www.flywire.com
Flywire (FLYW): Four filters, first GAAP profit
Flywire Corporation (NASDAQ: FLYW, $1.99B market cap) passes all four hard screening filters as of May 22, 2026 — TTM revenue growth +32.45%, PEG 0.44, TTM operating cash flow +$165.12M, and market cap well below $10B. The article covers Flywire's global payments-enablement business model (education, healthcare, travel, B2B), Q1 2026 results (GAAP revenue +41% YoY, first-ever Q1 GAAP net income, adj. EBITDA margin +452 bps to 21.4%), valuation (forward P/E 15.24x, ~8.2% FCF yield), near-zero-debt balance sheet ($325M cash vs $1.45M debt), growth catalysts across four verticals, and key risks — including the TTM growth margin of only 245 bps above the 30% threshold and immigration policy exposure for the education vertical. Analyst consensus is Buy at an average $19.00 target; JP Morgan upgraded from Underweight to Neutral on May 21.
Flywire Corporation (NASDAQ: FLYW) is today's pick. It passes all four hard screening criteria as of May 22, 2026 — the second full-pass in this channel's history. One caveat worth stating up front: TTM revenue growth is 32.45%, clearing the 30% threshold by 245 basis points. That margin is thin enough to monitor next quarter.
The screening verdict
| Hard filter | Threshold | FLYW result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap | < $10B | $1.99B 1 | ✅ Pass |
| TTM revenue growth | > 30% | +32.45% 23 | ✅ Pass |
| PEG ratio | < 1.0 | 0.44 1 | ✅ Pass |
| TTM operating cash flow | Positive | +$165.12M 14 | ✅ Pass |
How the TTM revenue growth was calculated: The four quarters Q2 2025 through Q1 2026 sum to $677.6M ($131.9M + $200.1M + $157.5M + $188.1M). The prior-year equivalent is $511.6M ($103.7M + $156.8M + $117.6M + $133.5M). Growth rate: ($677.6M − $511.6M) / $511.6M = 32.45% 2356. All figures are GAAP.
How the PEG was constructed: PEG = Forward P/E ÷ EPS growth rate = 15.24 ÷ ~34.6% ≈ 0.44, based on StockAnalysis data 1. A second independent PEG source was not available; this calculation is single-sourced. The Zacks FY2026 consensus EPS of $0.35 versus TTM EPS of ~$0.24 implies roughly 46% EPS growth 7, which if used as the denominator would make the PEG lower still. Either way, the 0.44 figure comfortably passes the < 1.0 threshold.
What Flywire does
Flywire (Boston, MA; founded 2009; ~1,460 employees) operates a global payments enablement platform designed for transactions that are too large, too complex, or too cross-border for standard payment rails to handle cleanly. Its clients are institutions, not individuals: universities collecting international tuition, hospitals billing patients across insurance systems, luxury travel operators settling high-value bookings, and B2B companies managing multi-currency accounts payable.
The company's core value proposition is handling the compliance, currency conversion, and reconciliation work that conventional processors hand back to the client. Flywire supports 140+ currencies across 240+ countries and territories, with purpose-built integrations into student information systems, hospital billing platforms, and travel reservation software 2.
Revenue comes primarily from a fee percentage of Total Payment Volume (TPV) — the dollar value of payments processed through the platform — supplemented by software subscription fees from acquired SaaS products (Sertifi for hospitality e-signatures, Invoiced for B2B accounts receivable). Q1 2026 TPV was $11.4 billion 2.
As of Q1 2026, Flywire serves approximately 5,100 direct clients (excluding Sertifi and Invoiced), spread across four verticals: education, healthcare, travel and property, and B2B. The company signed more than 200 net new clients in Q1 2026 alone, covering all four verticals 2. Core vertical client revenue retention (excluding churn from acquisitions) is below 1% annually.
CEO Mike Massaro described the operating model on the Q4 FY2025 earnings call: "We have built a disciplined playbook that allows us to consistently win new enterprise clients, embed deeply within their workflows, and expand the value we deliver over time." 3
Revenue and earnings trend
Q1 2026 results, reported May 5, 2026, came in above expectations across every reported metric. The quarter was notable for one specific reason beyond the headline numbers: it was the first time in company history that Flywire reported GAAP net income in a Q1 — historically its seasonally weakest quarter.
