Flywire Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Strong Q1 and upgraded outlook: Flywire reported revenue of $184 million (up 43% spot, 37% FX‑neutral), adjusted EBITDA of $39 million with a 21.4% margin (+452 bps), raised full‑year FX‑neutral revenue guidance to 18%–24%, and authorized an accelerated share repurchase of up to $50 million (total buybacks now $128 million).
• Broad-based commercial traction and international expansion: Education saw software consolidation wins (e.g., Cornell, Penn State, University of Edinburgh) and >40% growth outside the “Big Four,” while travel/hospitality monetization and the Sertifi integration create significant upside—about $2.5 billion of incremental payment volume opportunity within existing U.S. hospitality clients—with planned expansion into Europe and Southeast Asia.

Executives at Flywire NASDAQ: FLYW highlighted broad-based first-quarter 2026 outperformance, increased operating leverage, and continued progress expanding the company’s payments and software footprint across education, travel, healthcare, and B2B during the company’s earnings call.

Chief Executive Officer Mike Massaro said the quarter featured “significant growth and a beat on both the top and bottom line,” attributing results to strength across all major verticals and ongoing efficiency efforts. He described Flywire as a platform built “for complexity,” emphasizing multi-currency and multi-rail payments, deep integrations, and sector-specific workflows as key differentiators that become stronger as Flywire adds payment methods, regulatory layers, and integrations.

Q1 results and profitability

Chief Financial Officer Cosmin Pitigoi reported total revenue of $184 million, up 43% on a spot basis and 37% on an FX-neutral basis. Pitigoi said revenue growth included “7 points in organic contribution from Sertifi,” and noted that “almost half” of the FX-neutral outperformance versus the midpoint of guidance came from a strong January education peak in core markets, with the remainder driven by travel, “specifically hospitality,” including Sertifi payments.

Transaction revenue was $155 million, up 43% year-over-year, driven by 45% growth in transaction payment volume. Platform and other revenue was $29 million, up 40%, which Pitigoi said was “primarily driven by growth in hospitality.”

Adjusted gross profit was $110.5 million, up 34% year-over-year at spot. Adjusted EBITDA was $39 million, producing a 21.4% margin that expanded 452 basis points year-over-year and came in above the upper end of guidance, according to the CFO. Flywire also posted GAAP net income of more than $12 million, which Pitigoi said reflected operating leverage.

Adjusted gross margin was 60.1%, down about 400 basis points. Pitigoi said the decline was driven by “mix, FX, and temporary large payment processing ramps, not competitive pressure,” including roughly 250 basis points tied to higher Cleveland Clinic and B2B invoice client payment revenues that began ramping in the second half of 2025. He said these ramp dynamics are expected to be “largely complete by the end of 2026.”

Education: software-led consolidation and growth beyond the “Big Four”

President and Chief Operating Officer Rob Orgel said a key theme in the quarter was strategic vendor consolidation, with clients combining fragmented financial workflows onto a single platform. As an example, Orgel said Cornell University committed to a long-term agreement for Flywire’s full Student Financial Software Suite (SFS), consolidating billing, payments, payment plans, refunds, and collections onto one platform.

In the U.K., Orgel cited operational results and new client additions, noting that Kingston University reduced manual financial suspensions by “over 30% this quarter” through automated workflow management, and Flywire signed three additional U.K. SFS clients. He also said the University of Edinburgh achieved “approximately GBP 1 million in savings in under a year” by consolidating international tuition flows and reconciliation via Flywire.

Orgel also pointed to geographic diversification, saying education revenue outside Flywire’s traditional “Big Four” markets (the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia) grew over 40% year-over-year in Q1, and “more than 60% of new education clients signed were from outside the Big Four.” Responding to questions, Orgel attributed the performance to Flywire’s combination of localized teams and support, domestic plus cross-border capabilities in many markets, and what he described as a lack of comparable providers in certain regions.

In Asia, Orgel said Flywire went live with “a top global university in Singapore” and now has “the majority of the country’s universities using Flywire.” In Canada, he said Flywire’s revenue “has turned positive” as the company expands its installed base and wins competitive RFPs, including beginning to process payments for the University of Calgary.

