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Equifax (EFX) International Revenue Performance Explored

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Have you assessed how the international operations of Equifax (EFX - Free Report) performed in the quarter ended March 2024? For this credit reporting company, possessing an expansive global footprint, parsing the trends of international revenues could be critical to gauge its financial resilience and growth prospects.

The global economy today is deeply interlinked, making a company's engagement with international markets a critical factor in determining its financial success and growth path. It has become essential for investors to comprehend how much a company relies on these foreign markets, as this understanding reveals the firm's potential for consistent earnings, its capacity to harness different economic cycles, and its overall growth prospects.

Participation in global economies acts as a defense against economic difficulties at home and a pathway to more rapidly developing economies. However, it also comes with the complexities of dealing with fluctuating currencies, geopolitical risks and different market dynamics.

While delving into EFX's performance for the past quarter, we observed some fascinating trends in the revenue from its foreign segments that are commonly modeled and observed by analysts on Wall Street.

For the quarter, the company's total revenue amounted to $1.39 billion, experiencing an increase of 6.7% year over year. Next, we'll explore the breakdown of EFX's international revenue to understand the importance of its overseas business operations.

Decoding EFX's International Revenue Trends

Latin America accounted for 6.6% of the company's total revenue during the quarter, translating to $91.1 million. Revenues from this region represented a surprise of -0.1%, with Wall Street analysts collectively expecting $91.19 million. When compared to the preceding quarter and the same quarter in the previous year, Latin America contributed $98.6 million (7.4%) and $55.3 million (4.3%) to the total revenue, respectively.

Europe generated $86.2 million in revenues for the company in the last quarter, constituting 6.2% of the total. This represented a surprise of +4.62% compared to the $82.39 million projected by Wall Street analysts. Comparatively, in the previous quarter, Europe accounted for $93.6 million (7.1%), and in the year-ago quarter, it contributed $75.7 million (5.8%) to the total revenue.

Of the total revenue, $65.8 million came from Canada during the last fiscal quarter, accounting for 4.7%. This represented a surprise of -0.22% as analysts had expected the region to contribute $65.95 million to the total revenue. In comparison, the region contributed $64.9 million, or 4.9%, and $63.1 million, or 4.9%, to total revenue in the previous and year-ago quarters, respectively.

During the quarter, Asia Pacific contributed $78.2 million in revenue, making up 5.6% of the total revenue. When compared to the consensus estimate of $85.09 million, this meant a surprise of -8.1%. Looking back, Asia Pacific contributed $82.2 million, or 6.2%, in the previous quarter, and $89.9 million, or 6.9%, in the same quarter of the previous year.

Revenue Projections for Overseas Markets

Wall Street analysts expect Equifax to report $1.42 billion in total revenue for the current fiscal quarter, indicating an increase of 7.8% from the year-ago quarter. Latin America, Europe, Canada and Asia Pacific are expected to contribute 6.5% ($92.48 million), 6% ($84.77 million), 4.9% ($69.4 million) and 6.1% ($86.06 million) to the total revenue, respectively.

For the full year, the company is expected to generate $5.74 billion in total revenue, up 9.1% from the previous year. Revenues from Latin America, Europe, Canada and Asia Pacific are expected to constitute 6.8% ($392.6 million), 6.2% ($357.84 million), 4.8% ($272.63 million) and 6% ($346.09 million) of the total, respectively.

The Bottom Line

Relying on international markets for revenues, Equifax faces both prospects and perils. Thus, tracking the company's international revenue trends is essential for accurately projecting its future trajectory.

In a world where international interdependencies and geopolitical conflicts are ever-increasing, Wall Street analysts closely monitor these trends for companies having international presence to adjust their earnings forecasts. Of course, there are several other factors, including a company's standing within its home borders, that influence analysts' earnings forecasts.

At Zacks, a company's changing earnings outlook is given considerable attention due to its proven, strong influence on a stock's price performance in the near term. The connection here is straightforward and positive: when earnings estimates are revised upward, the stock price generally follows suit, increasing as well.

Our proprietary stock rating tool, the Zacks Rank, with its externally validated exceptional track record, harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions to serve as a dependable measure for anticipating the short-term price trends of stocks.

Equifax, bearing a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), is expected to mirror the broader market's movements in the near term. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

A Look at Equifax's Recent Stock Price Performance

Over the past month, the stock has seen a decline of 18.2% in its value, whereas the Zacks S&P 500 composite has posted a decrease of 4%. The Zacks Business Services sector, Equifax's industry group, has descended 7.3% over the identical span. In the past three months, there's been a decline of 12.2% in the company's stock price, against a rise of 3% in the S&P 500 index. The broader sector has increased by 1.5% during this interval.


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