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3 Tech ETFs That Could Bounce Back After the AI SelloffGlobal Payments NYSE: GPN reported second-quarter results that included 4% normalized adjusted net revenue growth, 70 basis points of adjusted operating-margin expansion and a 12% increase in adjusted earnings per share, while lowering its full-year revenue and earnings outlook to reflect continued pressure on travel-related volumes from the Middle East conflict.

Chief Executive Officer Cameron Bready said the company’s results demonstrated “the durability of our business model” despite an approximately 100-basis-point headwind to normalized revenue growth from reduced travel-sector activity. Adjusted net revenue totaled $3.16 billion in the quarter, while adjusted diluted earnings per share were $3.46.

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Updated Outlook Reflects Travel Pressure Shift4’s Explosive Growth Comes With High-Stakes RiskChief Financial Officer Josh Whipple said Global Payments now expects normalized constant-currency adjusted net revenue growth of approximately 4% to 5% for full-year 2026. The company previously assumed that travel activity would normalize by the end of the second quarter, but now expects conflict-related impacts to continue for the balance of the year.

The company forecast adjusted earnings per share of $13.60 to $13.80 for 2026, representing growth of 11% to 13%. It maintained its expectation for approximately 150 basis points of normalized adjusted operating-margin expansion for the year and said foreign exchange rates are now expected to have roughly no impact on reported growth, following the strengthening of the U.S. dollar.

3 Different Fintech Giants: Turnaround, Stability, or Risky Bet?For the second half, Whipple said the company expects revenue growth of about 4.5%, approximately 200 basis points of margin expansion and margins near 43%. Management cited the ramp of an expanded sales force, increased Genius point-of-sale sales, and enterprise customers going live as drivers of improved second-half performance.

Bready said travel capacity and forward bookings in the affected portfolio remain below pre-conflict levels. He noted that returning capacity has been more concentrated in short-haul, lower-yielding domestic routes than long-haul routes. The company described the conflict’s impact as modest and transitory but said it adopted a more conservative assumption because conditions remain uncertain.

Worldpay Integration and Segment Results Global Payments said its Worldpay integration reached several milestones during the quarter. The company completed its operating-model design and leadership structure, established a target architecture for the combined technology environment, and aligned its commercial organization around three operating segments: SMB, Enterprise and Platforms.

SMB: Adjusted net revenue was $1.51 billion, up 4% on a normalized basis, with volume growth of 4%. Adjusted operating income was $891 million, for a 59% contribution margin. Enterprise: Adjusted net revenue was $838 million, up 7% on a normalized basis despite an approximately 400-basis-point headwind from the Middle East conflict. Enterprise volumes increased 4%, while card-not-present revenue grew at a low-double-digit rate. Adjusted operating income was $653 million, producing a 78% contribution margin. Platforms: Adjusted net revenue was $628 million, up 7% on a normalized basis, as segment volume increased 10%. Adjusted operating income was $284 million, for a 45% contribution margin. Management said Enterprise bookings rose 10% year to date. The company cited new customer wins including Shangri-La Hotels, IG Group and BingX, and said it expanded its relationship with Domino’s Pizza to become the exclusive provider of card-present and card-not-present payments in the U.S. About one-third of recently signed enterprise clients went live in the second quarter, including Aldi, Morrisons and Careem in the United Arab Emirates.

In Platforms, Global Payments signed 48 new partners during the quarter, with more than half of the wins coming from international partners. Platforms value-added-services revenue rose 25%, driven by FraudSight payouts, prime routing and merchant working capital.

Genius Rollout and AI Initiatives Global Payments continued to emphasize its Genius point-of-sale platform as a long-term growth initiative in SMB. Bready said new merchant locations per quota-carrying sales professional increased 30% since the start of the year, contributing to a more than 25% sequential increase in Genius bookings during the second quarter. New customer yields rose 75% year over year, according to the company.

New Genius locations increased more than 50% year over year and nearly 25% sequentially. Global Payments said Desjardins is selling Genius in Canada, while 30 of Worldpay’s largest U.S. financial-institution partners are expected to begin selling the platform during the fourth quarter.

The company also introduced a Genius handheld device designed for edge AI and an AI reporting tool that enables users to ask questions in natural language about operational and reporting data. Bready said the company’s newest Genius commercial helped drive a nearly 60% increase in Google-branded searches for the product.

Across its business, Global Payments said it is using AI to support fraud management, authorization optimization and customer service. Its Revenue Boost solution, already generating $2 billion in annual approval uplift, is delivering an additional 50-basis-point increase in approval rates through AI-powered decisioning, Bready said. The company also said it has multiple agentic-commerce pilots underway with AI platforms and global retailers.

