Fourth-quarter revenue, as announced on Thursday (Feb. 5), rose 5.7% year over year to $672.9 million, reflecting renewed strength in travel-related payments and continued expansion in accounts payable, even as freight demand stayed subdued.
CEO Melissa Smith said the period marked a turning point following several years of investment in products, technology and go-to-market execution.
“In the fourth quarter we saw that inflection point take hold,” Smith said during the call, pointing to accelerating earnings growth, improved operating leverage and progress toward margin expansion.
Shares dipped 5.5% on Thursday amid a broader market swoon.
Mobility Holds Steady in a Down Cycle
Mobility, WEX’s largest segment, posted flat revenue year over year as transaction volumes declined modestly, consistent with conditions in over-the-road trucking. Smith said the market remains in a cyclical downturn, marked by muted freight demand and pressure on smaller operators.
Advertisement: Scroll to Continue
Rather than pulling back, WEX increased sales and marketing investment toward small fleets, which management views as a large and underpenetrated segment. Those efforts helped drive a 13% year-over-year increase in new small business customers.
The company also expanded its closed-loop fuel card offerings with added open-loop flexibility, aiming to deepen customer relationships while increasing revenue per account. Management assumed no improvement in freight conditions in its 2026 outlook, treating any recovery as upside rather than a baseline expectation.
Virtual Card Momentum
Corporate payments delivered the quarter’s most visible growth. The segment delivers B2B solutions and virtual cards, among other offerings. Purchase volume processed by WEX increased 16.9% year over year, driven largely by travel customers, while travel-related revenue rose more than 30%. Non-travel revenue advanced at a mid-single-digit pace. The company’s corporate payments segment produced revenues of $122.9 million, adding 17.9% year on year.
Virtual cards remained central to that performance, supporting automated reconciliation, cross-border acceptance and tighter buyer-seller controls. Smith highlighted the launch of a global funding engine that allows customers to issue virtual cards in multiple currencies with on-demand conversions, extending WEX’s reach beyond travel and into broader enterprise workflows.
Direct accounts payable also continued to scale, with fourth-quarter volumes up approximately 15%. New customer wins came from construction and healthcare, alongside retail and media. Embedded payments contributed early traction, building a pipeline the company expects to support growth through 2026 and beyond.
The benefits segment posted revenue growth of 9.6% in the quarter, supported by steady SaaS account expansion and custodial balances. WEX ended the year with more than 9.4 million HSA accounts on its platform, with account growth continuing to outpace recent industry trends.
Smith pointed to automation in claims processing and brokerage tools as contributors to lower servicing costs and improved customer experience.
Chief Financial Officer Jagtar Narula said total revenue exceeded guidance, aided by benefits strength and higher fuel prices.
Looking ahead, WEX guided to full-year 2026 revenue between $2.7 billion and $2.76 billion and at the midpoint, implying roughly 5% revenue growth and 13% earnings growth. First-quarter revenue is expected to range from $650 million to $670 million. Management said the company plans to pair cost savings with reinvestment in product development while continuing to reduce leverage.
