Oct 28, 2026 earnings call — Platform growth, portfolio tightening, ASR announced
Company reported revenue of $725.8 million and non-GAAP EPS of $1.06 for Q3.
Revenue $0.7B (est $0.7B) · EPS $1.06 (est $1.09)
Key quotes
"The number of customers actively engaged with more than one of our products has grown since January."
"Write-offs in the quarter came in at 8.3% of leasing revenue versus 8.4% in the second quarter and 7.4% a year ago."
"At Four, GMV grew triple digits for its 12th consecutive quarter, and it did so profitably with a quarter-over-quarter step-up in Adjusted EBITDA margin."
Analyst Q&A 7
Why consumer health hit leasing more
Q (Kyle Joseph · Stephens): Analyst asked whether consumer-health weakness is due to different consumers or product differences between Four and leasing. He also asked how Purchasing Power originations seasonally time across the year.
A: Management said consumers are near-prime and stressed by recent cost shocks, and that shorter-duration products recover faster. Leasing has longer duration than Four, so Four can re-underwrite returning customers faster and that helps performance.
"All of our businesses benefit from a very short duration and quick turnover." — Steve Michaels (CEO·CHAIR)
Purchasing Power trends and biz dev
Q (John Hecht · Jefferies): Analyst asked how October and recent months are trending for Purchasing Power and about B2B client activity. He also asked about Four's marketing moves and customer acquisition.
A: Management declined to comment on post-quarter trends for Purchasing Power but noted double-digit GMV growth in Q3 and that Q4 is critical for seasonality and holiday execution. They said they signed a sizable new client that launches in Q1 and that Four is increasing paid marketing, seeing good returns from app-store placement and social channels.
"We're not really commenting beyond the quarter end as to trends on Purchasing Power." — Steve Michaels (CEO·CHAIR)
Tightening actions and impact on GMV
Q (Hal Goetsch · B. Riley): Analyst wanted details on the tightening actions, their impact on GMV, and confidence in achieving a 6%-8% lease charge-off range after tightenings.
A: Management said they tightened further after seeing deterioration in pre-tightening pools and that digital and retail partner growth still drove GMV higher. They estimated the tightenings caused several hundred basis points of pressure on GMV in Q3 and expected similar pressure in Q4, and they expressed confidence the portfolio will turn over and land near the higher end of the historical loss range.
"It certainly had several, I would say several hundred basis points of pressure on the GMV production in Q3, and we would expect that probably in Q4 as well." — Steve Michaels (CEO·CHAIR)
Four credit and provision trends
Q (Bobby Griffin · Raymond James): Analyst asked for more detail on Four's credit quality, sequential trend in loss provision, and measures to manage risk as the business grows rapidly.
A: Management said Four is performing very well with improving portfolio dynamics and year-over-year lower provision expense driven by underwriting and model improvements. They said CECL accounting is typical, they have a narrow historical delta between reserves and actual charges, and they see margin expansion as repeat customers increase.
"And as we look back historically and compare what we thought the reserve should be versus what actually charged through, we've got a very narrow delta really going back each quarter." — Brian Garner (CFO)
Why do ASR now given uncertainty?
Q (Brad Thomas · KeyBanc): Analyst asked what gives management confidence to start an ASR now despite consumer uncertainty and what they see in the business for 2027. He also asked about free cash flow outlook and 2027 cash implications.
A: Management said confidence comes from control over the businesses and ability to profitably originate across portfolios, noting pre- and post-tightening lease pools will clear and Four and Purchasing Power continue to grow. Finance said cash generation paid down debt, lowered leverage from 2.5x to 1.5x, and even after the ASR they expect to remain within their 1.5-2 turns leverage target and self-fund subsidiaries going forward.
"It just goes to our confidence in our ability to control the businesses and our ability to profitably originate deals across our portfolio of businesses." — Steve Michaels (CEO·CHAIR)
How this tightening differed from 2025
Q (Hoang Nguyen · TD Cowen): Analyst asked how this year's tightening compares to the big tightening in early 2025 and how to think about impacts on gross/net lease assets.
A: Management said in 2025 they tightened dramatically in one fell swoop, while this year they used more real-time data and made smaller iterative tightenings in Q2 and Q3. They said post-tightening pools show sequential improvement and they expect to grow GMV even with tightening, so the approach is more continuous and less one-time than in 2025.
"I think what you've seen this year in terms of how we've approached this, we've tried to be a little bit more real-time in the data." — Brian Garner (CFO)
Why trim Q4 Purchasing Power guide; cross-sell timing
Q (Casey Coates · Loop): Analyst asked why Purchasing Power guidance was trimmed for Q4 despite strong Q3, and when cross-selling/shared decisioning benefits will be meaningful.
A: Management said most of the guidance reduction came from leasing portfolio dynamics; Purchasing Power was trimmed modestly as they learn the business and see late-year consumer pressures. They said cross-selling and shared decisioning work is ongoing, teams are integrating data science, and the businesses should work better together over time though some timing is impacted by open-enrollment seasonality.
"Of the guidance story, obviously, the preponderance of it was with the leasing segment and the portfolio dynamics we discussed." — Brian Garner (CFO)