WEX beats Wall Street on 1Q results, raises full-year guidance

Photo / Renee Cordes WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX) is headquartered on Portland's East End.

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WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX), the Portland-based global commerce platform, on Thursday posted better-than-expected first-quarter results and raised its 2023 full-year financial guidance.

Fisrt-quarter adjusted net income attributable to shareholders was $145.8 million, or $3.31 per diluted share. That compares to $2.88 per diluted share for the same period last year, and a $3.20 per diluted share consensus forecast of analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research.

Over the last four quarters, WEX has surpassed Zacks consensus estimates four times.

First-quarter revenue jumped 18% over a year earlier to $612 million, which includes a $1.3 million favorable impact from fuel prices and spreads and a $4.3 million unfavorable impact from foreign exchange rates. First-quarter revenue exceeded the Zacks consensus forecast by 1.5%.

"We reported strong results in the first quarter, exceeding our expectations for revenue and adjusted net income attributable to shareholders, with strength across our ecosystem of solutions," said WEX CEO Melissa Smith, who also serves as the company's chair and president.

"Our continued business momentum gives me further confidence in our ability to execute against our growth strategy and achieve our long-term financial targets, even in dynamic macroeconomic environments," she added.

Total volume across all three of the company's business segments was $52.3 million, an increase of 17% over the first quarter of 2022. Operating income margins also increased at all three divisions, which the company said it is renaming in connection with a rebranding initiative.

Bullish projections

For the second quarter of 2023, WEX said it expects revenue in the range of $613 million to $623 million and adjusted net income attributable to shareholders in the range of $3.45 to $3.55 per diluted share.

For the full year 2023, the company now expects revenue in the range of $2.5 billion to $2.49 billion, up from a previous guidance range of $2.43 billion to $2.47 billion.

In addition, adjusted net income attributable to shareholders is now expected to be in the range of $13.85 to $14.25 per diluted share, an increase from the previous guidance range of $13.55 to $14.05 per diluted share.

Second-quarter and full-year guidance is based on assumed average retail fuel prices of $3.85 and $3.83 per gallon, respectively.

In mid-morning trading Thursday, shares of WEX were up 1% to $176.37.