Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.06, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $499.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $486.30 million. Deluxe had a return on equity of 24.11% and a net margin of 5.01%.Deluxe’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from Deluxe’s conference call:

• Q2 execution remained strong, with comparable adjusted revenue up 2.6%, adjusted EBITDA up 5.3%, adjusted EPS increasing to $0.87, and adjusted EBITDA margin expanding to 21.8%. Year-to-date free cash flow rose nearly 65% to $85.9 million, supporting $75.2 million of net debt reduction.
• Deluxe closed its Celero acquisition, expanding the merchant-services platform to more than 210,000 merchants and over $70 billion in annual payment volume. Management expects cost synergies and longer-term revenue opportunities, while raising full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $2.095 billion-$2.12 billion and adjusted EBITDA guidance to $455 million-$475 million.
• The payments and data businesses continued to drive the transformation, growing 11% year to date and reaching 52% of revenue. Data Solutions revenue increased 21.4% in Q2, marking more than 15% growth for seven consecutive quarters, while merchant-services revenue grew 6.1%.
• Print remains a declining business, with comparable adjusted revenue down 4.3% in Q2; legacy check revenue fell 1.7% and other print revenue declined 10.1%. Management expects low- to mid-single-digit print revenue declines for the full year, while warning that difficult comparisons could moderate Data Solutions growth in the second half.
• Despite higher revenue and EBITDA guidance from Celero, Deluxe left adjusted EPS guidance at $3.60-$4.00 and free cash flow guidance at approximately $200 million because incremental interest expense, integration costs, and tax effects are expected to offset much of the acquisition’s near-term contribution. The company expects Celero to be EPS-accretive in the first full year after closing and plans to return to approximately 3.0 times net leverage within two years.

Deluxe Price Performance

NYSE DLX traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.56. The company had a trading volume of 357,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 349,312. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.10. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. Deluxe has a twelve month low of $15.87 and a twelve month high of $32.07.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deluxe

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Wyoming increased its position in Deluxe by 37.2% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 22,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 6,173 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Deluxe by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 15,168 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 2,739 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Deluxe during the fourth quarter worth $270,000. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deluxe by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 13,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Deluxe during the 3rd quarter valued at $247,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on DLX. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Deluxe from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Deluxe from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold”.

About Deluxe

Deluxe Corporation, founded in 1915 and headquartered in Shoreview, Minnesota, is a provider of integrated business and financial technology solutions. Originally established as a check printing company, Deluxe has evolved its offerings to support small businesses, financial institutions and entrepreneurs with a comprehensive suite of services spanning print, digital and software platforms.

The company’s core business activities include printing checks, forms and promotional materials, as well as delivering digital marketing and customer engagement solutions.