Remitly Q2 2026 Earnings: Revenue Rises 20% as Adjusted EBITDA Gains 79%

Remitly Global (NASDAQ: RELY) reported Q2 2026 revenue of $495.2 million, up 20% from $411.9 million, while diluted EPS rose to $0.93 from $0.03 for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. Adjusted EBITDA increased 79% and quarterly free cash flow nearly tripled as transaction margin expanded and operating expenses grew more slowly than revenue. GAAP net income included a $140.6 million discrete tax benefit, making the headline profit figure less representative of recurring operations.

Core Earnings Results

Revenue growth was accompanied by faster profit growth. Transaction expenses rose 12%, compared with 20% revenue growth, while technology and development and general and administrative expenses both declined year over year. These factors helped operating margin and adjusted EBITDA margin expand substantially.

Net income rose to $205.9 million, but most of the increase came from the release of a U.S. valuation allowance. Operating income, adjusted EBITDA and cash flow nevertheless show that profitability also improved before considering that tax item.

Adjusted EBITDA, transaction margin and free cash flow are non-GAAP measures. Remitly defines free cash flow as operating cash flow less property and equipment purchases and capitalized internal-use software costs.

Business and Operating Performance

Quarterly active customers reached 10.2 million, compared with 8.5 million a year earlier, marking the first time Remitly exceeded 10 million. Send volume grew faster, rising 27% to $23.5 billion from $18.5 billion. Those figures imply an approximately 6% increase in send volume per active customer.

Revenue increased at the same 20% rate as active customers but trailed send-volume growth. This indicates that the value transferred through the platform did not convert into revenue on a one-for-one basis. The release did not provide a specific explanation for the difference, but the higher transaction margin shows that transaction economics still improved during the quarter.

Profitability, Cash Flow and Balance Sheet

Transaction expenses increased to $161.2 million from $143.8 million, materially slower than revenue. Marketing remained the largest operating investment, rising approximately 23% to $104.4 million. Customer support and operations expense increased approximately 6% to $26.6 million.

Other expense categories provided operating leverage. Technology and development expense declined to $74.0 million from $77.5 million, while general and administrative expense fell to $55.9 million from $59.6 million. Total costs and expenses rose approximately 8%, allowing operating income to increase more than fourfold.

Quarterly operating cash flow increased to $134.6 million, and free cash flow reached $130.1 million. Remitly noted that it changed the presentation of certain customer-funds cash activity beginning in Q4 2025, moving some items from operating to financing activities, which investors should consider when comparing cash-flow periods.

Cash and cash equivalents totaled $676.4 million at June 30, up from $542.4 million at December 31, 2025. Long-term debt declined from $155.0 million to zero, while short-term debt was $3.0 million. During the first six months of 2026, the company used $65.2 million to repurchase common stock.

A Tax Benefit Magnified GAAP Profit, but Operating Earnings Also Improved

The main earnings-quality issue was the $140.6 million discrete tax benefit associated with releasing a U.S. valuation allowance. Remitly reported a total income tax benefit of $141.3 million, lifting net income well above pretax income of $64.6 million.

The tax benefit should not be treated as recurring operating profit. However, the quarter was not dependent solely on that accounting item: pretax income increased from $8.1 million, operating income rose to $66.7 million from $14.6 million, and adjusted EBITDA increased to $114.7 million from $64.0 million. The release did not provide an adjusted net income figure excluding the valuation-allowance release.

Earnings Guidance

Remitly said it raised its full-year 2026 outlook, although the supplied release did not provide the previous ranges needed to quantify the increase. The new outlook calls for 21% to 22% annual revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA of $410 million to $415 million.

Remitly did not provide a quantitative reconciliation of forecast adjusted EBITDA to forecast GAAP net income, citing uncertainty around income taxes, stock-based compensation and related payroll taxes.

Management Perspective

CEO Sebastian Gunningham attributed the quarter to customer trust, the scale of Remitly’s global network and cost discipline. Management also said AI-driven operating efficiencies are creating capacity to fund growth investments while improving margins. The decline in technology and development and general and administrative expenses, alongside higher revenue and adjusted EBITDA, was consistent with that cost-discipline message in Q2.

Recent Insider Transactions

The supplied insider-trading summary showed 1.64 million shares purchased across 29 transactions and 13.29 million shares sold across 32 transactions during the preceding six months. That resulted in net insider sales of approximately 11.65 million shares. The latest detailed sale records reported before the earnings release were all classified as direct transactions.

The records also listed several zero-dollar stock awards to directors on June 10, 2026. Those awards represent equity grants rather than open-market purchases, and the transaction data alone does not establish insiders’ views about the company’s prospects.

Risks Investors Need to Watch

• Revenue is growing more slowly than send volume. Send volume rose 27%, compared with 20% revenue growth. Continued divergence could affect monetization even if customer activity remains healthy.
• Customer growth still requires meaningful marketing investment. Marketing expense increased approximately 23%, slightly faster than revenue, so maintaining customer growth without reversing margin gains remains important.
• The GAAP profit increase included a nonrecurring tax benefit. Future net income may be substantially lower without another comparable benefit, even if operating performance continues improving.
• Q3 adjusted EBITDA guidance is below the Q2 result. The $92 million to $94 million range compares with $114.7 million reported in Q2. The release did not state the reason for the sequential difference.
• Cross-border operations carry regulatory and currency exposure. Remitly operates across more than 175 countries and depends on money-transmission licenses, international partners, system availability and changing regulatory requirements.

Summary

Remitly’s Q2 2026 results combined 20% revenue growth with faster expansion in operating income, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. Customer and send-volume growth supported the top line, while transaction-margin expansion and slower growth in several expense categories improved operating leverage. Investors should separate the large tax benefit from recurring profitability and monitor the relationship between send volume and revenue, marketing efficiency, and execution against the raised full-year outlook.