WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX), a global leader in financial technology and commerce platform solutions, announced fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 financial results that surpassed the upper limits of its previous guidance. The company reported a significant surge in non-mobility sectors, which successfully counterbalanced broader market softness in its legacy fuel-related business.
For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, WEX delivered a robust bottom-line performance, with GAAP net income rising 31.8% to $84.3 million, or $2.41 per diluted share. On an adjusted basis—a metric the company uses to evaluate core operational health—net income per diluted share reached $4.11, marking a 15.1% increase over the same period in 2024.
Segmented Growth Drivers and Market Dynamics
The company’s ability to outperform expectations was largely driven by its Corporate Payments and Benefits divisions, which both saw substantial expansion. This growth helped mitigate a 4.3% decline in payment processing transactions within the Mobility segment, which was pressured by general end-market softness.
- Corporate Payments: This segment remained the primary growth engine for the quarter, with revenue jumping 17.8% to $122.9 million. Total volume in the segment rose 18.3% to $36.5 billion, while the adjusted operating margin expanded significantly to 48.4% from 43.9% a year prior.
- Benefits: Revenue climbed 9.6% to $204.9 million. The results were underpinned by a 6.0% increase in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) accounts, reaching a total of 21.6 million, and an 11.6% rise in average Health Savings Account (HSA) custodial cash assets to $4.9 billion.
- Mobility: Despite facing transactional volume declines, the segment’s revenue remained flat at $345.1 million. Results were aided by a 1.4% tailwind from fuel prices and favorable foreign exchange rates.
Full-Year 2025 Performance and Capital Management
For the full year, WEX achieved a record revenue of $2.66 billion, a 1.2% increase year-over-year. This milestone was reached despite a 0.8% revenue headwind caused by declining fuel prices throughout 2025. Full-year adjusted net income per diluted share rose to $16.10, up 5.4% from 2024.
The company maintained an aggressive capital return strategy, repurchasing $790 million in shares during the year. Since 2022, WEX has returned a total of $2 billion to shareholders. Management ended the year with a corporate cash balance of approximately $122 million and total borrowing capacity of $1.13 billion, maintaining a leverage ratio within its long-term target of 2.5x to 3.5x.
2026 Strategic Outlook and Economic Assumptions
Looking ahead to 2026, WEX introduced a strategy focused on three pillars: Amplify Our Core, Expand Our Reach, and Accelerate Innovation. The company intends to prioritize its 2026 free cash flow toward deleveraging, with a target of reducing its leverage ratio below 3.0x.
For the full year 2026, WEX issued the following financial targets:
- Total Revenue: $2.70 billion to $2.76 billion.
- Adjusted Net Income per Diluted Share: $17.25 to $17.85.
The first quarter of 2026 is expected to generate revenue between $650 million and $670 million, with adjusted net income projected at $3.80 to $4.00 per diluted share.
Operational and Macroeconomic Assumptions
WEX’s 2026 guidance is predicated on several key market assumptions:
- Fuel Prices: An average U.S. retail fuel price of $3.10 per gallon for the full year, which represents a projected $47 million revenue headwind compared to 2025 levels.
- Interest Rates: Projections align with current market expectations of two Federal Reserve rate cuts during the 2026 calendar year.
- Credit Losses: Mobility credit losses are estimated to range between 12 and 17 basis points for the full year.
Industry Perspective
As WEX continues to pivot toward high-margin digital payments and employee benefits software, the company is successfully diversifying its revenue streams away from the volatility of energy markets. While fuel price fluctuations and foreign exchange rates contributed a modest 1.2% to Q4 revenue growth, the double-digit expansion in the Corporate Payments and Benefits segments suggests that WEX’s long-term growth is increasingly decoupled from the cyclicality of the transportation sector.