Flywire's primary operational revenue metric is "Revenue Less Ancillary Services" (RLAS), which strips out pass-through currency conversion and related ancillary fees that inflate headline GAAP revenue but carry near-zero margin. Management and analysts typically use RLAS for growth rate comparisons.
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Sources: 2
Eight-quarter revenue trajectory, showing consistent acceleration into Q1 2026:
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Single-quarter YoY growth rates: Q2 2025 +27.2%, Q3 2025 +27.6%, Q4 2025 +34.0%, Q1 2026 +41.0% 23. The Q3 2025 step-up reflects education's peak billing season. On a currency-neutral basis, Q1 2026 revenue less ancillary services grew 37.2% 2, indicating FX was roughly a 6-point tailwind to the reported 43% figure for that metric.
Adjusted EBITDA margin reached 21.4% in Q1 2026, up 452 basis points year-over-year, on $39.3M adjusted EBITDA 2. Management cited operating leverage: gross profit growth is converting into EBITDA margin expansion as fixed overhead is spread over a larger revenue base.
Q1 2026 EPS beat: reported $0.10 versus $0.03 in Q1 2025, and crushed the $0.03 analyst consensus by 218% 7. Revenue beat consensus by 9.4% ($184M reported versus $171.6M expected) 7.
FY2026 guidance (raised with Q1 results): FX-neutral Revenue Less Ancillary Services growth of 18%–24%, adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of 175–375 basis points over FY2025. The guidance midpoint was raised 300 basis points from the prior 15%–21% range 2.
CFO Cosmin Pitigoi said on the Q1 earnings call: "Today we are announcing an accelerated share repurchase program of up to $50 million — the single largest capital return action in Flywire's history as a public company." 2
Valuation
At $16.42 (May 21, 2026 close), Flywire trades at a significant trailing earnings premium but a notable discount on a forward basis 14:
| Metric | FLYW | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $1.99B | 1 |
| Trailing P/E (GAAP) | 68.2x | Based on TTM EPS ~$0.24; elevated because company just turned profitable |
| Forward P/E | 15.24x | 1 |
| PEG ratio | 0.44 | Forward P/E ÷ ~35% EPS growth 1 |
| P/S (TTM) | ~2.9x | $1.99B market cap / $677.6M TTM revenue |
| FCF yield | ~8.2% | TTM FCF $163.8M / $1.99B market cap |
The trailing P/E of 68.2x looks steep, but reflects TTM EPS of only ~$0.24 — a figure that is suppressed because the company has just emerged from its loss-making years. The forward P/E of 15.24x is the more meaningful anchor. It implies that the market is pricing in roughly 35% forward EPS growth at a 0.44 PEG, which is consistent with the Q1 2026 EPS trajectory ($0.10 versus $0.03 a year earlier) and the Zacks FY2026 consensus EPS of $0.35 7.
A full peer comparison table (against Adyen, Stripe, or Shift4 Payments) was not available from the research data; fintech payment processing sector median P/E and EV/EBITDA benchmarks were not secured. The PEG of 0.44 is striking as a standalone screen signal, but readers should do their own peer valuation work before drawing conclusions about relative value.
One additional valuation data point: free cash flow yield of approximately 8.2% on a $1.99B market cap with $163.8M TTM FCF 14 is unusual for a fintech platform growing revenue at 32%+ annually.
Balance sheet
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Cash and equivalents | $325.1M |
| Total debt | $1.45M |
| Net cash | $323.6M (~$2.62 per share) |
| TTM OCF | $165.1M |
| TTM CapEx | $1.3M |
| TTM FCF | $163.8M (FCF margin 24.2%) |
| Current ratio | 1.75 |
| Altman Z-Score | 3.61 (Altman Z-Score is a bankruptcy-risk composite; scores above 3.0 indicate financial safety) |
The $1.45M in total debt reflects the near-complete paydown of the Sertifi acquisition balance, which was cleared in Q4 FY2025 3. The company has a $300M revolving credit facility (expanded from $125M in August 2025) that is essentially undrawn. CFO Cosmin Pitigoi noted on the Q4 FY2025 call that the balance sheet provides flexibility for capital allocation, supported by the expanded facility and increased repurchase authorization 3.
