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OLDER Analysis Report
Aug 15, 2026
53 days ago · 100% complete
This report is 53 days old — newer filings and price moves since then are not reflected.
No quarterly filings we can read
Annual-only filer (20-F/40-F, last annual 2026-06-25, FY end 2026-03-31) — no quarterly XBRL, so an inflection is invisible until the next annual report. Held out under the no-quarterly coverage policy (2026-08-25).
This page shows our last published analysis, from Aug 15, 2026. It is not being updated, and new reports can't be run for this company.
For AI assistants & researchers — machine-readable summary of this page

What this page is: Delvantic's full research page for Wise Plc (WSE) — AI-driven forensic equity research: mechanical valuation models (DCF, EPV, anchored-PE, scenario) plus three independent AI lenses (Quality / Value / Sentiment). Everything below is rendered server-side; you are not missing content that requires JavaScript. All scores are predictions and research opinions, not financial advice.

Our current read (analysis of 2026-08-27): Designation Watch · Gem Score +13 (−100…+100 Quality+Value blend) · Quality 59 · Value -17 · Sentiment -9 (timing only, not weighted)

Page map (sections in order; each card carries a stable reference-name attribute you can cite):

  • profile-header / price-overview — company profile, live quote, market cap
  • extended-analysis — the core: three AI lens reads with findings, scores, and the analyst memo
  • future-predictions — our forward price-band predictions
  • market-narrative / ai-findings / gpt-critique — narrative context, cross-model findings, and an adversarial critique of our own analysis (near the end of the document)
  • Members-only sections (render as login gates for anonymous readers): price-history, income-trend, key-metrics, financials (statement tables), insider-trading. The analysis above is public; the raw data tables require a free account.

More for machine readers: site briefing at /llms.txt · any ticker resolves at delvantic.com/stock/TICKER · raw inputs are public-company filings and market data (via licensed data feeds); every model, score, lens read, and prediction on this page is Delvantic's own analysis.

Wise Plc

WSE NASDAQ
Technology · Information Technology Services
London, EC2A 4JE, United Kingdom wise.com Updated Aug 15, 10:51am
Price
$13.09
Market Cap
$12.9B
Employees
8,805
Beta
0.51
Avg Volume
1,142,696
CEO
Mr. Kristo Kaarmann

Wise Plc is a leading fintech company that provides global payment solutions, specializing in cross-border money transfers. It enables individuals and businesses to send, receive, and manage money across multiple currencies with low costs and high speed by matching offsetting currency transactions where possible. Key offerings include personal and business multi-currency accounts, debit cards, online currency exchanges, and integration with alternative payment methods. Wise Plc operates local accounts in numerous jurisdictions, facilitating faster transfers compared to traditional banks, and serves primarily private clients alongside small and midsize enterprises through its platform, which is also expanding to backend solutions for financial institutions. Customers can access these services via mobile apps and web platforms for seamless financial management worldwide. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in London, United Kingdom, Wise Plc plays a pivotal role in the digital payments sector by promoting transparent, efficient international money movement.

Runs with full report Generated: Aug 15, 2026 2:18pm
Price Overview
Price at report time
$13.09
as of Aug 15, 2:15pm (53d ago)
Change · Aug 15
+0.16 (+1.24%)
Day Range
$13.00 – $13.14
52-Week Range
$10.36 – $17.47
50-Day MA
$12.00
200-Day MA
$5.98
Volume
1,046,600.00
Right now · live
Log in to get the live feed
Members see the real-time price and the move since this report (over 53d).
Share Structure
Outstanding 1,000,100,252.00
Float 654,424,050.00
Free Float 65.4%
Normal free float — 65.4% of shares trade freely, ~34.6% held by insiders/institutions
Healthy float typical of established companies. Good liquidity for entering and exiting positions without major price impact.
Price History (1 Year)
Last updated: Aug 15, 2026 2:24pm (53d ago)
Revenue & Net Income Trend
The directional story — useful even when net income is negative.
Last updated: Aug 15, 2026 10:51am (53d ago)
Why there are no quarterly figures for Wise Plc

Wise Plc is a foreign private issuer — it reports to the U.S. SEC once a year (on Form 20-F or 40-F) rather than filing the quarterly statements (10-Q) that U.S.-domiciled companies must submit. Our financial statements are read directly from SEC filings, so for this company only annual figures exist at the source.

