Global Payments Inc. · GPN · FY2026 Q1 · Calendar Q2 2026

Global Payments Q1 FY2026: Beats on Revenue and EPS as Genius Platform Momentum Builds

Global Payments' first full quarter as a combined entity post-Worldpay delivered a beat on both lines: adjusted net revenue of $2.86B (+5.5% YoY) and adjusted EPS of $2.96 (+10%), with operating margin expanding 110bps to 39.9%. Genius platform bookings rose over 25% sequentially and yields improved 30%, suggesting the core growth engine is accelerating. Worldpay integration is ahead of schedule with early synergies realized within 100 days. Management reaffirmed full-year guidance, but the market reaction was muted — the stock underperformed the benchmark by roughly 1.2% on the session and drifted 2.6% lower afterward, implying investors want evidence that revenue synergies, not just cost cuts, will follow.

Reported Before market openNYSEFinancial Services $21.56B market cap
100quality score

Company context

Snapshot as of publication

Global Payments Inc. is a prominent provider of payment technology and software solutions, facilitating transactions across various forms including card, electronic, check, and digital payments. Its operations span the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific regions. The company's business is structured into three primary divisions: Merchant Solutions, Issuer Solutions, and Business and Consumer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers a comprehensive array of services designed to support businesses in managing their payment processing. These services include transaction authorization, settlement, funding, customer support, chargeback resolution, terminal rental and deployment, robust payment security, consolidated billing, and online reporting. Furthermore, this segment delivers specialized enterprise software solutions that help customers in diverse vertical markets streamline their business operations.…

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS $2.96 Consensus $3
EPS surprise +6.5% Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue $2.86B Consensus $2.81B
Revenue surprise +1.5% Reported versus consensus

Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
GPN REVENUE earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 8 reported fiscal quarters and 4 future estimate-only quarters. Q4 '23 estimate $2B Q4 '23 actual $2B, beat Q1 '24 estimate $2B Q1 '24 actual $2B, beat Q2 '24 estimate $2B Q2 '24 actual $3B, beat Q3 '24 estimate $2B Q3 '24 actual $8B, beat Q2 '25 estimate $2B Q2 '25 actual $2B, miss Q3 '25 estimate $2B Q3 '25 actual $2B, miss Q4 '25 estimate $2B Q4 '25 actual $2B, beat Q1 '26 estimate $3B Q1 '26 actual $3B, beat Q2 '26 estimate $3B Q3 '26 estimate $3B Q4 '26 estimate $3B Q1 '27 estimate $3B

Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusBuy60 ratings
Bullish3558.3%
Neutral2135.0%
Bearish46.7%

1 unmapped firm rating excluded from the percentages.

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$86.84Current
$75Low
$136.62Average
$247High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Jul 31, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
Truist Securities Hold HoldMaintainJul 24, 2026
Morgan Stanley Overweight Equal WeightUpgradeJul 20, 2026
Wells Fargo Overweight OverweightMaintainJul 9, 2026
TD Cowen Hold HoldMaintainJun 11, 2026
Susquehanna Positive PositiveMaintainJun 3, 2026
Cantor Fitzgerald Neutral NeutralMaintainMay 11, 2026
Stephens & Co. Equal Weight Equal WeightMaintainMay 7, 2026
BMO Capital Market Perform Market PerformMaintainApr 22, 2026
Show 53 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $86.84. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
Truist FinancialAnalyst unavailable$79$77.86 -9.0%Jul 24, 2026
Morgan StanleyAnalyst unavailable$100$77.82 +15.2%Jul 20, 2026
Wells FargoAnalyst unavailable$95$73.01 +9.4%Jul 9, 2026
BarclaysAnalyst unavailable$81$77.59 -6.7%Jul 8, 2026
Morgan StanleyAnalyst unavailable$65$66.88 -25.1%Jun 22, 2026
SusquehannaAnalyst unavailable$111$74.03 +27.8%Jun 3, 2026
UBSTimothy Chiodo$80$70.85 -7.9%May 7, 2026
StephensCharles Nabhan$80$69.63 -7.9%May 7, 2026
Truist FinancialAnalyst unavailable$81$66.8 -6.7%Apr 24, 2026
BMO CapitalAndrew Bauch$76$71.59 -12.5%Apr 21, 2026
See 67 more

Track every rating change on GPN the moment it posts. Free to start.

Start free

Market reaction

prior-close to event-session close
Stock move +0.2% Event window
SPY move +1.4% Same window
Abnormal move -1.2% Stock minus SPY
Volume 2.0× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift -2.6% Up to 20 sessions
GPNSPY benchmark

Follow GPN with an agent that reads every filing, transcript, and price print. Free to start.

Try FN2 free

Transcript intelligence

What changed

Q1 FY2026 was the first full quarter with Worldpay integrated. Revenue grew 5.5% YoY to $2.86B, beating consensus by approximately $44M. Adjusted EPS of $2.96 exceeded estimates by 6.5%, with margin expansion to 39.9%. Genius platform bookings jumped over 25% QoQ and yields rose 30%. Worldpay integration is ahead of schedule, with 8% YoY booking growth from combined distribution and early synergies within 100 days of close. A new $500M accelerated share repurchase was launched, bringing Q1 capital returns to $600M. New partnerships include Subway (Genius Kitchen), Lightspeed DMS, Erste Bank, and Peoples Bank. Capex outlook shifted from stable to increasing.

Guidance delta

Full-year 2026 guidance was reaffirmed at approximately 5% constant-currency revenue growth, 150bps margin expansion, and EPS of $13.80 to $14. Leverage target of 3x by 2027 was maintained. New detail emerged on revenue synergies: $200M targeted by 2028, with initial contributions expected in 2027 from extending Genius to Worldpay's FI partner channel. Capex outlook increased from stable to maintaining approximately $1B (about 8% of net revenue).

Key takeaways

  • Adjusted net revenue of $2.86B grew 5.5% YoY, exceeding consensus by approximately $44M.
  • Adjusted EPS of $2.96 topped estimates by 6.5%, driven by 110bps of operating margin expansion to 39.9%.
  • Genius platform bookings up over 25% QoQ and yields up 30%, signaling accelerating adoption across SMB and enterprise verticals.
  • Worldpay integration ahead of schedule with early synergies realized within 100 days and 8% YoY booking growth from combined distribution.
  • $600M returned to shareholders in Q1 including a new $500M ASR, tracking toward the $7.5B capital-return target through 2027.
  • Full-year 2026 guidance reaffirmed: approximately 5% constant-currency revenue growth, 150bps margin expansion, and EPS of $13.80 to $14.

Management priorities

  • Complete Genius platform rollout in Germany, Austria, and additional international markets.
  • Extend Genius to Worldpay's FI partner channel, targeting initial revenue contributions in 2027.
  • Deliver $200M in revenue synergies by 2028 from cross-selling Worldpay distribution channels.
  • Finalize target technology architecture by mid-year and accelerate product velocity via Fast Track Studio.
  • Maintain approximately $1B capex budget (about 8% of net revenue) and pursue AI-driven efficiency projects.
  • Continue capital returns toward the $7.5B target through 2027, including share repurchases and dividends.

Related earnings events

Financial Services

Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-26T00:37:12.209961+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-07-31T02:01:24.242123+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-07-31T02:01:24.239709+00:00

Methodology

Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.

Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.

Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.

By FN2 Research · Updated . For educational purposes only; not investment advice.