Credit reporting giant Equifax (NYSE: EFX) met Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q3 2026, with sales up 9.6% year on year to $1.69 billion. On the other hand, next quarter’s revenue guidance of $1.62 billion was less impressive, coming in 3.8% below analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $2.26 per share was 2.8% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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Company Overview

Holding detailed financial records on over 800 million consumers worldwide and dating back to 1899, Equifax (NYSE: EFX) is a global data analytics company that collects, analyzes, and sells consumer and business credit information to lenders, employers, and other businesses.

Revenue Growth

Reviewing a company’s long-term sales performance reveals insights into its quality. Any business can have short-term success, but a top-tier one grows for years.

With $6.59 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, Equifax is one of the larger companies in the business services industry and benefits from a well-known brand that influences purchasing decisions.

As you can see below, Equifax grew its sales at a decent 6.6% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This shows its offerings generated slightly more demand than the average business services company, a useful starting point for our analysis.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within business services, a half-decade historical view may miss recent innovations or disruptive industry trends. Equifax’s annualized revenue growth of 8.6% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting its demand recently accelerated.

We can better understand the company’s revenue dynamics by analyzing its most important segments, Workforce Solutions and U.S. Information Solutions, which are 41% and 35.4% of revenue. Over the last two years, Equifax’s Workforce Solutions revenue (HR services) averaged 6.9% year-on-year growth while its U.S. Information Solutions revenue (credit services) averaged 12.9% growth.

This quarter, Equifax grew its revenue by 9.6% year on year, and its $1.69 billion of revenue was in line with Wall Street’s estimates. Company management is currently guiding for a 4.5% year-on-year increase in sales next quarter.

Looking further ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 7.4% over the next 12 months, similar to its two-year rate. Despite the slowdown, this projection is admirable and indicates the market is forecasting success for its products and services.

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Adjusted Operating Margin

Equifax has been a well-oiled machine over the last five years. It demonstrated elite profitability for a business services business, boasting an average adjusted operating margin of 20.8%.

Looking at the trend in its profitability, Equifax’s adjusted operating margin decreased by 3 percentage points over the last five years. This raises questions about the company’s expense base because its revenue growth should have given it leverage on its fixed costs, resulting in better economies of scale and profitability.

This quarter, Equifax generated an adjusted operating margin profit margin of 21%, in line with the same quarter last year. This indicates the company’s overall cost structure has been relatively stable.

Earnings Per Share

We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.

Equifax’s EPS grew at a weak 1.6% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, lower than its 6.6% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became less profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded due to non-fundamental factors such as interest expenses and taxes.

We can take a deeper look into Equifax’s earnings to better understand the drivers of its performance. As we mentioned earlier, Equifax’s adjusted operating margin was flat this quarter but declined by 3 percentage points over the last five years. This was the most relevant factor (aside from the revenue impact) behind its lower earnings; interest expenses and taxes can also affect EPS but don’t tell us as much about a company’s fundamentals.

Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a shorter period to see if we are missing a change in the business.

For Equifax, its two-year annual EPS growth of 10.1% was higher than its five-year trend. Accelerating earnings growth is almost always an encouraging data point.

In Q3, Equifax reported adjusted EPS of $2.26, up from $2.04 in the same quarter last year. This print beat analysts’ estimates by 2.8%. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Equifax’s full-year EPS to grow 10.4% from $8.46 to $9.34.

Key Takeaways from Equifax’s Q3 Results

It was good to see Equifax beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. On the other hand, its revenue guidance for next quarter missed and its EPS guidance for next quarter fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this was a softer quarter. The stock traded up 2.2% to $162.06 immediately following the results.

So do we think Equifax is an attractive buy at the current price? The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).