This is a property of how the company files, not missing or broken data — its filing history shows 1 annual reports, the latest filed 2026-06-25, and no quarterly filings . The company may still publish quarterly results on its own investor-relations site.

Revenue
The top line — total sales before any costs or taxes are subtracted. A measure of how much business the company is doing.
Net Income
The bottom line — profit left after subtracting all expenses, interest, and taxes from revenue. Reflects accounting profitability, but includes non-cash items like depreciation, so it isn't the same as cash earned.
Operating Cash Flow
The real cash generated by the day-to-day business — selling products, paying suppliers, collecting from customers. Calculated from net income by adding back non-cash items and adjusting for timing (unpaid bills, unsold inventory). When OCF consistently lags net income, the reported profit may not be converting to real money.
Period Revenue Net Income Net Margin YoY/QoQ
Key Metrics
TD Twelve Data statement HEX SEC filing
Industry comparison last run: Aug 15, 2026 2:18pm
P/E · trailing (TTM) (Price per dollar of earnings over the past year — not a run-rate or forward P/E)
HEX
Stock Price / EPS (Diluted)
0.27
Stock Price: $13.09
EPS (Diluted): 48.43
P/B Ratio (Price vs net asset value)
HEX
Stock Price / Book Value Per Share
7.00
Stock Price: $13.09
Total Equity: $1.93B
Shares: 1,029,700,000
EV/EBITDA (Total value vs operating profit)
HEX
Enterprise Value / EBITDA
-23.34
Market Cap: $12.93B
Total Debt: $334.70M
Cash: $27.80B
EBITDA: $605.10M
Enterprise Value (Takeover price (cap + debt - cash))
HEX
Market Cap + Total Debt - Cash
-$14.1B
Market Cap: $12.93B
Total Debt: $334.70M
Cash: $27.80B
Gross Margin (Revenue left after direct costs)
HEX
Gross Profit / Revenue
—
Gross Profit: N/A
Revenue: $1.89B
Missing from API: Gross Profit
Operating Margin (Revenue left after all operations)
HEX
Operating Income / Revenue
31.2%
Operating Income: $590.70M
Revenue: $1.89B
Net Margin (Revenue left as actual profit)
HEX
Net Income / Revenue
26.3%
Net Income: $498.70M
Revenue: $1.89B
ROE (Profit from shareholder equity)
HEX
Net Income / Total Equity
25.9%
Net Income: $498.70M
Total Equity: $1.93B
ROIC (Profit from all invested capital)
HEX
NOPAT / Invested Capital
-1.7%
Operating Income: $590.70M
Tax Rate: 24.5%
Equity: $1.93B
Total Debt: $334.70M
Cash: $27.80B
Current Ratio (Can it pay short-term bills)
HEX
Current Assets / Current Liabilities
1.07
Current Assets: $32.98B
Current Liabilities: $30.81B
Debt/Equity (Leverage — debt vs equity)
HEX
Total Debt / Total Equity
0.17
Short-Term Debt: $6.00M
Long-Term Debt: $328.70M
Total Debt: $334.70M
Total Equity: $1.93B
Rev/Share (Top-line per share)
HEX
Revenue / Shares Outstanding
$1.84
Revenue: $1.89B
Shares: 1,029,700,000
Book Value/Share (Net assets per share)
HEX
(Total Assets - Total Liabilities) / Shares
$1.87
Total Equity: $1.93B
Shares: 1,029,700,000
FCF/Share (Real cash generated per share)
HEX
(Operating Cash Flow + CapEx) / Shares
$7.32
Operating CF: $7.55B
CapEx: -$19.60M
Shares: 1,029,700,000
CapEx is negative (outflow) — added to OCF to get FCF
Div Yield (Annual income from holding)
TD
