Wise Group shares led the Stoxx 600 index risers Friday after the payment processor reported a fiscal 2026 pretax profit that beat analyst expectations and announced a new $500 million share buyback program.
London-listed shares jumped 8% in late morning European trade to 8.96 pounds, making it the sharpest-rising stock in the Europe-wide index, according to The Wall Street Journal. In New York, where the group has its primary listing, shares rose 6.6% premarket.
The London-headquartered fintech — which started trading on the Nasdaq on May 11 — on Thursday reported a pretax profit of $660.4 million for the year ended March 31, down from $717.5 million a year earlier, but above a consensus of $651.7 million taken from the company’s website. Pretax profit margins were 26%, just above the company’s 20%-25% medium-term margin target.
The new share buyback program builds on a $470 million repurchasing scheme in fiscal 2026. “This is the largest buyback that we ever done,” the company said during its earnings call, according to an Investing.com transcript. “This is over half a billion dollars, the decision we make this year.”
Net revenue for fiscal 2026 rose 19% to $2.50 billion, in line with consensus. The group grew its active customer base by 21% on-year to 18.9 million, facilitating cross-border transactions totaling $243.5 billion — up by more than a third on the prior year. Customers now hold $39 billion in Wise accounts, a 40% on-year increase that boosted its net interest income, the company said. Wise significantly expanded its headcount over the fiscal year, growing its workforce by more than a third.
“We continue to believe customer growth will remain healthy, driving the flywheel,” Jefferies analysts wrote in a note to clients.
For fiscal 2027, the group guided for net revenue growth in the middle of a 15%-20% range, assuming no change in the amount of interest paid to customers and no significant changes to central bank policy rates. Pretax profit margins will be at the top end of a 20%-25% range, the group said.
The newly announced buyback will boost earnings-per-share, even if price cuts lead to slightly lower-than-expected revenue for fiscal 2027, Peel Hunt analysts Gautam Pillai and Tanzila Ali wrote in a note to clients.
Friday’s share bump isn’t enough to offset a sharp fall in the stock earlier this month. Wise stock lost over 8% on June 1 after Brussels’ public prosecutor said it is investigating the company under anti-money laundering laws over suspicious transactions totaling more than 500 million euros ($568.5 million). MSI previously reported on the probe and its impact on the stock.
“The inquiry is incomplete, with no known timeline or outcome,” Wise said in a note on the proceedings. The group increased the money it sets aside to cover legal and regulatory provisions to $23.8 million in 2026, a rise of $6.2 million.