WEX Inc. Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results

Revenue of $673.8 million increased 5.8% compared to the prior year

GAAP net income of $2.22 per diluted share and adjusted net income of $4.15 per diluted share, an increase of 22.7% and 18.2% respectively compared to the prior year

GAAP operating income margin of 23.5% and adjusted operating income margin of 36.2%

Raises full year 2026 revenue guidance to $2.82 billion to $2.88 billion and adjusted net income guidance to $18.95 to $19.55 per diluted share

PORTLAND, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WEX (NYSE: WEX), a global leader in intelligent payment solutions, today reported financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2026.

“Our momentum continues to build with a strong start to 2026, as revenue and adjusted net income in the first quarter both exceeded the high end of guidance ranges,” said Melissa Smith, WEX’s Chair, Chief Executive Officer, and President. “We are firmly focused on executing our strategy to amplify our core, expand our reach, and accelerate innovation, and I am pleased to see the results. We continue to embed AI into our workstreams and product development processes to both accelerate operational efficiency and deliver smarter, more efficient payment workflows to our customers. This continued progress reinforces our confidence in our ability to deliver sustainable growth, expanded margins, and robust cash flow for our shareholders.”

First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
(Results are compared to the prior year period unless otherwise noted)

Total revenue for the first quarter of $673.8 million, an increase of 5.8%. The revenue increase in the quarter includes favorable impacts of $5.5 million and $5.1 million from U.S. fuel prices and foreign exchange rates, respectively, which were offset by an unfavorable $7.6 million impact from fuel price spreads internationally.

Net income for the first quarter of $77.7 million, or $2.22 per diluted share, increased 22.7% per diluted share. Adjusted net income was $145.3 million, or $4.15 per diluted share, up 18.2% per diluted share. Operating income margin was 23.5% compared to 24.7%. Adjusted operating income margin was 36.2% compared to 36.7%¹.

First Quarter 2026 Performance Metrics and Segment Results
(Results are compared to the prior year period unless otherwise noted)

Consolidated

• Total volume across all segments was $58.1 billion, an increase of 7.5%.

Mobility Segment
Provides payments and fleet management solutions to more than 600,000 customers globally.

• Revenue of $344.6 million increased 3.2%.
• Operating income margin of 26.0% and segment adjusted operating income margin of 36.1%¹.
• Payment processing transactions of 130.4 million decreased 3.0%.

Benefits Segment
Provides a broad benefits platform with integrated payments—spanning HSAs, FSAs, HRAs, COBRA, and benefits enrollment and administration—delivered directly to businesses or through our partner network.

• Revenue of $216.2 million increased 8.5%.
• Operating income margin of 33.5% and segment adjusted operating income margin of 46.4%¹.
• Average number of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) accounts of 22.4 million grew 3.8%.
• Average HSA custodial cash assets were $5.2 billion, an increase of 11.8%.

Corporate Payments Segment
Provide comprehensive and secure business-to-business (B2B) payments solutions powering mid-sized businesses and global enterprises through scalable technology.

• Revenue of $113.0 million increased 9.3%.
• Operating income margin of 28.3% and segment adjusted operating income margin of 39.0%¹.
• Purchase volume of $17.9 billion grew 3.6%.
• Total volume processed, which includes volume from which WEX does not earn interchange revenue, was $34.2 billion, an increase of 10.1%.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow
(Results are compared to the prior year period unless otherwise noted)

• Net cash used for operating activities in the first quarter of 2026 totaled $330.8 million compared to $481.6 million.
• Adjusted free cash flow was $49.5 million compared to $16.2 million².
• The Company’s leverage ratio, as defined in its Credit Agreement, was 3.1x as of both March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025.

“Our first quarter results reflect fundamental strength and strong performance across our business,” said Jagtar Narula, WEX’s Chief Financial Officer. “We continue to execute our operating strategy and we expect incremental cash flows related to higher-than-expected fuel prices will be directed toward our capital allocation priorities to deleverage below 3.0x. We remain focused on delivering long-term, sustainable shareholder value. We saw a lower fuel price benefit in Q1 than historical sensitivities would normally suggest due to high volatility in international fuel price spreads outweighing the benefit in the U.S. market, large disconnects between diesel and unleaded pricing impacting the mix, and timing related to late fees reflecting the higher prices; however, as conditions normalize, we expect a return to historical patterns.”