Last Annual Dividend / Stock Price
—
Last Dividend: $0.00
Stock Price: $13.09
Payout Ratio (Earnings paid out as dividends)
HEX
Dividends Paid / Net Income
—
Dividends Paid: N/A
Net Income: $498.70M
Dividends paid not available in cash flow statement
Industry Benchmarks
Last run: Aug 15, 2026 2:18pm
Compares WSE against LLM-researched typical ranges for its industry. One research call per industry, cached indefinitely — every stock in the same industry reuses the same baseline.
Income Statement (Annual)
Last updated: Aug 15, 2026 10:51am (53d ago)
Metric 2024 2025 2026
Revenue $1.3B $1.5B $1.9B
Cost of Revenue — — —
Gross Profit — — —
Operating Expenses $1.1B $1.4B $1.9B
Operating Income $650.1M $728.2M $590.7M
Net Income $501.5M $550.3M $498.7M
EBITDA $664.4M $737.9M $605.1M
EPS $48.57 $53.31 $48.92
EPS (Diluted) $47.81 $52.63 $48.43
Balance Sheet (Annual)
Last updated: Aug 15, 2026 10:51am (53d ago)
Metric 2023 2024 2025 2026
Cash & Equivalents — — $18.1B $27.8B
Total Current Assets — — $24.6B $33.0B
Total Assets — — $24.8B $33.3B
Current Liabilities — — $22.9B $30.8B
Long-Term Debt — — $0 $328.7M
Total Liabilities — — $23.0B $31.3B
Total Equity $673.0M $1.2B $1.7B $1.9B
Retained Earnings — — $1.7B $2.1B
Cash Flow (Annual)
Last updated: Aug 15, 2026 10:51am (53d ago)
Metric 2024 2025 2026
Operating Cash Flow $4.1B $5.7B $7.6B
Capital Expenditure -$13.4M -$44.1M -$19.6M
Free Cash Flow $4.1B $5.7B $7.5B
Acquisitions (net) — — —
Net Debt Issued / (Repaid) $0 $0 $328.7M
Dividends Paid — — —
Stock Buybacks — — —
Net Change in Cash $3.8B $4.8B $9.7B
Growth Trends (YoY %)
Last updated: Aug 15, 2026 10:51am (53d ago)
Metric 2025 2026
Revenue Growth +16.9% +22.5%
Gross Profit Growth — —
Operating Income Growth +12.0% -18.9%
Net Income Growth +9.7% -9.4%
EBITDA Growth +11.1% -18.0%
0Company Classification 1Industry Landscape 2Company Momentum 3Forward Projection 4aDCF Valuation 4bEarnings Power Value 4cAnchored PE 4dReverse DCF 4eRevenue-Based DCF 4fAnchored P/S 4gScenario Analysis 4hDividend Discount Model 4iBook Value Analysis 4jInsider Activity 4fCash Flow Quality 4gDebt Maturity Risk 4hMacro Environment 4iSector Intelligence 4jRevenue Confidence 4kSensitivity Analysis 4lSector Demand Cycle 5AI Investigation 5bThesis Evaluation 6Valuation Synthesis
computed not applicable not yet run 12 computed · 6 not applicable · 6 not yet run
Risk : Reward — upside vs downside from this company's own quarters
Not computed yet
Why there is no ratio: Risk:reward has not been computed for this name yet — its report predates the mechanical valuation chain. It is added, at $0, the next time a report or the nightly touches this ticker.
Narrative Economics
The story the market is telling about this stock — the intangible X-factor (founder mythology, cult dynamics, TAM-of-imagination) that moves price beyond what cash flows alone explain. After Shiller, Narrative Economics.
No narrative profile yet for WSE — it's generated by the pipeline (market-narrative step).
Growth Outlook
Analyzed 2026-08-17 16:12

The question every valuation on this page silently assumes: is this company likely to grow? Judged forward — the business, its category, the world — against what's already printed.

