Corpay Maps A Path From $28 To About $50 In Adjusted EPS By 2029
The payments company also has two more divestitures in the market, worth "a billion five to two billion," its CEO said.
Corpay, the corporate payments company, says it can compound adjusted earnings per share at more than 20% a year, from $28 this year to approximately $50 by 2029, CFO Peter Walker said on the company's third-quarter earnings call Wednesday. The pitch came with $1.38 billion of quarterly revenue, up 18%, and plans for more asset sales.
The $50 algorithm
Walker said the target rests on sustained 10% organic revenue growth, cash profit expansion, disciplined share repurchases and accretive corporate payments acquisitions. He added that a larger corporate payments mix and continued investor confidence in the growth model "could support a rerating of our valuation."
Corpay, which sells accounts payable automation, cross-border payments, fuel cards, tolls and lodging bookings, raised its fourth-quarter outlook to revenue of about $1.37 billion and adjusted EPS of $7.65 at the midpoint. Full-year adjusted EPS guidance rose to $28 at the midpoint, which CEO Ron Clarke said is $2 above the initial $26 forecast from February.
Third-quarter organic revenue growth was 11%, the sixth straight double-digit quarter. Corporate payments grew 18% organically, vehicle payments 8% and lodging 3%. For 2027, Clarke guided organic growth of 9% to 11%.
More sales, more deals
Clarke said two additional divestiture candidates are in the market, worth "a billion five to two billion." Two non-core businesses sold in 2026 brought in about $1.2 billion, which Corpay used to buy back over 3 million shares, roughly 5% of the company.
Asked by a Wolfe Research analyst about further sales, Clarke said "We're not like in a super-duper rush." He said more would be sold over the next 14 months and more corporate payments assets bought. Likely sale candidates are smaller, niche vehicle businesses or other non-core units outside corporate payments.
Clarke said roughly $2 billion of free cash flow will go next year to spend management acquisitions or buybacks.
Buybacks and the sales ramp
Walker said Corpay repurchased $750 million of stock, about 1.9 million shares, in the quarter. The board added $1 billion to the repurchase authorization, leaving about $1.6 billion. Leverage was 2.72 times, and about 2.47 times pro forma after the maintenance divestiture closed November 2.
Clarke said corporate payments new sales are expected to top half a billion dollars this year, creating a revenue ramp of 7% or 8% into 2027. Corporate payments growth was helped by about 100 basis points of one-time monetization that Walker said may not repeat in the fourth quarter, putting normalized growth near 17% and overall organic growth near 10%.
Clarke said Corpay should look different a year from now, with the mix continuing to shift as it sells businesses and acquires in corporate payments.
Sources
- Corpay Non-GAAP EPS of $7.54 beats by $0.34, revenue of $1.38B beats by $20M (NYSE:CPAY) | Seeking Alpha — seekingalpha.com
- Corpay (CPAY) Q3 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates — Yahoo Finance
- Corpay: Q3 Earnings Snapshot – WTOP News — wtop.com
- Corpay: Q3 Earnings Snapshot | khou.com — Associated Press
- Corpay: Q3 Earnings Snapshot | 11alive.com — Associated Press