FCF growth trajectory: $5M in FY2021 → $62M in FY2025 → $163.8M on a TTM basis (with Q1 2026's seasonally strong contribution included) 13. CapEx is negligible at $1.3M TTM — consistent with the asset-light software-plus-payments model.
Growth catalysts
Education vertical — integrations deepening. Flywire's Workday Student (the student information system module of Workday's enterprise cloud platform) integration received certification, opening access to Workday's large institutional client base. A partnership with Scholarship America automates scholarship disbursement. Flywire's Student Finance Solutions (SFS) product has now recovered over $360M in outstanding student balances for university clients 23. UK higher education integrations include Oracle Fusion. About 90% of Flywire's education revenue comes from enterprise-scale clients, creating high switching costs once embedded.
Travel vertical — platform consolidation underway. The first hotel client has migrated to the new unified Flywire Travel platform. Sertifi (acquired in 2022) reported approximately 35% YoY revenue growth on a pro-forma basis in Q2 2025 5, and development of a combined "Sign and Pay" product integrating Sertifi e-signatures with Flywire payments is underway. The company also completed Virtuoso luxury travel network certification.
B2B vertical — new acquisition creating cross-sell surface. The Invoiced acquisition (accounts receivable automation for B2B) gives Flywire an entry point into enterprise AR workflows outside its core institutional verticals, with potential to layer international payment capabilities on top of Invoiced's existing client base 3.
AI-driven efficiency. Flywire has embedded AI tooling into its product development and payment processing workflows. Internal claims: development timelines shortened by several weeks on certain projects; payment processing time reduced by 20% 2. These are management disclosures, not independently verified. The EBITDA margin expansion trajectory (+452 bps YoY in Q1) is consistent with efficiency gains, but cannot be attributed exclusively to AI.
$50M accelerated share repurchase. The $50M ASR announced May 5, combined with the remaining ~$172M on prior authorizations, gives the company approximately $222M in total repurchase capacity — about 11% of current market cap 2. For a company generating $164M in TTM FCF, this is funded without balance sheet stress.
Global network expansion. Stablecoin payment capability added in 2025. WeChat Pay integration via TenPay is live. Combined, these extend reach in markets where traditional cross-border payment rails are slow or expensive 3.
Key risks
TTM growth is barely above the threshold. At 32.45%, FLYW clears the 30% filter by 245 bps. If Q2 2026 revenue growth decelerates further — a real possibility as Q2 2025 was already cycling a 27.2% growth quarter — the TTM calculation rolls off a weaker Q3 2024 ($156.8M) and replaces it with Q2 2026, potentially tightening the margin further. The FY2026 guidance midpoint of 21% FX-neutral growth signals that single-quarter growth rates will likely moderate from Q1's 41% pace 2. This is the most immediate quantitative watch point.
Immigration and visa policy risk. Flywire explicitly lists US immigration and visa policy changes as a risk factor in its public filings 2. International students are the core users of its education payment product, and any sustained reduction in international student enrollment at US universities — whether due to visa restrictions, policy uncertainty, or geopolitical factors — would reduce education vertical TPV. Education is Flywire's largest vertical by revenue. Flywire does not break out education's share of total revenue publicly, but the company notes that approximately 90% of education revenue comes from enterprise-scale institutional clients, not individual students directly. The magnitude of any enrollment shock would depend on its geographic scope and duration; no quantified scenario was available in the research data.
Competitive exposure. Stripe (private), Adyen (Euronext: ADYEN), and large bank payment platforms all compete in cross-border transactions. Flywire's moat is vertical-specific workflow integration rather than raw processing cost, which makes it defensible in its target segments but limits applicability outside of complex, high-value niches. Commoditization of international payment infrastructure — including stablecoin rails — could erode pricing power over time. No competitive market share data was available to quantify this risk. The key early warning signal would be a deterioration in Flywire's core vertical revenue retention rate (currently below 1% annual churn).