Growing Wise keeps compounding volume and customers far faster than its category — revenue +22.5% YoY against a ~5-7% industry — but deliberate price cuts and fading interest income mean earnings grow more slowly than the top line, so this is durable Growing rather than Accelerating. conf 7/10
Share gain Category growing · Category (IT services / payments) growing ~5.5% CAGR with category median recent growth 6.8%; Wise at +22.5% YoY is running roughly 3-4x the category rate, a +16.9pt gap.
Next 2 quarters
Growing
Volume and active-customer growth are the near-term revenue drivers and both are slow-moving; nothing in the trajectory (19.7% average annual growth, 2.8% volatility) suggests a break in the next two prints. Interest income is the swing factor that caps upside on the profit line.
≈ inline with expectations
Year 1
Growing
Full-year revenue should still land in the high-teens-to-low-20s on volume and customer additions plus Platform contribution; profit growth is likely slower than revenue as float income normalises and compliance/infrastructure spend continues.
≈ inline with expectations
Years 2–3
Growing
Structural earnings power should expand: the cost-per-transfer curve keeps falling, Platform converts competitors into distribution, and penetration of the cross-border pool remains low single-digit. Held to Growing rather than Accelerating because deliberate take-rate cuts and possible stablecoin substitution cap the rate of change, and earnings have already shown they can go sideways for a year.
↑ above expectations
The creme: each rung's call measured against what's already printed (vs analyst estimates · vs guidance / FY consensus · vs price-implied growth) — expectations in print are already in the price, so only the variant margin can pay. Hover a rung's chip for the margin read.
Growth drivers
78 Share gain against broken incumbents — Recent revenue YoY 22.5% versus industry ~5.6% is a +16.9pt gap sustained over years (19.6% revenue CAGR, low 2.8% volatility). Cross-border transfer is still overwhelmingly bank-intermediated at multiples of Wise's price; each price cut widens the wedge and pulls volume, a mechanism that has repeated for a decade rather than a one-off cycle.
62 Owned infrastructure / direct clearing cost curve — Direct access to local payment systems in an expanding set of jurisdictions lowers unit cost per transfer, which Wise passes into price. This is a self-reinforcing loop competitors renting correspondent rails cannot match on cost, and it is why growth has not required rising marketing intensity — FCF CAGR of 36% outpaces revenue.
49 Account, card and Platform revenue layering on transfers — Multi-currency accounts, debit cards and Wise Platform (banks/fintechs reselling the rails) diversify away from pure transfer take-rate and raise revenue per customer. Platform in particular converts would-be competitors into distribution, extending volume growth beyond direct customer acquisition.
30 Category in expansion phase — Sector demand cycle reads expansion with positive signals; industry revenue CAGR 5.5%. Wise is not swimming against a shrinking pool — the tide is mildly favourable and the share shift does the heavy lifting.
Growth risks
63 Interest income normalisation compressing earnings — Recent earnings YoY is -9.4% and 5-yr earnings CAGR ~0% despite ~20% revenue growth. A meaningful slice of income comes from balances held on customer float; as policy rates ease, that line deflates without any loss of operating quality — but reported profit growth lags revenue and can look like deterioration.
48 Deliberate take-rate compression — Management's strategy is to cut prices continuously, so revenue grows materially slower than volume. If volume elasticity ever weakens, the same policy converts from flywheel to margin drag, and reported growth decays faster than the customer base.
41 Competitive encroachment: Revolut, Stripe/PayPal, stablecoin rails — Neobanks bundle FX into broader accounts, and dollar-stablecoin settlement could eventually neutralise Wise's cost edge on some corridors. Not yet visible in the numbers, but it attacks precisely the moat (cheap cross-border settlement) rather than the periphery.
29 Regulatory/licensing and compliance cost creep — Growth depends on adding licensed local rails; each jurisdiction adds fixed compliance cost and gives regulators a lever. Operating leverage has been flat-to-down, consistent with rising compliance spend absorbing scale benefits.
19 Macro drag on volumes — Macro headwinds flagged with 10y at 4.63; SME cross-border trade and migrant remittance flows are cyclically sensitive. A slowdown trims volume growth but does not reverse the share shift.
The structural migration of cross-border payments from correspondent banking to purpose-built rails is early and slow-moving, which favours Wise for years regardless of the macro print. Two forces cut the other way: the rate cycle turning down deflates float-based interest income (already visible in negative earnings YoY against strong revenue), and regulated dollar-stablecoin settlement could compress the cost advantage on major corridors late this decade. Migration, remote work and SME e-commerce keep the underlying volume pool expanding. Net: business direction up, reported earnings noisier than the franchise.
Growth position composite +19
ShrinkingStallingHoldingGrowingAccelerating
70Next 2 quarters · Growing
70Year 1 · Growing
70Years 2–3 · Growing
+19Composite (−100…+100)
A research prediction, not advice. Forward-graded: each rung is scored against the prints that follow it. Not an input to the GEM designation — track record first.
Claude Reading
Independent analyst synthesis · claude-opus-4-7 · generated 2026-08-15 14:23:40
Verdict Modestly undervalued at ~1,300p with fair value ~1,700-2,000p, contingent on FY27 op margin recovery — the synthesis's $199 target is a GBp/USD unit error; real upside is 30-50%, not 1,400%.

