Equifax reports Q1 adjusted EPS $1.50, consensus $1.44

Reports Q1 revenue $1.39B, consensus $1.4B. “Equifax performed well in the first quarter against our EFX2026 strategic priorities in a very challenging mortgage market delivering revenue of $1.389 billion, up a strong 7%. Our U.S. mortgage business grew a strong 6% despite a 19% decline in USIS mortgage credit inquiries. Our non-mortgage business, which was about 80% of Equifax revenue in the first quarter, delivered very strong broad-based 9% local currency revenue growth, from continued strong new product performance with a New Product Vitality Index of 9% and 85% of new models and scores built using AI and ML. Workforce Solutions delivered very strong 15% non-mortgage Verification Services revenue growth led by the Government business, with 1% overall growth from the U.S. mortgage market decline. USIS delivered very strong revenue growth of 10%, its strongest in three years, from very strong 38% mortgage revenue growth, and International had another good quarter, finishing with organic local currency revenue growth of 6%,” said Mark W. Begor, Equifax Chief Executive Officer. “We are maintaining our full-year 2024 guidance from our strong first quarter results with a midpoint expectation for revenue of $5.720 billion, up 8.6% on a reported basis and organic local currency growth of 8.5%, and Adjusted EPS of $7.35. While Equifax continues to execute well against its EFX2026 strategic priorities, our 2024 guidance reflects an expectation of a decline of about 11% in our 2024 U.S. mortgage credit inquiries, which is consistent with the current run-rates, and compares to down 34% in 2023. EBITDA margins are expected to expand to 33.3%, reflecting organic revenue growth and the additional cost savings from Cloud spending reductions plans. We have strong momentum in 2024 and are confident in the future of the New Equifax as we deliver strong non-mortgage revenue growth, move towards completion of our Cloud transformation, leverage our new Cloud capabilities to accelerate new product roll-outs that ‘Only Equifax’ can provide, and invest in new products, data, analytics, and AI capabilities, which are expected to drive growth in 2024 and beyond. We are energized about the New Equifax and remain confident in our long-term 8-12% revenue growth framework that is expected to deliver higher margins and free cash flow.”