FLEETCOR Gets Earnings Boost With Walmart Partnership

FLEETCOR Technologies, the provider of commercial payment solutions, saw its stock jump in after-hours trading action on Wednesday (Nov. 1) after announcing it inked an agreement with Walmart relating to two payment initiatives.

In a press release in conjunction with its third-quarter earnings, FLEETCOR said Walmart will begin accepting FLEETCOR commercial payment cards at all 900 owned, operated and branded Walmart and Sam’s Club fueling locations, and at more than 2,500 Walmart Auto Care Centers across the United States.

As part of the new agreement, FLEETCOR will promote Walmart and Sam’s Club locations to its existing customer base. What’s more, FLEETCOR said about 4,000 Walmart employees who use company vehicles to service the Walmart store network will begin to use FLEETCOR’s fuel cards to make their fueling purchases.

This marks an expansion of FLEETCOR and Walmart’s relationship, the company said. “We’re excited to grow our relationship with Walmart through the acceptance of FLEETCOR payment cards and expansion of the fleet program,” said Ron Clarke, FLEETCOR chairman and CEO. “We look forward to providing our cardholders and fleets with access to Walmart’s everyday low prices.” Meanwhile, Walmart’s senior vice president and assistant treasurer, Mike Cook, said the expanded deal with FLEETCOR underscores how the company is expanding access to services and creating greater value for its customers.

Separately, FLEETCOR reported third-quarter earnings of $2.18 per share, which was $0.03 higher than what analysts expected. Revenue came in at $577.88 million, also higher than the Wall Street consensus. Looking out to the full year, the company is projecting EPS of $8.38 to $8.48 a share and revenue of $2.22 billion to $2.25 billion. The analyst consensus stands at EPS of $8.39 and revenue of $2.23 billion. The board of the company also authorized a $350 million increase in its share buyback program.