The synthesis verdict of $199 fair value against a $13.09 price is nonsense on its face, and it's worth stating why before engaging the substance. Wise trades in pence on the LSE; the "$13.09" is roughly 1,309p, and the ~$13B market cap the file cites is consistent with that. A "P/E of 0.27" is actually ~27x, not 0.27x. So the DCF that spits out $199 is comparing a GBp-denominated share price to a USD-denominated per-share intrinsic value — a 100x unit error. Strip that out and you get fair value in the ballpark of ~$20 equivalent (roughly 2,000p), meaning a real, defensible ~30-50% upside case, not a 1,400% one. Every downstream model that leaned on the synthesis number is contaminated.

Working from the actuals: FY26 revenue of $1.89B on 22% YoY growth, operating income of $591M (31% op margin), net income of $499M — but net income declined 9.4% YoY while revenue grew 22%. That's meaningful operating deleverage in a business that's supposed to be scaling. Op income actually fell from $728M to $591M despite +$340M of incremental revenue; incremental operating margin was deeply negative this year. The bear narrative — that Wise is passing through interest income benefits to customers via lower fees to defend share against Revolut, Airwallex, and Stripe — is directly visible in these numbers. The FCF figure of $7.55B is not owner earnings; it's customer float sitting on the balance sheet ($27.8B cash vs $1.93B equity tells you most of that cash isn't theirs). Treating that as free cash flow is the second major model error, and it's what's inflating the DCF. Real owner FCF is closer to net income plus modest working capital, call it $500-600M.

At ~$13B market cap on $499M of net income, Wise trades at ~26x earnings and ~7x revenue — premium multiples for a business whose earnings just declined and whose operating margin compressed ~700bps YoY. The mature-earner classification is wrong (it's still growing 22%), but the high-growth-fintech framing also glosses over the margin story. Insider activity is net selling via option-exercise-and-dump — neutral-to-slightly-negative, not the "neutral" the model calls. The "macro headwinds" flag matters more than tagged: Wise's profitability got a huge tailwind from rates 2023-2025, and a rate-cutting cycle removes interest income on customer balances, which is exactly the wrong direction for a business already showing margin compression. The Market Forces model's "show me story on operating leverage" is the correct read and probably the single most useful line in the entire prior output.

I dissent from the synthesis verdict as stated ($199 fair value is arithmetically wrong) but partially agree with the direction: at ~26x earnings for 20%+ revenue growth and a genuine structural position in cross-border payments, Wise looks reasonably-to-modestly-cheap if — and only if — the FY26 margin compression is a one-year investment cycle rather than the new steady state. If op margin recovers to 38%+ next year, the stock is worth 1,700-2,000p (~$17-20 equivalent). If FY26 margins are the new normal and rate tailwinds fade, fair value is closer to current price or 10-15% below. The contrarian argument I'd make even against my own moderate bullishness: Wise's take rate has been declining for years by explicit management design, competition from Revolut is accelerating in Wise's core EU corridors, and Stripe/Adyen are pushing into consumer remittance. A 20%+ revenue grower whose earnings are shrinking is not a compounder — it's a share-donor buying growth. Starter position defensible at 1,300p; I'd want the next print to confirm margin stabilization before adding.

