Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Updates FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) updated its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 13.600-13.800 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 13.840. The company issued revenue guidance of $9.7 billion-$9.8 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $12.4 billion.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 target price (up from $74.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Global Payments from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus set a $110.00 price target on Global Payments and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays set a $89.00 price objective on Global Payments and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.04.

Global Payments Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of GPN stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $87.24. The company had a trading volume of 3,448,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,654,281. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $61.16 and a fifty-two week high of $90.85. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.67 and its 200 day moving average is $72.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.86 billion, a PE ratio of -42.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. Global Payments had a positive return on equity of 13.11% and a negative net margin of 7.99%.The company’s revenue was up 68.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.10 earnings per share. Global Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.600-13.800 EPS. Research analysts expect that Global Payments will post 13.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is -49.02%.

Global Payments News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Global Payments this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Global Payments reported second-quarter adjusted EPS of $3.46, edging past the $3.44 consensus estimate. Adjusted net revenue was $3.16 billion, while revenue increased 68.6% year over year, supported by momentum in the Genius platform. Global Payments Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates on Genius Platform Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target from $76 to $95, while Goldman Sachs increased its target from $82 to $94. Both firms retained market perform or neutral ratings, indicating improved valuation expectations but limited conviction for significant outperformance.
• Positive Sentiment: The company approved a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, payable September 25 to shareholders of record September 11. Global Payments also said it has returned approximately $1.2 billion of capital to shareholders year to date.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management expects 2026 normalized constant-currency adjusted net revenue growth of approximately 4% to 5% and adjusted EPS of $13.60 to $13.80, broadly consistent with the previously provided outlook but below the $13.84 analyst EPS consensus.
• Negative Sentiment: Global Payments cut its annual forecasts, citing the Middle East conflict’s impact on travel-related spending. The weaker outlook raises concerns about transaction volumes and offsets the quarter’s modest earnings beat. Global Payments cuts annual forecasts as Middle East conflict hits travel spending

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Global Payments by 112.3% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,281,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $189,545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206,807 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 126.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,019,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $84,724,000 after purchasing an additional 570,413 shares during the last quarter. Glenview Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Glenview Capital Management LLC now owns 4,316,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $345,524,000 after purchasing an additional 523,209 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 74.8% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 662,102 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,007,000 after purchasing an additional 283,332 shares during the period. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 72.2% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 633,595 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,816,000 after purchasing an additional 265,574 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Global Payments

Global Payments Inc (NYSE: GPN) is a worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions that enables commerce for merchants, issuers and enterprises. The company develops and operates payment processing networks, point-of-sale systems and cloud-based software that facilitate electronic transactions across in-store, online and mobile channels. Its services span merchant acquiring, payment gateway services, omnichannel commerce platforms, and solutions for recurring and subscription billing.

Global Payments offers a range of products and services including integrated payment terminals and point-of-sale software, e-commerce and gateway technologies, fraud prevention and tokenization tools, and business analytics and reporting.