CORPAY (CPAY)·Q4 2025 Earnings Summary

Corpay Beats Across the Board, Guides 22% EPS Growth for 2026

February 4, 2026 · by Fintool AI Agent

Corpay delivered a clean beat in Q4 2025, with revenue of $1.25B (+21% YoY), adjusted EPS of $6.04 (+13% YoY), and adjusted EBITDA of $712M (+18% YoY) all exceeding expectations. The company closed the year with record results and issued FY26 guidance calling for 16% revenue growth and 22% adjusted EPS growth at the midpoint. Alongside earnings, Corpay announced it would divest PayByPhone to Lightyear Capital as part of its strategic rotation toward Corporate Payments.

Did Corpay Beat Earnings?

Yes — Corpay beat on all major metrics:

Values retrieved from S&P Global

CEO Ron Clarke stated: "We had a strong finish to 2025, with fourth quarter revenue, organic revenue and adjusted net income per share finishing ahead of expectations." He added: "Our 2025 exit rate and accretive deals create a strong set-up for 2026, as we accelerate our rotation to more corporate payments."

What Changed From Last Quarter?

Acceleration in Corporate Payments drove the beat. Corporate Payments revenue hit $481M (+39% reported, +16% organic), representing 39% of total revenue vs 33% a year ago. The Alpha acquisition closed in Q4, adding scale to cross-border capabilities. CFO Walker noted Corporate Payments delivered 16% organic growth "inclusive of a 200 basis point headwind from float revenue compression due to lower interest rates."

Vehicle Payments reaccelerated. Revenue of $573M grew 10% organically, matching Q3 2025 levels. Transactions grew 7% YoY to 221.9M. FX tailwinds contributed $25M in benefits.

Lodging remained soft. Lodging Payments revenue of $113M declined 7% organically, with room nights down 25% YoY to 7.9M.

Third consecutive quarter of 11% organic growth. CEO Clarke highlighted: "Organic revenue growth was 11% for the third consecutive quarter, driven by our two largest segments delivering double digit organic growth."

What Did Management Guide?

FY26 guidance came in above consensus on all metrics:

Values retrieved from S&P Global

FY26 revenue guidance of $5.215–5.315B implies 16% YoY growth, with 10% organic growth expected. The adjusted EPS target of $25.50–26.50 represents 22% growth, reflecting operating leverage and acquisition synergies.

Q1 2026 guidance:

• Revenue with organic growth of 9% at midpoint
• Adjusted EPS of $5.38–5.52 (+20% YoY)
• GAAP Net Income of $263–277M

CFO Peter Walker noted confidence is high: "Most of the building blocks for this performance are already in place. This includes our strong organic growth exit rate and annualized Q4 trends, our expense rationalization initiatives which are already producing savings, and our Q4 share buybacks."

Key assumptions:

• Weighted average U.S. fuel prices of $2.90/gallon
• Fuel price spreads flat with 2025 average
• FX rates at January 2026 60-day average
• Interest expense of $370–400M
• ~70M fully diluted shares outstanding
• Adjusted effective tax rate of 25–27%
• No impact from material acquisitions/divestitures not closed

How Did the Stock React?

CPAY surged on the results, with after-hours trading up 12%:

The strong reaction reflects the beat-and-raise quarter combined with 22% EPS growth guidance. At the after-hours price of $328 and FY26 EPS guidance of $26.00, the stock trades at 12.6x forward earnings. Management has been an active buyer, repurchasing $500M in Q4 2025 alone.

Full Year 2025 Highlights

Record year across the board:

CEO Clarke summarized the year: "2025 was a very successful year for Corpay. We delivered 10% organic revenue growth along with $21.38 of earnings per share. We deployed over $4.3 billion in capital, expanding our position in Corporate Payments with our largest cross border acquisition to date, while repurchasing $782 million of Corpay stock."

Capital allocation highlights:

• Deployed $4.3B in capital in 2025, including:
  • Alpha Group acquisition (largest cross-border deal in company history)
  • AvidXchange partnership investment ($578M equity method investment)
  • Gringo acquisition (Brazil, Q1 2025)
• Repurchased 1.7M shares for $500M in Q4 alone
• Full year: Repurchased shares for $782M
• Year-end cash and equivalents: $2.5B (up from $1.6B)

Segment Performance Detail

Vehicle Payments (46% of revenue)

Revenue of $573M grew 15% reported and 10% organically. Transactions reached 221.9M, up 7% YoY, including 23.4M tag transactions (+6%), 65.6M parking transactions (+4%), and 117.5M fleet transactions (+6%). FX tailwinds of $25M and fuel price spreads of $2M benefited results.

CFO Walker noted the three regional businesses delivered: "Approximately 5% organic growth for [US], Europe and the rest of the world and Brazil tracked right on where they were for earlier in the year... consistent results across all three for the 10% overall organic growth rate."

Corporate Payments (39% of revenue)

Revenue of $481M grew 39% reported and 16% organically. Spend volume reached $81.4B, up 67% YoY (+44% pro forma). The Alpha acquisition, which closed in Q4, added scale to cross-border capabilities. This segment now represents 39% of revenue, up from 33% a year ago.