GPT Reading
Independent reading · gpt-5.4 · generated 2026-08-15 14:23:54
Verdict Fairly valued at $13.09 — the business is high quality, but recent profit deterioration means the “deep undervaluation” signals are data-noise, not opportunity; I’d need either sub-$11 or a clear return to $700M+ operating profit to lean bullish.

The first thing that stands out is that the dataset is internally inconsistent in a way that makes the headline “extreme undervaluation” call unreliable. A company with $1.89B of revenue, $498.7M of net income, and a $12.93B market cap does not have a 0.27x P/E; it has something closer to 26x. Likewise, a business producing $7.53B of free cash flow on $1.89B of revenue and holding $27.80B of cash against just $334.7M of debt is not a normal operating profile for a cross-border payments platform with $1.93B of equity. Those balance sheet and cash flow figures are almost certainly distorted by customer balances or accounting classification rather than distributable corporate cash. So I would throw out the negative EV/revenue, negative EV/EBITDA, and the DCF claiming $146-$199 of fair value. The real valuation question is much simpler: is roughly 26x earnings and about 6.8x-7.1x sales fair for a business growing revenue 22% but seeing earnings slip?

On the cleanest numbers, Wise looks good but not cheap. Revenue rose from $1.32B in 2024 to $1.55B in 2025 to $1.89B in 2026, a healthy two-year CAGR near 20%, and net income stayed very high at $501.5M, $550.3M, then $498.7M. That means the company has already achieved scale economics most fintechs never reach: 2026 operating margin was 31.2% and net margin 26.3%. The problem is that this is no longer a classic operating leverage story. Operating profit fell from $728.2M in 2025 to $590.7M in 2026 even as revenue grew 22%, and net income fell about 9%. That is a meaningful negative signal. If growth is still above 20% but EBIT is down nearly 19%, then either pricing is being pushed down, customer acquisition and product investment are rising, or some favorable prior-year tailwind reversed. At $12.93B, the market is still valuing Wise as a quality compounder, not as a broken fintech. Given the deterioration in profit conversion, I think that is about right.

What I see is a business transitioning from “surprisingly profitable disruptor” to “very good financial utility.” That can still be an excellent company, but excellent companies are not always excellent stocks. A near-7x sales multiple and mid-20s earnings multiple require confidence that the earnings dip is temporary and that revenue can keep compounding near 20% without structural margin erosion. The available numbers do not prove that yet. In fact, the best raw-data reading is that revenue quality is strong, but incremental profitability has recently worsened. The market seems to be discounting that correctly. I would not short a company with 26% net margins, a low-debt balance sheet, and sustained 20% top-line growth, but I also would not call it deeply undervalued just because some screening metrics are corrupted.

The best argument against my cautious read is obvious: even after the 2026 earnings dip, Wise still generated nearly $500M of net income on less than $2B of revenue, which is exceptional in fintech; revenue growth actually accelerated to 22.5% year over year; and if 2025 margins were temporarily inflated while 2026 reflects reinvestment, then the business may simply be choosing growth over near-term margin maxing. On that framing, paying around 26x earnings for a business with ~20% revenue CAGR, 26% net margin, and minimal leverage could be attractive, especially if the company can hold even a 25%-30% operating margin while scaling. A bull would also say that the cash flow weirdness, even if mostly customer-funds related, at least confirms the model is capital-light, with capex of just $19.6M. I weigh these positives heavily, but not enough to get bullish at this price because the burden of proof is now on margin stabilization, not on revenue credibility.

What would change my mind is straightforward. If the next annual period shows revenue above roughly $2.25B while operating income recovers back above $700M and net income returns comfortably above $550M, then the 2026 margin slippage likely was transient and I would move bullish even in the mid-teens. Conversely, if revenue growth drops into the mid-teens while operating margin stays near 31% or lower and earnings remain flat to down, then the stock deserves a lower multiple, and I would view $13 as still too rich, with a fairer entry closer to 20x earnings, or roughly $10-$11 on current profit levels.

