Global Payments Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results

Global Payments reported $3,306,284 of third-quarter GAAP revenues, up 63.7%, while adjusted net revenue increased 31.0% to $3,181,975. Management said normalized adjusted net revenue increased over 4% and accelerated sequentially to more than 4%. Revenue growth was broad across the reported operating segments: Enterprise GAAP revenue increased 435.6% to $836,277, Platforms increased 122.5% to $633,566, and SMB increased 21.4% to $1,663,924. The reported comparisons are also affected by the Worldpay acquisition and the divestiture of Issuer Solutions, which management excludes in its normalized comparisons.

Adjusted profitability improved, with adjusted operating income rising 23.8% to $1,353,348 and adjusted diluted EPS rising 9.8% to $3.58. Adjusted operating margin was 42.5%, up 220 basis points on a normalized basis. The GAAP result diverged sharply from adjusted results: GAAP operating income declined 68.2% to $246,231, net income attributable to Global Payments declined 55.8% to $280,888, and GAAP diluted EPS declined 59.8% to $1.06. The non-GAAP reconciliation identifies $1,107,128 of third-quarter earnings adjustments to operating income, including amortization of acquired intangibles, acquisition, integration and separation expenses, transformation charges and employee termination benefits.

The nine-month financial statements show the scale of acquisition, disposition and financing activity. Net cash provided by operating activities was $212,909, versus $2,141,380 in the prior-year period, while capital expenditures were $(728,937). The company received $7,362,347 of net cash from sales of businesses, repaid $(20,411,254) of long-term debt and issued $11,642,241 of long-term debt. Cash and cash equivalents stood at $5,570,261, while long-term debt was $21,080,837 at September 30, 2026.

Capital allocation remained active. The company said it returned more than $1.4 billion in capital to shareholders year-to-date, including $(1,239,988) of common-stock repurchases and $(200,713) of dividends paid during the first nine months. The Board approved a $0.25 per-share dividend payable on December 24, 2026. Management reiterated its plan to return more than $2 billion of capital in 2026.

The full-year outlook is unchanged: normalized, constant currency adjusted net revenue growth of approximately 4% – 5%, adjusted EPS of $13.60 – $13.80, and normalized adjusted operating margin expansion of approximately 150 basis points. The notable update is the higher annual run-rate Worldpay integration expense synergy expectation of $650 million. The central execution issues are sustained normalized growth, realization of the higher synergy target, adjusted-margin delivery, cash-flow recovery and balance-sheet management.