Equifax revenue rises 10% year over year to $1.69 billion as mortgage weakness forces a guidance cut

Equifax said third-quarter 2026 revenue rose 10% to $1.69 billion, inside but just below the midpoint of the $1.680 billion to $1.710 billion range it set in July, and adjusted earnings per share rose 11% to $2.26, then cut its full-year revenue guidance midpoint to $6.661 billion from $6.745 billion, citing a weaker U.S. mortgage market.

The Atlanta-based credit bureau reported operating revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, up from $1.54 billion a year earlier, and net income attributable to Equifax of $211.7 million, up 32%, a rise that outran the adjusted measure because the third quarter of 2025 included $43.9 million of restructuring charges. Adjusted net income, which strips out acquisition amortization, acquisition costs, antitrust litigation costs and other items, was $267.4 million, up 6% from a year earlier.

Diluted EPS attributable to Equifax was $1.79, up 39% from $1.29, while adjusted diluted EPS of $2.26 compared with $2.04 a year earlier. The smaller share count helped: diluted shares averaged 118.1 million against 124.1 million in the third quarter of 2025.

Mortgage revenue climbs even as the mortgage market weakens

Equifax's mortgage-linked businesses grew in a quarter management described as difficult. U.S. Mortgage revenue rose 15% from a year earlier, and mortgage revenue inside USIS rose 28%, even as higher mortgage rates weakened the market late in the period. Chief Executive Mark W. Begor said the mortgage performance came "despite the much weaker mortgage market we saw in the latter half of the third quarter as mortgage interest rates increased substantially."

USIS revenue reached $599.1 million, up 13% from a year earlier, with Online Information Solutions at $529.7 million and Financial Marketing Services at $69.4 million. Workforce Solutions revenue was $693.9 million, up 7% from a year earlier, as Verification Services rose 9% to $603.2 million and Employer Services fell 5% to $90.7 million; mortgage revenue in that segment was about flat. International revenue was $399.5 million, up 9% on a reported basis and 7% in local currency from a year earlier, with Asia Pacific up 20% on a reported basis (12% in local currency).

A guidance cut that lands on mortgage-linked revenue

Full-year revenue guidance is now $6.646 billion to $6.676 billion, down from $6.710 billion to $6.780 billion issued in July. The new midpoint of $6.661 billion is 1.25% below the earlier $6.745 billion. Fourth-quarter revenue is guided to $1.605 billion to $1.635 billion, growth of 3.5% to 5.4%.

Adjusted EPS guidance of $8.45 to $8.55 compares with $8.39 to $8.69 previously, putting the midpoint at $8.50 against $8.54, a 0.47% reduction. Management called it "a reduction of only $0.04 per share at the midpoint and well within our previous Guidance range" and pointed to cost control: adjusted EBITDA rose 11% to $560.2 million from $504.8 million, and its margin widened to 33.1% from 32.7%. Reported operating income rose 34.4% to $355.3 million from $264.3 million, partly because the third quarter of 2025 carried $43.9 million of restructuring charges.

Buybacks, dividends and a shift into long-term debt

The company returned $158 million to shareholders in the quarter, repurchasing 500,000 shares for $92 million and paying $66 million in dividends. Long-term debt rose to $5.05 billion at September 30 from $4.06 billion at December 31, 2025, but short-term debt and current maturities of long-term debt fell to $157.7 million from $1.04 billion. Adding the two balance-sheet lines, total debt was $5.21 billion against $5.09 billion, an increase of 2.23%, and interest expense rose 19.4% to $62.3 million.

Cash provided by operating activities for the first nine months was little changed from a year earlier, so the returns to shareholders and the debt refinancing show up in financing activities rather than in a stronger operating inflow.

What the fourth quarter has to prove

The release does not quantify the mortgage revenue it expects to lose in the fourth quarter, and it gives no bridge from the $6.661 billion full-year midpoint to the fourth-quarter range, so the size of the reduction behind the cut remains unstated. It also offers no comparison with analyst estimates, and the adjusted figures still exclude $59.9 million of acquisition-related amortization and $8.9 million of acquisition-related costs.

Two dated items matter next. The Círculo de Crédito acquisition, agreed in July at an enterprise value of $750 million, is still expected to close in the fourth quarter, and the fourth-quarter release will show whether the cost offsets that protected margins in this quarter can absorb another leg down in the mortgage market.