Investors can get very excited when companies beat expectations, and that’s certainly the case with Wise (WISE) today. Shares in the money transfers business stormed nearly 12% higher on Tuesday after trumping quarterly revenue forecasts. It also raised its profit margin outlook, driven by strong customer growth and higher transaction volumes.
The London-listed fintech company reported underlying income of £424.4 million for Q3 of fiscal 2026, up 21% from £349.5 million a year earlier. That was a rough 3% outperformance of analyst consensus of £412 million.
Margins scaling faster
Wise upgraded its underlying pre-tax profit margin guidance to the high end of its mid-term target range at 16%, including approximately £35 million in dual-listing costs. Excluding those costs, margin would hit 18%-19%, up from the previous range of 13%-16%.
| Wise (WISE) | Price: 931p | Market cap: £10.7bn |
Wise switched its primary listing from London to New York in July last year, maintaining a secondary listing in the UK capital.
‘We served nearly 11 million active customers this quarter, helping more people and businesses around the world with more of their financial needs’, said CEO Kristo Käärmann in a statement.
‘We delivered 74% of payments instantly, up nine percentage points year-on-year.’
Active customers rose 20% year-on-year to 10.9 million, beating the consensus estimate of 10.55 million. The company added 418,000 personal customers during the quarter, compared to the three-year seasonal average of 236,000.
Income growth ballpark of 15%-20%
Wise maintained its full-year underlying income growth guidance in the 15%-20% on a constant currency basis. Year-to-date underlying income growth stood at 17%.
The company, formerly known as TransferWise, completed 74% of payments instantly during the quarter, up from 65% in the same period last year.
Jefferies analysts maintained their positive view on the Wise investment case. With a 12-month share price target pitched at £12.31, Jefferies’ analysts called results ‘very encouraging’ with ‘continuous signs of Wise Platform dynamics.’
The investment case appears to be strengthening after a choppy 2025 as the operational scale gains traction. On Jefferies’ calculations, there’s more than 30% upside on the table, although continued execution will be critical.
We have seen cross-border payments businesses attract buyout interest in the past, we’re thinking of then UK-listed Earthport, which sold out to Visa (V) in May 2019 for around £247 million ($321.1 million) after a bidding war with Mastercard (MC). An extra angle for potential investors, perhaps.
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