Grok Reading
Independent reading · grok-4.5 · generated 2026-08-15 14:24:50
Verdict Fairly valued near $13 on ~26x flat earnings; 20% revenue growth is real but margin compression voids the deep-value signal

The headline numbers that jump out are not the ones the valuation engine latched onto. Revenue compounded from $1.32B to $1.55B to $1.89B across the last three fiscal years—solid ~20% growth, with the most recent leg at +22.5%—yet operating profit fell from $728.2M to $590.7M and net income from $550.3M to $498.7M. That is margin compression in plain sight: operating margin collapsed from roughly 47% to 31%, and earnings are flat-to-down on a multi-year basis (earnings CAGR –0.3%, recent year –9.4%). At a $12.93B market cap the stock trades at about 26x trailing earnings and ~6.8–7.1x sales. For a cross-border payments franchise still growing the top line at low-20s, that multiple is only attractive if the margin reset is finished. The data do not yet prove that.

The balance-sheet and cash-flow figures that produced the absurd –EV multiples and the $146–$199 “fair value” are almost certainly customer float, not corporate wealth. $27.8B of cash against $1.93B of equity and $335M of debt, paired with $7.53B of reported free cash flow on $499M of net income and only $20M of capex, is the classic payments-company accounting signature: customer balances inflate cash, operating cash flow, and destroy any EV-based screen. ROA of 1.5% and negative ROIC are the same artifact. Strip the float and you own a real, profitable fintech earning high-20s net margins on a growing volume base, levered lightly (debt/equity 0.17), with ROE around 26%. That is a good business. It is not a $200 stock, and treating deposit-driven FCF as owner earnings is how the composite model manufactured 1,400% upside that has no economic basis.

The strongest counter-argument is straightforward: if revenue keeps compounding at ~20% and operating margin stabilizes anywhere near the current 31% (let alone recovers toward the mid-40s printed in prior years), then 26x earnings and 7x sales for a capital-light global payments network with a structural cost advantage over correspondent banks is cheap, not fair. FCF quality on an adjusted basis is excellent, the balance sheet is clean, and the company already cleared the profitability hurdle that most fintech peers never reach. A re-acceleration in operating leverage—or even simple operating-profit growth in line with revenue—would make today’s price look like a gift, and the “fallen angel” narrative would flip. Insider activity is noise (option exercises followed by sales), not a tell.

I weigh that bull case as conditional, not base. The last reported year showed the opposite of operating leverage: more revenue, less profit. Until that reverses, the market is rationally paying a mature-compounder multiple for a business whose earnings power is still being tested by competition and mix. The prior models’ deep-value verdict is a data-quality failure, not alpha.

What flips me is simple and near-term: two consecutive halves in which operating profit grows at least in line with revenue (restoring confidence that 31% is a floor, not a waystation), or a clear disclosure breakout of corporate cash versus customer funds that lets true owner earnings be measured without guesswork. A further 300–500 bps of operating-margin erosion on still-rising revenue would push me firmly into overvalued.

Qwen Reading local experiment · off-panel
Independent reading · qwen3.8:27b on the local GPU · generated 2026-08-28 16:47:08 · 65.1s (79.8 tok/s) · replay of 2026-08-15 panel
Fairly Valued · conviction 3/5 · bull 4/10
followed the VERDICT/STANCE contract
Verdict Wise at $13.09 is fairly valued to modestly overvalued on 26x trailing earnings that are declining; the DCF-based "undervalued" call is an artifact of customer-fund inflation in the cash flow data and should be disregarded; a fair range is $10–$14 depending on whether the 31% operating margin is a floor or a trough.

