Here's Why You Should Hold WEX Stock in Your Portfolio Now

Shares of WEX Inc. WEX have had an impressive run in the year-to-date period. The stock is up 28.7% against the Financial Transaction Services industry’s 7.3% decline. The Zacks S&P 500 composite has risen 12.7% during the said time frame.

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The company’s third-quarter 2026 earnings are expected to increase 22% year over year. Earnings for 2026 and 2027 are projected to rise 23.4% and 5.4% year over year, respectively. Revenues are expected to increase 8.4% in 2026 and 1.6% in 2027.

Factors Favoring WEX

WEX’s launch of SecureFuel strengthens its fleet payments offering by combining real-time vehicle data with AI-powered fraud detection to identify and block unauthorized fuel purchases before approval. The solution could help commercial fleet operators reduce fuel-related losses, limit unnecessary card declines and streamline fraud investigations by integrating payment and telematics data into a single workflow. With WEX processing around 30 million fleet transactions monthly, its extensive data scale provides a strong foundation for enhancing fraud detection and operational efficiency.

WEX’s recognition by Forbes as one of America’s Best Employers for Company Culture 2026 highlights the company’s focus on employee engagement, innovation and talent development. Ranking No. 78 overall and first among Maine-based companies underscores the strength of its workplace culture, which WEX views as a key driver of execution and long-term value creation. Its investments in employee resource groups, AI training and comprehensive benefits could help attract and retain talent while fostering innovation across its mobility, benefits and corporate payments businesses.

The combination of robust top-line growth, margin expansion and solid segment performance underscores WEX’s strong execution and supports a bullish outlook. In second-quarter 2026, revenues rose 14.2% to $753.5 million, while adjusted net income increased 35.4% to $5.35 per share. The adjusted operating margin expanded to 39.6% from 36.8%, reflecting improving operating leverage. Strong Mobility segment growth, with revenues up 22%, along with a 15.7% increase in total volume, further highlights healthy demand across WEX’s businesses and positions the company for continued earnings growth.

Key Risks to Watch

WEX’s performance remains exposed to macroeconomic uncertainty, which could weigh on customer spending, transaction volumes and overall demand across its businesses. The company also faces a competitive environment, particularly as rivals target its middle-market customer base, while changing business and customer payment behaviors could create pressure on transaction trends and revenue growth. Corporate Payments also recorded a 3.6% decline in purchase volume during the second quarter of 2026, while management expects rates to dip slightly as the business mix shifts toward embedded payments and travel customers in the third quarter.

WEX currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Stocks to Consider

A couple of better-ranked stocks in the broader Business Services sector are Healthcare Services Group HCSG and Thomson Reuters TRI.

Healthcare Services sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

HCSG has an encouraging earnings surprise history, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 57.25%.

Thomson Reuters also carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. It has an encouraging earnings surprise history, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 2.67%.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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