Financial Guidance and Assumptions
The Company provides revenue guidance on a GAAP basis and earnings guidance on a non-GAAP basis, due to the uncertainty and the indeterminate amount of certain elements that are included in reported GAAP earnings.

• For the second quarter of 2026, the Company expects revenue in the range of $727 million to $747 million and adjusted net income in the range of $173 million to $180 million, or $4.93 to $5.13 per diluted share.
• For the full year 2026, the Company expects revenue in the range of $2.82 billion to $2.88 billion and adjusted net income in the range of $667 million to $688 million, or $18.95 to $19.55 per diluted share.

The Company’s guidance is based on the following assumptions:

• U.S. retail fuel prices of $4.30 and $3.70 per gallon, respectively, for the second quarter and full year 2026 based on the applicable NYMEX futures price from the week of April 13, 2026. This does not include any potential future impacts from European fuel spreads.
• Adjusted net income effective tax rate of 25.0% for both the second quarter and full year.
• Mobility credit losses will range from 17 to 22 basis points for the second quarter and 12 to 17 basis points for the full year.
• Weighted average diluted shares outstanding of 35.0 million and 35.2 million for the second quarter and full year, respectively.

For additional information regarding our financial guidance assumptions, please see the Q1 2026 earnings supplemental materials filed with the SEC and available on our website.

The Company's adjusted net income guidance, which is a non-GAAP measure, excludes unrealized gains and losses on financial instruments, net foreign currency gains and losses, acquisition-related intangible amortization, other acquisition and divestiture related items, stock-based compensation, other costs, debt restructuring costs and debt issuance cost amortization, tax related items and certain other non-operating items and non-recurring or non-cash operating charges that are not core to our operations, as applicable depending on the period presented. We are unable to reconcile our adjusted net income guidance to the comparable GAAP measure without unreasonable effort because of the difficulty in predicting the amounts to be adjusted, including, but not limited to, foreign currency exchange rates, unrealized gains and losses on financial instruments, and acquisition and divestiture-related items, which may have a significant impact on our financial results.

Additional Information
Management uses the non-GAAP measures presented within this earnings release to evaluate the Company’s performance on a comparable basis. Management believes that investors may find these measures useful for the same purposes, but cautions that they should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, disclosure in accordance with GAAP.

Beginning in fiscal year 2024, the Company began utilizing a fixed annual projected long-term non-GAAP tax rate in order to provide better consistency across reporting periods. The fixed annual projected long-term non-GAAP tax rate could be subject to change for a variety of reasons, including the rapidly evolving global tax environment, significant changes in our geographic earnings mix including due to acquisition activity, or other changes to our strategy or business operations. The Company will re-evaluate our long-term rate as appropriate.

To provide investors with additional insight into its operational performance, WEX has included in this earnings release in Exhibit 1, reconciliations of non-GAAP measures referenced in this earnings release; in Exhibit 2, tables illustrating the impact of foreign currency rates and fuel prices for each of our reportable segments for the three months ended March 31, 2026; and in Exhibit 3, a table of selected other metrics for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 and the four preceding quarters. The Company is also providing segment revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025 in Exhibit 4 and information regarding segment adjusted operating income margin and adjusted operating income margin in Exhibit 5.

Conference Call Details and Availability of Supplemental Materials
In conjunction with this announcement, WEX will host a conference call tomorrow, April 23, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. (ET). As previously announced, the conference call will be webcast live on the Internet, and can be accessed at the Investor Relations section of the WEX website, www.wexinc.com. The live conference call may also be accessed by dialing +1 (888) 596-4144 or +1 (646) 968-2525. The conference ID number is 2902800. The live webcast will be accompanied by presentation slides, which will be made available through the Investor Relations section of the WEX website on the morning of April 23 prior to the beginning of the webcast.

A replay of the live webcast and the accompanying slides will be available on the Company's website through Thursday, April 30, 2026. Concurrent with this release, WEX has posted supplemental materials to the Investor Relations section of the WEX website to assist investors with understanding our results and performance.