Insider selling. In the six months through May 2026, insider transactions logged 3 buys and 8 sells 14. CFO Cosmin Pitigoi sold 30,000 shares (approximately $420K) on April 21 8; CSO Mohit Kansal sold 16,101 shares on May 8 1. In dollar terms, these sales are modest relative to the company's market cap, and may reflect pre-planned stock compensation programs (Form 4 sale types would clarify this, but were not in the research data). The net-selling pattern alongside a $50M buyback announcement is an internal inconsistency worth monitoring, not a disqualifying flag.
Share count dilution. The outstanding share count grew approximately 3.73% over the past year 1, typical of companies that use equity-based compensation. The $50M ASR should partially offset this, but dilution is an ongoing cost of ownership.
Short interest. 3.75 million shares were sold short as of the most recent reporting period, representing 3.04% of total shares (4.17% of float) 1 — down from 4.37 million shares the prior month. The short interest level is moderate and declining, not a structural short thesis at current levels.
Price action and ownership
At $16.42 (May 21, 2026 close), FLYW trades near the upper end of its 52-week range of $9.97–$18.05 14. The stock is up 46.5% over the past 52 weeks but roughly flat year-to-date (+0.4%). Beta is 1.30. Average daily volume is approximately 2.34 million shares.
Analyst consensus is Buy, with an average 12-month price target of $19.00 across 15 analysts, implying roughly 16% upside from the current $16.42 price 1. Note that analyst target prices carry systematic optimism bias and are reference points, not forecasts. Specific recent moves: Truist maintained Buy on May 19 and raised its price target from $16 to $18 9; JP Morgan upgraded FLYW from Underweight to Neutral on May 21 10.
Insider ownership: 4.19% per StockAnalysis (3.71% per Yahoo Finance — variance reflects data sourcing differences) 14.
Institutional ownership: approximately 73.6% (StockAnalysis), with Cadian Capital holding roughly 6.62 million shares (~5.5%) 11 and Jennison Associates approximately 1.15 million shares (~3.6%) among notable holders 1.
Upcoming catalysts
Q2 2026 earnings — the most important near-term event. Flywire has not yet announced the exact date; based on past reporting cadence, Q2 results would be expected in early August 2026. Two specific things to watch:
- TTM revenue growth: If Q2 2026 GAAP revenue grows at 18%–24% (FX-neutral guidance midpoint), the rolling TTM figure will include a stronger Q2 2026 but drop off the weaker Q3 2024 ($156.8M), which could support or slightly compress the TTM growth rate depending on actual Q2 performance. This is the single most important data point for whether FLYW remains in this screen.
- GAAP profitability continuity: Q1 2026 was Flywire's first-ever profitable Q1. If Q2 2026 also delivers GAAP net income (consensus expects it will), the narrative of a structural profitability shift gains more credibility, and the trailing P/E compresses as EPS accumulates.
No investor day or major product conference appears on the public calendar for the near-term window. Any FX-movement headlines affecting international student enrollment, or US policy developments related to student visa programs, could serve as adverse catalysts in the interim.
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Screening data as of May 22, 2026. Stock price as of May 21, 2026 (most recent close).
Cover image: Flywire Q1 2026 earnings press release. 2
References
- 1Flywire (FLYW) Statistics — StockAnalysis
stockanalysis.com
- 2Flywire Q1 2026 Financial Results
flywire.com
- 3Flywire Q4 & FY2025 Financial Results
flywire.com
- 4Flywire (FLYW) Key Statistics — Yahoo Finance
finance.yahoo.com
- 5Flywire Q3 2025 Financial Results
flywire.com
- 6Flywire Q2 2025 Financial Results
flywire.com
- 7
- 8CFO sells 30,000 shares of Flywire — Yahoo Finance
finance.yahoo.com
- 9Truist ups Flywire price target — Insider Monkey
insidermonkey.com
- 10
- 11Cadian Capital Schedule 13G/A — Stock Titan
stocktitan.net
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