Euronet Worldwide Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Euronet reported Q1 revenue of $1.0 billion, operating income of $72 million, adjusted EBITDA of $126 million and adjusted EPS of $1.58 (up 40% year-over-year, 19% on a comparable basis); management reiterated a full-year adjusted EPS growth target of 10–15%, completed a $100 million buyback and finished the quarter with $2.1 billion cash against $2.6 billion of debt (including a ~€700 million Eurobond maturing in May).
• EFT and payments momentum drove results—Ren platform and ATM-as-a-service wins (including bank99, UniCredit Poland cash recyclers and Banco Itaú in Paraguay), plus ~2,300 new merchants and the PaynoPain acquisition—helped EFT constant-currency revenue rise 19%, though CoreCard contributed ~$30 million with ~40% tied to low-margin card stock purchases.
• Money transfer retail volumes were pressured by U.S. immigration trends and a 1% remittance excise tax, but digital adoption accelerated sharply—digital transactions +35%, new digital customers +42% and digital revenue +42%—with real-time payments launched in nine new markets and account deposits increasing to 44% of transactions.

Euronet Worldwide NASDAQ: EEFT reported first-quarter 2026 results that management characterized as a “solid start to the year,” highlighting strength in its EFT and digital initiatives while acknowledging continued pressure in parts of the money transfer business tied to U.S. immigration policy and geopolitical volatility.

Quarterly results and outlook

CFO Rick Weller said the company delivered revenue of $1.0 billion, operating income of $72 million, adjusted EBITDA of $126 million, and adjusted EPS of $1.58. Adjusted EPS increased 40% from $1.13 in the prior-year quarter; excluding a prior-year one-time tax charge of $0.20 per share, adjusted EPS increased 19% from $1.33, management said.

CEO Mike Brown said results reflected “broad-based strength across our business,” pointing to 19% growth in adjusted EPS on a comparable basis, alongside momentum in digital efforts. Brown reiterated the company’s full-year objective of 10% to 15% adjusted EPS growth, saying Euronet remains confident in its 2026 outlook despite a “fluid operating environment.”

Weller also noted a shift in seasonality as Euronet diversifies beyond ATM tourist activity. “As we continue to diversify the business and expand our digital products, we expect the second and third quarters to represent a lighter portion of full-year earnings than in the past,” he said.

EFT segment: Ren expansion, merchant acquiring growth, and infrastructure deals

Management highlighted multiple banking and payments infrastructure wins within EFT. Brown said Euronet implemented an ATM-as-a-service agreement with bank99 in Austria, signed a deal with UniCredit Bank in Poland to deploy cash recyclers across its branch network, and signed the Ren platform’s first banking infrastructure agreement in Latin America with Banco Itaú in Paraguay.

Brown emphasized that ATM access regulation is becoming a structural tailwind in parts of Europe. He said regulators in several markets are developing standards that require banks to maintain ATM access, and Euronet’s Ren technology enables banks to meet those requirements “at a significantly lower cost,” creating “long-term recurring revenue” for Euronet.

On cross-selling and product expansion, Brown said Euronet extended a partnership with Banco Guayaquil in Ecuador through a 3D Secure agreement, describing it as both a cross-sell and the first deployment of that product in Latin America—an example of leveraging capabilities gained through the 2024 Infinitium acquisition in Malaysia.

Merchant acquiring also contributed, with Brown stating the company added approximately 2,300 new merchants during the quarter and announced an acquisition in Spain: PaynoPain, which he said enhances Euronet’s ability to serve digital merchants with “a comprehensive and flexible suite of omni-channel payment solutions.”

Financially, Weller said EFT constant-currency revenue increased 19%, driven by “double-digit growth in Ren and merchant acquiring,” certain interchange rate increases, and the full-quarter inclusion of the CoreCard acquisition closed in the fourth quarter of 2025. Installed and active ATMs rose 1% after Euronet deinstalled approximately 1,400 non-performing ATMs, he said.

Weller also discussed pricing dynamics in Europe, noting interchange increased in Poland as some schemes implemented new rate structures with fixed and variable components. Looking ahead, he said Euronet expects additional improvements in interchange rates and “direct access fees” as ATM cash access frameworks expand; he cited that roughly 15 countries have implemented formal frameworks.

CoreCard: revenue timing and pipeline

In response to analyst questions on how much CoreCard contributed to EFT performance, Brown said Euronet picked up about $30 million in revenue from CoreCard in the quarter, but he cautioned that roughly 40% of that revenue reflected card stock purchases in anticipation of card issuance “at almost no margin.” He suggested investors should not assume that portion repeats every quarter.

