Global Payments Inc.

What they do

Global Payments provides payment processing services, merchant acceptance solutions, and business management software to financial institutions, businesses, and consumers across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. Following the January 2026 Worldpay acquisition and Issuer Solutions divestiture, the company realigned into three reportable segments: Enterprise, Platforms, and SMB. It employs approximately 26,000 team members and trades on the NYSE under GPN.

Revenue drivers

• Enterprise segment — Provides card-present and card-not-present payment acceptance and value-added commerce solutions to large enterprises and multinational clients; operating income increased in Q2 2026 due to incremental revenue from the Worldpay acquisition.
• Platforms segment — Delivers embedded payment acceptance, payment facilitation, and platform enablement through software partners, integrated software vendors, payment facilitators, and marketplaces; operating income rose in Q2 2026 on Worldpay contributions.
• SMB segment — Offers point-of-sale technologies, business management software, and commerce solutions to small and medium-sized businesses; segment operating income declined in Q2 2026 due to higher amortization from acquired Worldpay intangible assets.
• Adjusted net revenue (total company) — Q2 2026 adjusted net revenue reached $3.16 billion, up approximately 34% year-over-year, with normalized growth of approximately 4%; adjusted operating margin expanded 70 basis points on a normalized basis to 42.0%.

Recent performance

Second quarter 2026 GAAP revenue was $3.32 billion and GAAP diluted EPS was $0.05, while adjusted EPS rose 12% to $3.46. Adjusted net revenue increased approximately 34% to $3.16 billion, or approximately 4% on a normalized basis. For the six months ended June 30, 2026, consolidated revenues were $6,290.5 million versus $3,789.6 million in the prior-year period, primarily from the Worldpay acquisition. Consolidated operating income and operating margin decreased year-over-year primarily due to higher amortization expense related to acquired Worldpay intangible assets. The company returned $1.2 billion of capital to shareholders year-to-date, exceeding 50% of its more than $2 billion plan for 2026.

Strategy

The company is executing a transformation program launched in 2024 to create a global, unified operating company, consolidating technology and operations leadership under common management. It completed the Worldpay acquisition and Issuer Solutions divestiture in January 2026 and is integrating Worldpay while realigning reporting into Enterprise, Platforms, and SMB segments. Management is investing in new product development, migrating technology platforms to cloud environments, and embedding AI across its ecosystem. It also continues to assess portfolio dispositions and expects transformation-related incremental expenses through the first half of 2027.

Risks

• Worldpay integration risk — The company may be unable to integrate Worldpay successfully or realize anticipated benefits, which could adversely affect business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
• Cybersecurity and data protection — Inability to protect systems and data from evolving cybersecurity threats could damage reputation, affect card network registration or financial institution sponsorship, and expose the company to lost revenues, penalties, and legal claims.
• Third-party dependence — Systems of the company or its third-party providers may fail, or the company may be unable to renew or renegotiate key supplier agreements, interrupting service and increasing costs.
• Acquisition integration and synergy risk — Integration and conversion of acquired operations could increase operating costs if anticipated synergies are not achieved on a timely basis or at all.

Outlook

For full-year 2026, management expects normalized constant currency adjusted net revenue growth of approximately 4% to 5% and adjusted EPS of $13.60 to $13.80. The company continues to expect normalized adjusted operating margin expansion of approximately 150 basis points and to return more than $2 billion of capital to shareholders in 2026. Management also plans to return approximately $7.5 billion over the 2025 to 2027 period. The outlook reflects the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and its impact on the travel portfolio.