Credit Suisse analyst Timothy Chiodo initiated coverage of several companies in the FinTech, processors and payments space, telling investors in a research note that 2019 saw three large mergers combining merchant acquiring businesses with bank technology providers, numerous premier FinTechs continue to scale, and more announcements from BigTech and that he sees more M&A in 2020, including bolt-on acquisitions with an emphasis on merchant acquiring, card networks progress on now nascent initiatives and increasing efforts by BigTech in FinTech. The analyst initiated Square (SQ), Verra Mobility (VRRM), FIS (FIS), Global Payments (GPN), PayPal (PYPL) and Repay Holdings (RPAY) with Outperform ratings, Wex (WEX), Fiserv (FISV) and International Money Express (IMXI) with Neutral ratings, and Western Union (WU) with an Underperform rating.

Consensus for FY24 EPS is $16.25. Raises FY24 revenue view to $2.73B-$2.77B from $2.70B-$2.74B, consensus $2.73B.

Reports Q1 revenue $652.7M, consensus $654.7M. "WEX delivered impressive financial results in the first quarter, including record first quarter revenue, marking a strong start to 2024 and reinforcing our ability to drive robust performance in any macroeconomic environment," said CEO Melissa Smith. "Moreover, we continued to execute against our strategic initiatives. During the quarter, we made great progress integrating our recent acquisitions, launched the pilot for an enhanced acceptance offering for our North American Mobility customers, and continued to drive innovation to expand our customer value proposition. We are also laser-focused on leveraging technology and AI to improve efficiency and further enhance our offerings. Looking ahead, I remain confident in our ability to drive growth across the business in the near- and long-term."

WEX (WEX) announced that it has reached a new long-term agreement with Booking.com (BKNG), effective April 2024. This agreement distinguishes WEX as Booking.com's preferred virtual card provider as it continues providing WEX payment solutions in support of Booking.com's payments vision to make buying and selling travel-related products and services easier for everyone. "With more than 800,000 active customer relationships worldwide, WEX is proud to work with eight of the top ten online travel agencies globally, including Booking.com," said Carlos Carriedo, WEX's Chief Operating Officer, International. "Building on years of working together, we remain committed to delivering WEX's deep expertise in both payments and travel, as well as the reliability of our technology platform, to help Booking.com power its B2B travel payment activities 24/7 and 365 days/year at scale, globally." Booking.com first became a WEX customer in 2013. Over a decade later, WEX now processes payments for Booking.com across the world.

Check out this evening's top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly. HIGHER AFTER EARNINGSImpinj (PI) up... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Notable companies reporting after the market close, with earnings consensus, include Meta Plataforms (META), consensus $4.32... IBM (IBM), consensus $1.60... ServiceNow (NOW), consensus $3.14... Lam Research (LRCX), consensus $7.30... Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), consensus $11.68... O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY), consensus $9.26... Ford Motor (F), consensus 42c... United Rentals (URI), consensus $8.32... Align Technology (ALGN), consensus $1.97... Molina Healthcare (MOH), consensus $5.59... Teradyne (TER), consensus 33c... Universa Health Services (UHS), consensus $3.16... Western Union (WU), consensus 41c.

DMG Blockchain Solutions (DMGGF) announced a strategic collaboration with PayPal (PYPL) and Energy Web to explore ways to decarbonize the Bitcoin blockchain. The companies are working together on developing methods for transacting on the Bitcoin network which would expand its use as a carbon neutral payment rail, thus advancing its application. DMG, Energy Web, and PayPal are working together to publish a research paper, which we collectively believe will benefit users of the Bitcoin network who would like to take advantage of carbon neutral options in their transactions. PayPal, with its focus on developing its bitcoin payment rail, has been a leader in new payment technologies with the introduction of its enhanced services by integrating blockchain technology, launching the PayPal USD stablecoin with Paxos Trust Company in August 2023 for efficient transactions.