Cash Flow, Buybacks and Leverage Global Payments generated $687 million in adjusted free cash flow during the second quarter, equal to approximately 75% conversion of adjusted net income. The company expects adjusted free-cash-flow conversion to exceed 90% for the full year, with stronger conversion in the second half due to its typical seasonal pattern.

The company spent $236 million on capital expenditures, or about 7% of revenue, during the quarter. It repurchased roughly 8 million shares for $550 million through accelerated and open-market repurchases and said it is more than halfway toward its commitment to return more than $2 billion to shareholders in 2026, including dividends.

Global Payments ended the quarter with net leverage just below 3.5 times. More than 90% of its debt was fixed rate, with a weighted average cost of approximately 4%. The company reiterated its plan to preserve investment-grade credit ratings and reach a 3-times net leverage target by the end of 2027.

About Global Payments (NYSE:GPN)Global Payments Inc NYSE: GPN is a worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions that enables commerce for merchants, issuers and enterprises. The company develops and operates payment processing networks, point-of-sale systems and cloud-based software that facilitate electronic transactions across in-store, online and mobile channels. Its services span merchant acquiring, payment gateway services, omnichannel commerce platforms, and solutions for recurring and subscription billing.

Global Payments offers a range of products and services including integrated payment terminals and point-of-sale software, e-commerce and gateway technologies, fraud prevention and tokenization tools, and business analytics and reporting.

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Key Takeaways Global Payments' Q2 revenues are expected to rise, aided by the Worldpay acquisition and portfolio changes.GPN's Europe, Americas and Asia Pacific revenue estimates point to strong year-over-year growth.Higher operating costs may weigh on margins despite expected earnings and revenue growth. Global Payments Inc. (GPN - Free Report) is set to report second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 5, before the opening bell. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the to-be-reported quarter’s earnings is currently pegged at $3.46 per share on revenues of $3.17 billion. 

The second-quarter earnings estimate witnessed no upward revision over the past 60 days against six downward movements. The bottom-line projection indicates a year-over-year increase of 11.6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly revenues implies year-over-year growth of 34.4%.

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For full-year 2026, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Global Payments’ revenues is pegged at $12.43 billion, implying a rise of 33.4% year over year. The consensus mark for the current year EPS is pegged at $13.82, implying a jump of 13.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Global Payments’ earnings beat the consensus estimate in three of the last four quarters and met once, with the average surprise being 2.1%. This is depicted in the figure below.

Q2 Earnings Whispers for GPNOur proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for the company this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, but that is not the case here.

GPN has an Earnings ESP of -0.63% and a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

What’s Likely to Shape GPN’s Q2 Results?GPN’s second-quarter results are expected to reflect the impact of the acquisition of Worldpay and the sale of Issuer Solutions Business. The transaction closed on Jan. 12, 2026. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues from Europe operations is pegged at $658.7 million, which indicates 107.9% year-over-year growth on a comparable basis. Similarly, the consensus mark for revenues from the Americas operations is pegged at $2.7 billion, signaling a 71.4% jump from a year ago.

The consensus estimate for revenuesfromAsia Pacific stands at $126.5 million, indicating 56.4% year-over-year growth. The above-mentioned estimates indicate that GPN is positioned for year-over-year growth. However, profit growth from the businesses is likely to have been partially offset by increased costs under certain heads.

For the to-be-reported quarter, we anticipate the cost of service to rise 63.2% year over year. We expect total operating costs to be around $2.4 billion in the quarter, a 57% increase from the year-ago level. We expect the adjusted EBITDA margin to decline to 44.4% in the second quarter from 48.9% a year ago.

How Did Other Stocks Perform?American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) , Synchrony Financial (SYF - Free Report) and Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) are some companies from the broader payments space that have already reported earnings for the June quarter.

American Express reported second-quarter 2026 EPS of $4.53, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.7%. The bottom line advanced 11% year over year. The strong quarterly results were driven by increased Card Member spending, higher net interest income and improved card fee growth. However, the upside was partly offset by AXP’s elevated operating expenses.

Synchrony Financial reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted EPS of $2.59, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 24.5%. The bottom line increased 3.6% year over year. The quarterly results were driven by record purchase volume, accelerated growth in ending loan receivables despite elevated payment behavior, continued credit strength and an expansion in net interest margin. However, SYF’s higher operating expenses and an increase in the provision for credit losses partly offset these positives.

Visa delivered third-quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings of $3.32 per share, up 11% year over year. Earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.8%. The strong quarterly results reflected resilient spending trends, higher cross-border volumes and solid network activity, including a 10% year-over-year increase in payments volume on a constant-dollar basis. However, the upside was partly offset by Visa’s increased operating expenses.