Following a quarter-end meeting with the company, Jefferies has raised its forecasts, citing effective cost management, favorable fuel market conditions, and improving fleet revenues.
"This places us 7% ahead of our like-for-like EBITDA growth target for 2026, which ranges between 8% and 12%," the research firm stated.
"While this situation offers an opportunity for a short-term rebound in the share price, macroeconomic headwinds, increased competition, and high levels of gross debt lead us to remain cautious regarding the medium-term outlook," Jefferies added.
However, the analyst believes the mobility sector is poised for a rebound due to rising fuel prices: the firm anticipates mobility growth of approximately 15%, driven by higher prices at the pump.
"Edenred's exposure to oil prices was only 8% in 2025, which means it could contribute approximately 200 basis points to second-quarter like-for-like operating growth," the analyst noted.
For the second quarter, Jefferies expects a 2% decline in like-for-like operating revenue to 678m, which is 1% above previous forecasts.
According to the analyst, this decline will primarily stem from the performance of the B&E (-8%), Mobility (+14%), and Complementary Solutions (+8%) divisions.
For the first half of the year, Jefferies expects a 3% decline in like-for-like EBITDA to 642m, representing a 6% increase over prior estimates.
Jefferies maintains its Hold rating on the stock and has adjusted its price target to 22.4 (from 22.2).
Edenred is scheduled to publish its first-half 2026 results on July 23.
Edenred SE is a leading digital services and payments platform and the everyday companion for people at work, connecting over 60 million employees and more than 2 million partner merchants in 44 countries via nearly 1 million corporate clients.
Edenred SE offers specific-purpose payment solutions for food (meal benefits), incentives (gift cards, employee engagement platforms), mobility (multi-energy, maintenance, toll, parking and commuter solutions) and corporate payments (virtual cards). These solutions enhance employee well-being and purchasing power, improve companies' attractiveness and efficiency, and vitalize the employment market and the local economy.
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