Lodging Payments (9% of revenue)

Revenue of $113M declined 7% YoY, with room nights down 25% to 7.9M. Revenue per room night increased 25% to $14.18, partially offsetting volume declines.

Other (6% of revenue)

Gift and payroll card revenue of $82M grew 18% reported and 17% organically, with transactions up 4% to 507.4M.

Management's 2026 Priorities

CEO Ron Clarke outlined five strategic priorities for 2026:

1. Portfolio Simplification — Fewer, bigger businesses; accelerate rotation to Corporate Payments through divestitures and acquisitions

2. USA Sales — Improve Vehicle Payments and Lodging sales; new CMO hired; new Corpay brand creative; growing Zoom sales teams; rethinking digital sales approach

3. Payables Expansion — Add enterprise accounts; expand UK sales force (doubling down); explore new monetization (instant payments, debit cards, e-checks)

4. Cross-Border Capabilities — Multicurrency accounts, international bank accounts, stablecoin capabilities; implement Alpha synergies; progress Mastercard FI channel

5. AI Implementation — Conversational AI in client UIs; AI agents reducing live agent expense in Lodging; AI-powered merchant matching for payables sales

Long-Term Track Record

Corpay has delivered consistent growth, with FY25 adjusted EPS of $21.38 and FY26 guidance of $26.00 at midpoint:

PayByPhone Divestiture Announced

Alongside earnings, Corpay announced a definitive agreement to sell PayByPhone, its mobile parking payments business, to Lightyear Capital. The transaction is expected to close in Q2 2026 and is not expected to have a material impact on 2026 Cash EPS.

CEO Ron Clarke commented: "The transaction is another step to simplify our portfolio, and speed our rotation to more corporate payments."

This move is consistent with management's stated strategy of rotating away from slower-growth Vehicle Payments assets toward higher-growth Corporate Payments opportunities. PayByPhone contributed parking transactions (65.6M in Q4) within the Vehicle Payments segment.

Q&A Highlights

On Alpha overperformance: CEO Ron Clarke noted the integration is exceeding expectations: "The people thing has gone better than I thought... Their guys just came roaring out of the blocks, pitching 'Hey, we're a bigger, meaner company. We have better credit. Obviously, we have better products.'" He added that January results are already ahead of plan.

On Mastercard partnership: Clarke disclosed the first two joint sales have closed with "a crazy pipeline, particularly in Europe, where Mastercard has done their part of getting some dedicated people to call on accounts... It's 50-70 in-process opportunities."

On US Vehicle stabilization: The US fleet business showed encouraging signs: "Same-store sales of the US vehicle business went positive for the first time in six quarters. Approval rates are up. Credit is good."

On expense rationalization: Management is targeting $75M in expense savings, with $50M already executed and $25M identified but still in process. Margins are expected to expand ~300 basis points sequentially from Q1 to Q4 2026.

On payables monetization: Clarke outlined new payment options beyond virtual cards to sunset paper checks: "E-checks, debit at lower interchange, ACH Plus, instant payments... The research suggests that merchants like that choice, and some set of merchants will accept these new methods where they won't accept virtual card." Impact expected Q2/Q3 2026.

On stablecoins: Demand remains minimal: "I asked all three of them... 'How many of the merchants or deposit holders or beneficiaries are asking for a companion stablecoin wallet?' The basic answer was crickets." Despite this, Corpay is building stablecoin wallets as a companion to bank accounts.

On additional divestitures: Beyond PayByPhone, Clarke confirmed two more vehicle businesses are in late-stage divestiture discussions, expected to raise over $1 billion combined within 30 days.

On lodging recovery: CFO Walker noted lodging will be "negative organic growth in the first half with a pickup in the back half... Sales implementations are coming online in the back half."

On Brazil momentum: High-teens growth expected again in 2026, driven by non-toll services: "They buy fuel. They buy parking. They buy insurance. They buy vehicle debts. They're now going crazy with 10% of our new sales, we're selling the Semper Credit Card."

What to Watch Going Forward

1. Alpha + Avid synergy realization — Management expects $1 of EPS accretion from these deals in FY26, ramping through the year as IT systems consolidate.

2. Additional divestitures — Beyond PayByPhone, two more vehicle businesses are in late-stage discussions, potentially raising $1B+ within 30 days.

3. Mastercard FI channel — Pipeline of 50-70 opportunities in Europe. Longer sales cycle but massive TAM if it converts.

4. Lodging inflection — Management expects negative organic growth in H1 2026, returning to positive in H2 as new sales implementations come online.

5. Float headwind timing — Q1 organic growth guided to 9% (vs 11% exit rate) due to acute float compression from Alpha's larger deposit base. Expected to normalize by Q2.

6. Payables monetization — New payment rails (e-checks, debit, ACH Plus) launching Q2/Q3 could expand TAM beyond virtual card acceptance.

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Data sourced from Corpay Q4 2025 8-K, Earnings Release, and Earnings Call Transcript dated February 4, 2026. Stock price data from S&P Global.

Related: Corpay Company Page | Q4 2025 Earnings Transcript | Q3 2025 Earnings