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TransUnion (TRU) Q1 FY26 earnings call: guidance and Q&A

Earnings call· Mar 2026 (Q1 FY26)· Financials· Apr 28, 2026

Source: earnings call transcript

Executive summary

TransUnion Q1 FY26 — Strong Start with Double-Digit Growth and Strategic Acquisitions

TransUnion delivered a strong first quarter, exceeding revenue and EPS guidance, driven by robust U.S. markets performance and strategic product innovation. Despite macro uncertainties and geopolitical risks, the company maintained its full-year organic growth outlook, balancing outperformance with a prudent approach. AI is highlighted as a key accelerant for data demand and innovation, positioning the company for continued durable growth.

Highlights

5

  • Total revenue increased 14% on a reported basis and 11% on an organic constant currency basis, exceeding guidance of 8%-9%.

  • U.S. Markets revenue grew 14% organically, with Financial Services up 24% (14% excluding FICO mortgage royalties).

  • Adjusted diluted EPS increased 12% year-over-year to $1.18, $0.08 above the high end of guidance.

  • Trusted Call Solutions (TCS) is expected to reach $200 million in 2026, up from $27 million in 2021, demonstrating strong growth.

  • Completed two strategic bolt-on acquisitions (TransUnion Mexico, RealNetworks Mobile division) and repurchased $25 million in shares.

Concerns

4

  • Adjusted EBITDA margin contracted by 100 basis points year-over-year to 35.2%, primarily due to a 120 bps headwind from FICO mortgage royalties.

  • International revenue was flat organically, with Asia Pacific declining 18% due to lapping one-time contracts and softer volumes.

  • India declined 5% organically, though slightly better than expected, with a gradual recovery anticipated.

  • Net interest expense is expected to be $245 million for FY26, up $25 million from prior guidance, reflecting debt financing for the Mexico acquisition and higher SOFR.

Guidance & targets

CategoryTargetConfidence
Q2 FY26 Total Revenue
$1.271B to $1.283B
high materiality
High
Q2 FY26 Organic Constant Currency Revenue Growth
8% to 9%
high materiality
High
Q2 FY26 Mortgage Revenue Growth
over 30%
medium materiality
High
Q2 FY26 Adjusted EBITDA
$439M to $445M
high materiality
High
Q2 FY26 Adjusted Diluted EPS
$1.13 to $1.15
high materiality
High
Full Year FY26 Total Revenue
$5.1B and $5.135B
high materiality
High
Full Year FY26 Organic Constant Currency Revenue Growth
8% to 9%
high materiality
High
Full Year FY26 Mortgage Revenue Growth
28%
medium materiality
High
Full Year FY26 International Revenue Growth
mid-single-digit
medium materiality
Medium
Full Year FY26 Adjusted EBITDA
$1.796B to $1.816B
high materiality
High
Full Year FY26 Adjusted Diluted EPS
$4.68 to $4.75
high materiality
High
Full Year FY26 Depreciation and Amortization
approximately $640M
medium materiality
High
Full Year FY26 Net Interest Expense
$245M
medium materiality
High
Full Year FY26 Adjusted Tax Rate
approximately 25.5%
low materiality
High
Full Year FY26 Capital Expenditures
approximately 6% of revenue
medium materiality
High
Full Year FY26 Free Cash Flow Conversion
90% or greater
medium materiality
High
Medium-term Organic Revenue Growth
high single-digit
high materiality
High
Medium-term Underlying Margin Expansion
50 basis points
medium materiality
High
Medium-term Adjusted Diluted EPS Growth
low to mid-teens
high materiality
High

