Global Payments posts 12% adj. EPS growth in Q4 2024, launches $250m buyback amid Worldpay deal

Global Payments, the US-listed payments technology group, reported fourth-quarter 2024 results on 13 February 2025 that showed accelerating adjusted earnings growth alongside a significant capital-return announcement — and set the stage for a major strategic reshaping of the company through its subsequent acquisition of Worldpay.

Q4 2024 Financial Results

GAAP diluted earnings per share for the quarter came in at $2.25, a reported increase of 63% year-on-year. The company also reported adjusted EPS of $2.95, representing a 12% increase on a constant-currency basis.

The 63% jump in GAAP diluted EPS may reflect multiple line items beyond core operating performance, though the specific drivers were not independently verified in this research.

GAAP revenue for the quarter reached $2.52 billion, an increase of 3%. On an adjusted basis, stripping out the effects of prior dispositions and measuring on a constant-currency basis, net revenue was $2.29 billion — growth of 6.5%.

Adjusted net revenue growth of 6.5% on a constant-currency, ex-dispositions basis outpaced headline GAAP revenue growth of 3%, pointing to underlying momentum in the retained business.

Capital Return and Transformation Programme

Alongside the earnings release, Global Payments announced a $250 million accelerated share repurchase plan. The company also disclosed an increase in the expected operating income benefit from its operational transformation programme, raising the target to $600 million. The prior target from which this represents an increase is not reproduced in the verified research package.

The Worldpay Transaction

The quarterly results were published against the backdrop of a consequential corporate transaction. Global Payments subsequently announced agreements to acquire Worldpay, and later confirmed that the acquisition had been completed — marking a substantial expansion of the company's merchant solutions footprint.

A separately noted transaction involves FIS, which had held a stake in Worldpay. A press release URL attributed to FIS's media room indicated a transaction covering the sale of its Worldpay stake alongside a strategic acquisition of Global Payments' Issuer Solutions business. However, that press release page was inaccessible during research, and the claim should be treated as a single-source, unconfirmed detail pending direct verification.

Editorial Context

The configuration of these transactions — a payments group simultaneously acquiring a major processing platform while divesting its issuer-facing business unit — illustrates a broader pattern of specialisation and portfolio rebalancing that has characterised large-cap payments M&A in recent years. Whether the combined entity delivers the anticipated scale benefits will, in part, be tested against the $600 million operating income target set by management's transformation programme.

What to Watch

• Adjusted EPS trajectory: At $2.95 in Q4 2024, the 12% constant-currency growth rate will serve as a baseline against which post-acquisition quarters will be measured.
• Transformation programme delivery: The upward revision to $600 million in expected operating income benefit signals management confidence, but the prior target figure is not confirmed in the verified research, making the magnitude of the revision unclear from publicly available materials reviewed here.
• The FIS element: The reported disposition of Global Payments' Issuer Solutions business to FIS — if confirmed — would represent a significant change to the group's product perimeter, though this claim rests on a single, inaccessible source and cannot be treated as verified.
• Share repurchase execution: The $250 million accelerated buyback programme, announced concurrently with Q4 results, is the one confirmed capital-return commitment in the research package.

All financial figures cited are drawn from the Global Payments Q4 and Full Year 2024 earnings press release, published 13 February 2025 on the company's investor relations page. The Worldpay acquisition completion is confirmed via a separate Global Payments investor relations press release. The FIS transaction detail is noted as unconfirmed pending a successful primary-source read.