call, management noted sequential improvement in Lodging and pointed to better performance across the business as supporting confidence in a second-half growth acceleration plan.
Corpay’s Profitability Holds Up Despite Cost Pressures
Adjusted EBITDA increased 24% to $688.6 million, while the adjusted EBITDA margin was 54.6% versus 55.2% a year ago, reflecting acquisition impacts. Operating costs, excluding FX, M&A and stock-based compensation, increased 10%, with higher transaction volumes and bad debt cited as key drivers.
Tax and below-the-line items were also notable. The adjusted effective tax rate was 26.8% in the quarter, and the press release highlighted that GAAP results included a gain on the sale of a business, which lifted net income per diluted share.
CPAY Steps Up Buybacks, Keeps Balance Sheet Strong
Corpay repurchased 2.4 million shares for $786 million in the quarter and ended with $1.8 billion remaining under its repurchase authorization after the board approved an additional $1 billion.
Balance sheet capacity remained solid, with leverage at 2.7X and $1.4 billion of available borrowing capacity on the revolver. Management also discussed plans to refinance and upsize its credit facility, extend maturities and modestly reduce pricing, although the benefits were not reflected in the guidance at the time of the call.
Corpay Lifts 2026 Outlook After Blowout Q1
For 2026, the company raised its outlook to total revenues of $5.250-$5.330 billion and adjusted earnings of $26.30-$27.10 per share. The second-quarter guidance calls for revenues of $1.295 billion at the mid-point and adjusted earnings per share of $6.55 at the mid-point.
Management tied the updated forecast to the first-quarter outperformance, expectations for higher fuel prices and continued favorable business fundamentals, while factoring in the March 31 divestiture of PayByPhone. Executives reiterated a 10% organic revenue growth target for the year and highlighted ongoing portfolio rotation toward Corporate Payments.
CPAY carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Earnings Snapshot
Verisk Analytics, Inc. VRSK reported first-quarter 2026 diluted adjusted earnings per share of $1.82, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.76 by 3.4%. The figure increased 5.2% from the year-ago quarter.
Revenues came in at $782.6 million, topping the consensus mark of $775.9 million by 0.9% and rising 3.9% year over year. Organic constant-currency revenue growth was 4.7%, supported by continued momentum across the Insurance business.
Waste Connections, Inc. WCN posted impressive first-quarter 2026 results.
WCN’s adjusted earnings of $1.23 per share outpaced the consensus mark by 3.4% and rose 8.9% from the year-ago quarter. WCN’s total revenues of $2.37 billion beat the consensus mark by 0.7% and increased 6.4% year over year.
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