About WEX
WEX (NYSE: WEX) is the global commerce platform that simplifies the business of running a business. WEX has created a powerful ecosystem that offers seamlessly embedded, personalized solutions for its customers around the world. Through its rich data and specialized expertise in simplifying benefits, reimagining mobility, and paying and getting paid, WEX aims to make it easy for companies to overcome complexity and reach their full potential. For more information, please visit www.wexinc.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This earnings release contains forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, statements about management’s plans, goals, expectations, and guidance and assumptions with respect to future financial performance of the Company. Any statements in this earnings release that are not statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements. When used in this earnings release, the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “will,” “positions,” “confidence,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such words. Forward-looking statements relate to our future plans, objectives, expectations, and intentions and are not historical facts and accordingly involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results or performance to be materially different from future results or performance expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements made in this earnings release and in oral statements made by our authorized officers:

• the impact of fluctuations in the amount of fuel purchased and sold by our customers and retail partners, respectively, fuel price volatility, and the actual price of fuel, including fuel spreads in the Company’s international markets, and the resulting impact on the Company’s results, including margins, revenues, and net income;
• the effects of general economic conditions and the amount of business activity in the economies in which we operate, including, but not limited to, conditions resulting from market volatility, an economic recession, the impact of tariffs, international trade wars or other international conflicts, including ongoing military conflicts, supply chain disruptions, increasing unemployment, inflation, changes in interest rates and declining consumer confidence, which may lead to, among other things, a decline or stagnation or volatility in demand for fuel, corporate payment services, travel related services, or employee benefits related products and services;
• the failure to meet the applicable requirements or commitments under Mastercard or Visa contracts and rules;
• the extent to which unpredictable events in the locations in which the Company or the Company’s customers operate or elsewhere may adversely affect the Company’s employees, ability to conduct business, results of operations and financial condition;
• the impact and size of credit losses, including fraud losses, and other adverse effects if the Company fails to adequately assess and monitor credit risk or fraudulent use of our payment cards or systems;
• the impact of changes to the Company’s credit standards;
• limitations on, or compression of, interchange fees, including as a result of regulatory changes;
• the effect of adverse financial conditions affecting the banking system;
• failure to implement new technologies and products;
• the failure to realize or sustain the expected benefits from investments in our capabilities and other initiatives;
• the failure to compete effectively in order to maintain or renew key customer and partner agreements and relationships, to maintain volumes under such agreements or to favorably differentiate ourselves from our competitors;
• the ability to attract and retain employees;
• the failure to realize the benefits of acquisitions or divestitures we have completed or may undertake;
• the failure to achieve commercial and financial benefits as a result of our strategic minority equity investments;
• the impact of foreign currency exchange rates on the Company’s operations, revenue and income and other risks associated with our operations outside the United States;
• the failure to adequately safeguard custodial HSA assets;
• the incurrence of impairment charges if the Company’s assessment of the fair value of certain of its reporting units or assets changes;
• the uncertainties of investigations and litigation;
• the ability of the Company to protect its intellectual property and other proprietary rights;
• the impact of actions of activist investors including costs and expenses incurred to address activism-related matters and the distraction of management from business operations in responding to those actions, including any proposals or proxy contest for the election of directors at our annual meeting of stockholders;
• the impact of market volatility, regulatory capital requirements and other regulatory requirements on the operations of WEX Bank or its ability to make payments to WEX Inc.;
• the impact of the Company’s debt instruments on the Company’s operations;
• the impact of increased leverage on the Company’s operations, results or borrowing capacity generally;
• our ability to achieve our capital allocation priorities;
• changes in interest rates;
• the ability to refinance certain indebtedness or obtain additional financing;
• the actions of regulatory bodies, including tax, banking and securities regulators, or possible changes in tax, banking or financial regulations impacting the Company’s industrial bank, the Company as the corporate parent or other subsidiaries or affiliates;
• the failure to comply with the Treasury Regulations applicable to non-bank custodians;
• the impact from breaches of, or other issues with, the Company’s technology systems or those of its third-party service providers and any resulting negative impact on the Company’s reputation, liabilities or relationships with customers or merchants;
• the impact of regulatory developments with respect to privacy and data protection;
• the impact of any disruption to the technology and electronic communications networks we rely on;
• the ability to adopt, implement and use artificial intelligence technologies across our business successfully and ethically;
• the ability to maintain effective systems of internal controls;
• the failure to repurchase shares at favorable prices, if at all;
• the impact of provisions in our charter documents, Delaware law and applicable banking laws that may delay or prevent our acquisition or other strategic actions by a third party; as well as
• other risks and uncertainties identified in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 13, 2026, and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of the initial filing of this earnings release and undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

News Media Contact:
WEX
Cuthbert Langley, 843-670-7490
press@wexinc.com

Investor Contact:
WEX
Steve Elder, 207-523-7769
Steve.Elder@wexinc.com