WEX Raises Outlook as Fuel Tailwind Lifts Earnings
Second-quarter revenue reached $753.5 million as WEX lifted its full-year forecasts.
WEX Inc. (WEX), the payments technology company, posted faster second-quarter earnings growth as higher fuel prices lifted Mobility revenue and widened margins.
Revenue rose 14.2% from a year earlier, accelerating from 5.8% growth in the first quarter. Total volume increased 15.7% to $68.9 billion, more than double the prior quarter’s growth rate.
GAAP diluted earnings rose 57.1% to $3.11 a share, while adjusted earnings increased 35.4% to $5.35 a share. GAAP operating margin expanded 3.2 percentage points to 27.0%, reversing the first quarter’s contraction.
Mobility drove the acceleration, with revenue rising 22.0% to $422.4 million after growing 3.2% in the first quarter. Payment-processing transactions were nearly flat, leaving a $63.8 million favorable fuel-price impact as a central contributor to the segment’s revenue gain. Mobility’s adjusted operating margin climbed sequentially to 43.2% from 36.1%.
Growth elsewhere moderated. Benefits revenue rose 5.6%, down from 8.5% growth in the prior quarter, as average SaaS accounts declined sequentially to 21.7 million. Corporate Payments revenue increased 5.8%, while purchase volume fell 3.6% from a year earlier after expanding at the same rate in the first quarter.
WEX raised its 2026 revenue guidance to $2.86 billion to $2.90 billion from $2.82 billion to $2.88 billion. It now expects adjusted earnings of $19.68 to $20.08 a share, lifting the midpoint by $0.63.
Operating cash flow swung to a $77.6 million use of cash from $264.6 million provided a year earlier as higher domestic fuel prices increased receivables. Adjusted free cash flow still rose to $219.0 million, and leverage declined sequentially to 2.9 times.
The company repurchased about $60 million of shares during the quarter and another $33 million through July 20. WEX expects to direct the vast majority of adjusted free cash flow toward further repurchases.