Segment performance

SegmentRevenueYoYQoQMargin
U.S. Markets
Organic constant currency growth.
—14%——
U.S. Financial Services
Led by modest volume growth, pricing actions, and sales momentum across credit and non-credit solutions.
Growth excluding FICO mortgage royalties: 14%
—24%——
U.S. Financial Services - Credit Card and Banking
Driven by stable lending volumes and strength from trusted call solutions.
—5%——
U.S. Financial Services - Consumer Lending
Supported by sustained consumer demand and strong FinTech performance.
—13%——
U.S. Financial Services - Auto
Outpacing modest industry volume declines through pricing, share gains, and new wins.
—11%——
U.S. Financial Services - Mortgage
Additional outperformance through pricing and increased adoption of non tri-bureau solutions.
Growth excluding FICO royalties: 24%Inquiries growth: 7%
—50%——
U.S. Emerging Verticals
Led by insurance and public sector.
—6%——
U.S. Emerging Verticals - Insurance
Credit-based marketing continues to recover; new wins and growth across core credit driving history, trusted call solutions, and marketing solutions.
—double-digit——
U.S. Emerging Verticals - Public Sector
Positioned for a strong year.
—high single-digits——
U.S. Emerging Verticals - Tech, Retail, E-commerce, Media
—mid-single-digits——
U.S. Emerging Verticals - Communications
—modestly——
U.S. Emerging Verticals - Tenant and Employment
Expected to return to growth over the rest of the year.
—modestly declined——
U.S. Consumer Interactive
Driven by indirect channel growth and breach-related wins, offset by declines in the direct channel.
—flat——
International
Organic constant currency growth, reflecting varied results across portfolio.
—flat——
International - U.K.
Driven by healthy volumes from largest banking and fintech customers, and new wins across verticals.
—7%——
International - Canada
Reflecting innovation-led growth and strong performance from fintechs and insurance.
—9%——
International - Africa
Strength across banking, FinTech, and retail.
—10%——
International - India
Slightly better than guided; expected to recover to mid-single-digit growth in 2026.
—-5%——
International - Latin America
Organic growth, with growth in Brazil offset by declines in Colombia and other markets.
—flat——
International - Asia Pacific
Primarily due to lapping one-time contracts and softer volumes.
—-18%——

Product announcements

ProductTypeDetails
TruIQ Analytics Orchestratorlaunch
Curated and Outcome-Driven Marketing Audienceslaunch
AI Model Factory for Fraudlaunch
VantageScore 4.0 for Mortgageexpansion

Deals & partnerships

TransUnion Mexico Acquisition of majority stake (from 26% to 94%) in TransUnion Mexico. approximately $660M

Funded with $520 million drawn from credit revolver and cash on hand. Mexico business operates at margins above company average.

RealNetworks Mobile division Acquisition of Mobile division of RealNetworks.

Smaller acquisition. Expected to take about a year to complete integration and productization of the technology for trusted messaging.

Jio Strategic partnership to enable branded calling.

Partnership with leading Indian telco Jio to enable branded calling across its 500 million subscribers, expanding reach of trusted call solutions globally.

Risks & headwinds

Macro uncertainty and geopolitical risk (Iran conflict) Ongoing

Potential impact on inflation, interest rates, and consumer behavior. Not quantified directly in terms of revenue/margin impact, but led to maintaining full-year guidance despite Q1 outperformance.

Mitigation:Maintaining prudently conservative guidance, building in contingency for revenue and profit. Diversified portfolio positions company to navigate potential changes.

Interest rate volatility impacting mortgage volumes Remainder of FY26

Modestly lowered volume assumptions for the remainder of the year for mortgage.

Mitigation:Guidance already accounts for mid-single-digit inquiry declines. Upside potential if rates drop significantly, reactivating refi population.

FICO mortgage royalties drag on EBITDA margin FY26

120 basis point headwind in Q1 FY26; 90 basis point drag for full year FY26.

Mitigation:Underlying margins are expected to expand by 50-70 basis points, offsetting some of this drag.

Accounting mechanics of TransUnion Mexico acquisition impacting consolidated margins FY26

Modestly dilutive to adjusted EBITDA margins in 2026 (40 bps impact for full year).

Mitigation:The Mexico business operates at margins above the company average; the impact is due to revenue consolidation without full incremental EBITDA from prior equity method reporting. Not an ongoing economic issue.

Scrutiny on credit bureau pricing in mortgage industry Ongoing

Director Pulte's comments on scrutinizing pricing, potential reference to Tri-Merge.

Mitigation:Seeking clarity from FHFA. Defending Tri-Merge as gold standard for efficacy, financial inclusion, and risk management. Offering competitive VantageScore pricing ($0.99) to drive adoption and savings.

