---
title: "Why Western Union Stock Wilted Today"
description: "Western Union's stock fell over 3% following a disappointing quarterly earnings report. Despite a slight revenue beat, GAAP revenue dropped 6% year-over-year, while net income rose 55%. The company re"
type: "news"
locale: "en"
url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/217815168.md"
published_at: "2024-10-24T22:36:07.000Z"
---

# Why Western Union Stock Wilted Today

> Western Union's stock fell over 3% following a disappointing quarterly earnings report. Despite a slight revenue beat, GAAP revenue dropped 6% year-over-year, while net income rose 55%. The company revised its 2024 revenue guidance downward, which likely contributed to investor concerns. Although management attributed better-than-expected performance to its Evolve 2025 strategy, revenue from its key consumer money transfer business decreased by 9%. Overall, Western Union's performance is seen as underwhelming compared to peers in the payments sector.

A fresh quarterly earnings report was the news that affected **Western Union**'s (WU -3.38%) share price on Thursday. Unfortunately, that effect was negative, as investors traded out of the stock to leave it with a more than 3% loss in price. This was on a day when the bellwether **S&P 500** index grew, albeit marginally, at a 0.2% pace.

## Two beats in the third quarter

Western Union's third quarter results actually crossed the wires after market hours Wednesday, and showed that the company's generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) revenue was $1.04 billion for the period. This was down by 6% on a year-over-year basis. Under the same standard, net income flew 55% higher to just under $265 million. However, on a per-share, non-GAAP (adjusted) basis the rise was more modest, at 7% to $0.46 per share.

According to pundit estimates compiled by Zack's, Western Union's revenue notched a slight beat on the consensus, while adjusted net income exceeded the average projection by nearly 5%.

In the earnings release, management chalked up the better-than-anticipated performance to the implementation of its Evolve 2025 business strategy. This, it claims, has led to five consecutive quarters of mid-single-digit percentage growth in transactions for its critical consumer money transfer business. Yet despite that growth, the revenue produced by the unit actually decreased in the third quarter, sliding by 9% year over year.

## Full-year revenue guidance trimmed

Western Union also revised its 2024 guidance. The company now expects to book revenue of nearly $4.13 billion to $4.20 billion, a downward revision from its previous anticipation of $4.15 billion to almost $4.23 billion. Adjusted earnings guidance remained unchanged at $1.70 to $1.80.

The cut in revenue guidance was probably the key reason for investor discontent on Thursday. I don't think it's necessarily anything to panic about, but compared to the performance of other companies in the current-generation payments space, Western Union isn't hitting it out of the park. It doesn't currently feel like a compelling stock.

### Related Stocks

- [WU.US - Western Union](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/WU.US.md)

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> **Disclaimer**: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.