Brown also said CoreCard’s business development has outperformed the company’s initial expectations. He told analysts Euronet did not expect to sign new deals within the first 18 months after acquiring CoreCard due to typical sales cycles, but management has been “positively surprised” by a “very strong pipeline.” Brown framed the pipeline in the context of eventually replacing revenue tied to an “Apple business,” which he said the company expects to go away “sometime after the end of 2027,” though timing is uncertain.

epay: partner and product expansion

In epay, Brown said Euronet expanded its digital content distribution relationship with Revolut into Brazil and Mexico, bringing the partnership to 22 countries. He also said Euronet signed and launched a B2B agreement with Apple for distribution through Corporate Benefits, an employee benefits platform across six countries, and signed a content distribution agreement with Roblox in Japan.

On alternative payments, Brown said the company launched Amazon PayCode with Italy-based LIS Pay, and in India launched Google Play and Apple Gift Card codes on Zepto, a quick commerce platform.

Weller said epay revenue increased 2% on a constant-currency basis, while operating income rose 13% and adjusted EBITDA increased 12%. He noted results benefited from the absence of a $4.5 million one-time operating tax impact in the prior-year quarter.

Money transfer: retail headwinds, digital acceleration, and network expansion

Management said the money transfer segment continued to face pressure in U.S.-initiated retail transactions to Latin America, which Brown attributed largely to U.S. immigration policy—describing an industry “one-two punch” of lost customers from deportation and a “virtual freeze” in replacement immigration. Weller added that constant-currency revenue declines also reflected the implementation of a 1% remittance excise tax paid on cash transactions in the first quarter, plus reduced volumes in the Middle East.

Despite those headwinds, Brown and Weller emphasized strong digital growth. Brown said U.S. immigration policy, the excise tax, and Euronet’s investments in new customer acquisition coincided with:

• 35% growth in digital transactions
• 42% growth in new digital customers
• 42% year-over-year growth in digital revenue

Brown also said average send per transaction increased about 6% and gross profit per transaction improved year-over-year. Weller reported total transactions declined 2% to 43.9 million, while network locations expanded 4%.

Brown said Euronet launched real-time payment services in nine new markets and highlighted the scale of its cross-border payments network, which he said reaches more than 4 billion bank accounts, 3.7 billion wallet accounts, more than 4 billion debit card accounts, and over 600 payout cash locations. He added that account deposit transactions grew 12% and now represent 44% of money transfer transactions and 58% of principal transfers, positioning account deposits as central to “long-term sustainable growth.”

Brown said the company made a minority investment in Mio Wallet to enable digital payout capabilities in the Dominican Republic. He also said Euronet, in partnership with Fireblocks, established stablecoin rails, initially to enhance treasury management. Brown said the company expects to expand functionality over time, including enabling Euronet’s global assets to serve as on- and off-ramps for stablecoin users, but he cautioned that stablecoin transaction economics at the consumer level are not necessarily cheaper today than traditional remittance methods due to on- and off-chain costs.

On Dandelion, Brown said it delivered its “best quarter on record,” though management declined to provide specific figures, citing competitive sensitivity. He said the company launched two new partners—MasterRemit in Australia and New Zealand and Utransfer in South Korea—and signed agreements with five new clients. Executives said the product continues to build momentum as bank customers ramp usage over time.

Looking to the second quarter, Brown described April as “choppy” and warned against extrapolating early-quarter trends, noting that in recent quarters the first month has often been strong with weaker months following. Still, he said Euronet continues to perform well versus competitors and remains encouraged by digital growth.

On capital allocation and the balance sheet, Weller said Euronet repurchased $100 million of shares in the first quarter, noting only about $0.02 of first-quarter adjusted EPS benefit due to timing. The company ended the quarter with $2.1 billion in cash (including unrestricted and ATM cash) and $2.6 billion of total debt. Weller also flagged a ~$700 million Eurobond maturing in May, and said refinancing would likely carry “a couple hundred bips more” in interest cost.

Brown closed by pointing to Euronet’s product and geographic diversity, continued digital adoption, and “long-term infrastructure agreements” as factors supporting durability. He also said the company plans to discuss additional growth opportunities at its Investor Day on May 20.

About Euronet Worldwide NASDAQ: EEFT

Euronet Worldwide, Inc is a global financial technology company specializing in electronic payment services and transaction processing. Through its three primary business segments—Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Network Services, epay® Prepaid and Payment Services, and Money Transfer—Euronet provides end-to-end solutions that enable secure, efficient and convenient payments for consumers, financial institutions and retailers worldwide.

In its EFT Network Services arm, Euronet operates one of the world's largest ATM and point-of-sale (POS) terminal networks, offering deployment, management and connectivity services.

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