What to watch in Q2 FY26

India Revenue Growth

next quarter and throughout FY26
Current -5%
Target mid-single-digit growth for FY26

Why it matters

India is a key emerging market, and its recovery is crucial for international segment performance and long-term double-digit growth aspirations.

India declined 5%, slightly better than guided. We expect a gradual recovery in consumer lending, supporting mid-single-digit growth for India in 2026.

Find out whether TRU delivers this. Inve re-checks your case every morning.

Q&A highlights

Asked about Director Pulte's comments on scrutinizing credit bureau pricing, specifically if it relates to the Tri-Merge, and TransUnion's stance on the Tri-Merge's importance.

Management stated they are seeking clarity on Director Pulte's comments but speculated it might refer to the Tri-Merge. They strongly defended the Tri-Merge as the 'gold standard' for mortgage underwriting, citing its role in maximizing diligence, ensuring accurate risk assessment, promoting financial inclusion, and minimizing risk to taxpayers. They emphasized that credit bureau data is not constant across bureaus and that the $10-$12 cost per report is a fraction of closing costs.

“So we firmly believe Tri-Merge is the gold standard. It's deeply embedded in mortgage underwriting processes. The industry is already digesting a good degree of change, whether it's the early assessment program, and most recently, score competition, which is terrific.”

asked by Toni Kaplan · answered by Christopher Cartwright

2 min read 6 chapters

Detailed narrative

Q1 Performance and Full-Year Outlook

TransUnion exceeded its Q1 guidance across all key metrics, with total revenue up 14% reported and 11% organic constant currency, driven by strong U.S. markets. Adjusted diluted EPS rose 12% to $1.18. Despite this outperformance, the company maintained its full-year organic constant currency revenue growth guidance of 8% to 9%, citing macro uncertainties and a disciplined guidance philosophy. The increase to the high end of guidance primarily reflects the acquisition of TransUnion Mexico.

AI as a Growth Accelerant

AI is identified as a significant growth accelerant, increasing demand for TransUnion's data and accelerating innovation. The company's proprietary data assets and identity graph are crucial for AI models, leading customers to expand their data usage. Examples include a fintech customer increasing spending by over 60% since 2022 and a top 5 credit card issuer increasing revenue by over 20% since 2022, both driven by AI-enabled workflows and increased data consumption.

New AI-Powered Product Launches

TransUnion highlighted three new AI-powered solutions built on the OneTru platform. TruIQ Analytics Orchestrator uses Google's Gemini models to streamline credit modeling with natural language prompts, aiming to increase data usage and drive new revenue. Marketing solutions are transforming static audience segments into curated, outcome-driven audiences. The AI model factory for fraud enables faster launch of new fraud models, with 10 new models in the last 12 months, generating tens of millions in incremental pipeline.

Mortgage Market Dynamics and VantageScore Adoption

Mortgage revenue grew 50% (24% excluding FICO royalties) in Q1, outpacing a 7% increase in inquiries, partly due to a brief pickup in refi activity in February. The FHFA and HUD's decision to accept VantageScore 4.0 for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA mortgages is seen as a significant milestone. TransUnion is supporting adoption with $0.99 VantageScore 4.0 mortgage pricing and multi-year pricing for credit reports, aiming to drive savings for lenders and consumers.

International Market Performance and Outlook

International revenue was flat organically in Q1. The U.K. and Canada grew 7% and 9% respectively, with Africa up 10%. India declined 5%, but is expected to recover to mid-single-digit growth for FY26. Latin America was flat, and Asia Pacific declined 18% due to lapping one-time contracts. Performance in India, Latin America, and Asia Pacific is expected to improve in Q2 and throughout the year.

Capital Allocation and Leverage

The company ended Q1 with $5.6 billion of debt and $733 million cash, with leverage at 2.8x after funding the $660 million TransUnion Mexico acquisition. TransUnion plans to continue its balanced capital allocation, prioritizing debt prepayment and capital return. It repurchased $25 million in shares year-to-date and expects to increase the pace of repurchases, while committing to push its leverage ratio below 2.5x long-term.

Summary of the company's earnings call; see how call summaries are prepared. Not investment advice.