Corpay Q2 2026 earnings: FTC charge pushes GAAP profit lower

Corpay (NYSE: CPAY) reported Q2 2026 revenue of $1.3388 billion, up 21% year over year, while GAAP diluted EPS fell 7% to $3.70. Adjusted diluted EPS rose 36% to $7.00, with the sharp difference between GAAP and adjusted results largely reflecting a $100 million charge for a preliminary FTC settlement.

Core earnings data

Reported revenue growth exceeded Corpay’s 10% organic growth rate, which excludes specified macroeconomic, acquisition, divestiture and nonrecurring effects. Profit trends diverged by accounting basis: GAAP operating income and net income declined, while adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income increased by more than 20%.

The following figures cover the three months ended June 30, 2026.

Business and segment performance

Corporate Payments remained the clearest organic growth driver, delivering 16% organic revenue growth during the quarter. CFO Peter Walker also said the lodging business recorded another sequential improvement in organic revenue, although Corpay did not provide a specific lodging growth rate in the release.

Management attributed the company’s fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit organic growth to its continued shift toward corporate payments and spend management. Because total revenue grew 21% while organic revenue grew 10%, reported growth also benefited from factors removed from Corpay’s organic calculation, but the release did not quantify the bridge.

FTC settlement charge pushes GAAP profit below adjusted growth

The central earnings issue was the divergence between revenue growth and GAAP profitability. Corpay recorded a $100 million charge for a preliminary settlement with the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection concerning a previously disclosed matter. The settlement remains subject to the agency’s customary approval process, which Corpay expects to conclude later in 2026.

Other operating expense consequently rose to $99.9 million from a negligible amount a year earlier. Selling expense increased 30%, general and administrative expense rose 26%, and depreciation and amortization increased 29%, also outpacing revenue growth. Quarterly interest expense rose 18% to $114.7 million.

These items reduced Corpay’s GAAP operating margin to approximately 35.3% from 43.5% a year earlier. By contrast, adjusted EBITDA margin was approximately 57.3%, up from 56.3%. Corpay’s non-GAAP methodology excludes legal settlements and related legal fees, helping explain why adjusted earnings increased while GAAP earnings declined.

Cash flow and balance sheet

Cash-flow figures were provided only for the first six months of 2026, rather than for the second quarter alone. First-half operating cash flow increased approximately 33% to $1.413 billion from $1.066 billion, while capital expenditures were $105.5 million.

Cash and cash equivalents reached $3.164 billion at June 30, up from $2.408 billion at the end of 2025. Corpay also held $7.005 billion of restricted cash. Current and long-term notes payable and credit facilities totaled approximately $8.324 billion, compared with approximately $8.179 billion at year-end.

During the quarter, Corpay refinanced its debt facilities and increased its revolving credit facility to $3.7 billion. The company reported quarter-end leverage of 2.55 times. It also repurchased 1 million shares for $321 million during Q2; first-half repurchases totaled $1.113 billion.

Earnings guidance

Corpay raised its fiscal 2026 outlook, citing Q2 performance, favorable macroeconomic conditions and confidence in the underlying business. The prior guidance ranges were not included, so the size of the increase cannot be calculated from the supplied information.

The updated outlook includes both full-year ranges and Q3 midpoint expectations.

The full-year outlook assumes average U.S. fuel prices of $4.02 per gallon for the remainder of the year, fuel-price spreads approximately flat with the 2025 average and foreign-exchange rates based on a July 27 Bloomberg consensus forecast. It also assumes $435 million to $465 million of interest expense, approximately 66 million diluted shares and a 25% to 27% adjusted effective tax rate.

Recent insider transactions

The supplied six-month summary lists 305,878 shares across 21 purchase-category transactions and 98,538 shares across six sales, resulting in a net increase of 207,340 shares. However, the detailed records include stock awards and derivative-security conversions, which are not equivalent to open-market purchases.

The ten most recent reported transactions were as follows.

These records describe the reported transactions but do not, by themselves, establish insiders’ views about Corpay’s prospects.

Risks investors should monitor

• FTC settlement and regulatory costs: The $100 million preliminary settlement charge materially reduced Q2 GAAP profitability, and the approval process was still pending when Corpay released the results.
• Interest expense and leverage: Quarterly interest expense increased 18%, while the full-year outlook assumes $435 million to $465 million of interest expense based on the SOFR forward curve.
• Macroeconomic assumptions: The guidance depends on fuel prices, fuel-price spreads, foreign-exchange rates and interest rates. Differences from these assumptions could affect reported revenue and earnings.
• Dependence on segment momentum: Corporate Payments generated 16% organic growth and was a major contributor to companywide organic growth. A slowdown in that segment or a reversal in lodging’s sequential improvement would pressure the organic growth trend.

Summary

Corpay’s Q2 2026 results combined 21% reported revenue growth and double-digit organic expansion with a decline in GAAP earnings caused primarily by the preliminary FTC settlement charge and higher expenses. Adjusted profitability and first-half operating cash flow increased, while Corporate Payments remained the principal organic growth driver. The next areas to monitor are execution against the raised 2026 outlook, the final FTC settlement process, financing costs and whether segment momentum remains durable.