Executives also discussed U.S. SFS momentum. Orgel referenced the recent go-live at Penn State and said Flywire continues to announce U.S. wins, citing vendor consolidation, modernization initiatives, and a growing reference base as drivers. Asked about SFS ramp timelines, Orgel said that from go-live “the ramp” starts right away, but reaching the “target ARR” typically extends “well into the second year.”

Travel and hospitality: increasing payment attachment and global expansion plans

Orgel said Flywire’s travel segment continues to see “accelerated software-led monetization,” particularly in hospitality, where Flywire is increasing payment attachment and routing more volume through its platform as it replaces legacy gateway processors. He estimated there is “an additional $2.5 billion of payment volume within our existing U.S. hospitality clients alone” that Flywire can capture.

In luxury and experiential travel, Orgel said Q1 was Flywire’s “second-largest quarter for ARR signings,” including “15 deals over $100,000,” and cited wins such as Carr Golf and Travelling The Fairways.

On Sertifi, Massaro said the integration thesis remains intact: monetize more payments alongside Sertifi’s hospitality software and take the platform global. He said international expansion is “on track,” with near-term focus “probably” on Europe and Southeast Asia, calling it a “multi-year strategy.” In a separate question on take rates, Massaro said monetization in hospitality has been “mostly” domestic so far given Sertifi’s U.S.-heavy base, with potentially more foreign exchange impacts as the product rolls out internationally.

Guidance raised, capital return expanded, and AI initiatives highlighted

Pitigoi said Flywire is raising both revenue and EBITDA guidance for full-year 2026. The company now expects 18%–24% FX-neutral revenue growth, including approximately 3–4 points from B2B and healthcare payment processing ramps (mostly benefiting the first half) and roughly 1.5 points of inorganic contribution as Flywire laps Sertifi. The company expects full-year adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of 175–375 basis points, reaching about 22.8% at the midpoint, and anticipates free cash flow conversion of 70%–75% of adjusted EBITDA.

For Q2, Flywire guided to 18%–24% FX-neutral revenue growth and expected adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of roughly 75 basis points year-over-year at the midpoint. Pitigoi said Q2 margin expansion would be constrained by lapping prior-year restructuring actions and by “deliberate investments” in domestic expansion, data, and AI infrastructure, as well as scaling Sertifi beyond its historically U.S.-focused footprint.

The CFO also announced an accelerated share repurchase program of up to $50 million under Flywire’s existing authorization, funded with cash on hand. Pitigoi said the ASR is “the single largest capital return action in Flywire’s history as a public company” and reflects management’s view of “market dislocation,” while maintaining the company’s growth investment philosophy. He added Flywire has now deployed $128 million in total share buybacks since launching the repurchase program.

Executives also emphasized Flywire’s use of AI. Massaro said AI is “an enabler…not a threat,” and cited internal metrics including “approximately 40% of customer inquiries auto-resolved” and a “30% reduction in support handling time and cost per contact.” Pitigoi described Flywire’s enterprise-wide digital transformation and “democratizing certified data,” saying the company is “past the early innings” and expects more benefits “exiting this year into next year” as data architecture and systems capabilities are built out.

On macro assumptions, Pitigoi said Flywire is not changing its outlook and emphasized prudence after what he called non-recurring favorable timing in January. He added that second-half revenue growth is expected to decelerate versus the first half primarily because Flywire will anniversary Cleveland Clinic and invoice payment ramps from the second half of 2025.

About Flywire NASDAQ: FLYW

Flywire Corp NASDAQ: FLYW is a global payments enablement and software company that specializes in facilitating complex cross-border transactions. Its cloud-based platform streamlines receivables and payer workflows across key verticals including education, healthcare, travel and hospitality, and commercial services. Flywire's technology integrates with institutional systems to automate payment posting, reconciliation and reporting, aiming to improve the payer experience and accelerate cash flow for its clients.

Founded in 2009 by entrepreneur Iker Marcaide as peerTransfer, the company rebranded as Flywire in 2015.

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