The number that should make every analyst stop and re-examine their spreadsheet is the operating margin trajectory: 49.3% in FY2024, 46.9% in FY2025, and 31.3% in FY2026. Revenue grew from $1.32B to $1.89B over that span — a 19.6% CAGR that is genuinely impressive for a payments business — yet operating income *fell* from $650M to $591M, and net income slid from $502M to $499M. Wise is buying growth at a rapidly escalating cost. Every incremental dollar of revenue is costing more to produce, and the market has noticed: the stock sits at $13.09, a 25% drawdown from its 52-week high, and the "fallen-angel" narrative tag in the briefing is exactly right. This is no longer the 2021 fintech-euphoria story. It is a company spending its way through a competitive and regulatory squeeze, and the question is whether that spending is an investment cycle with a visible exit ramp or the new steady-state cost structure of a maturing cross-border payments utility.

I want to be blunt about the data quality problems in this briefing, because they materially distort the quantitative verdicts. The balance sheet shows "Cash + equivalents: $27.80B" against a $12.93B market cap. Wise is a payments intermediary; that figure is overwhelmingly customer funds held in segregated accounts, not corporate cash. The $7.55B operating cash flow and $7.53B free cash flow are similarly inflated by the inflow of customer deposits as the user base grows. The DCF that produces a "composite fair value" of $146.10 and a "signal-adjusted" $198.94 is feeding those customer-fund flows into a discounting model as if they were the company's own earnings power. A 1,419% upside call is not a valuation; it is an arithmetic artifact. The negative EV/EBITDA (-23.3) and negative EV/Revenue (-7.46) are flagged as anomalies and they are — they are data errors, not signals. The P/E of 0.27 in the canonical metrics is garbled; the actual trailing P/E is $12.93B ÷ $498.7M ≈ 26x. I am discarding the entire valuation synthesis block and working from the income statement and the margin trend, which are internally consistent.

So what does the clean data actually say? At $13.09, Wise trades at roughly 26x trailing earnings and 6.8x revenue. For a company growing revenue at 20% but with earnings flat-to-declining and operating margin down 18 points in two years, that multiple is not cheap. A 26x P/E on *declining* earnings implies the market is already pricing in a margin recovery that has not yet shown up in the numbers. If I normalize earnings at the current $500M and apply a 20x multiple appropriate for a mid-growth fintech with margin headwinds, I get a $10B market cap, or about $10.10 per share. If margins stabilize and earnings grow 15% to roughly $575M, a 22x multiple gives $12.6B, or $12.75 per share. The stock at $13.09 is sitting at the very top of that range, which means the market is giving Wise the benefit of the doubt on margin recovery. That is a reasonable but not generous assumption. The FCF CAGR of 36.2% looks spectacular until you realize it is driven by customer-balance growth, not by the company's own cash generation; the real cash-generating power is the ~$500M net income, and that number is going the wrong direction.

The strongest case against my "fairly valued to slightly rich" read is the structural-advantage argument: 23 million customers, a $150B+ TAM in cross-border payments where legacy banks are genuinely broken, and a cost structure that is still 30-40% cheaper than incumbents even after the margin compression. A smart bull would point out that the 31% operating margin in FY2026 is still *extraordinary* for a payments company — PayPal runs at roughly 15-20% operating margin, and most banks are in the single digits. The margin compression may reflect a deliberate investment phase in new corridors, compliance infrastructure, and product expansion (Wise has been pushing into lending, business banking, and crypto-adjacent services), and once that investment cycle completes, operating leverage could reassert itself. The insider sales of roughly 100,000 shares in mid-July 2026 are modest and likely tied to option exercises rather than a conviction signal. I weigh this bull case seriously, but I note that the margin compression has now persisted for two consecutive fiscal years, which makes the "temporary investment phase" story harder to sustain without a specific, dated catalyst. Two years of declining margins is not a dip; it is a trend.

What would change my mind in either direction. On the bull side: a quarterly print showing operating margin stabilizing or inflecting back above 35% while revenue growth holds at 20%+ would confirm the investment-cycle thesis and push me toward "undervalued" at $13, because the forward P/E would compress to 18-20x on recovering earnings. A specific announcement of a new high-margin product line (the business-banking or lending vertical) with visible revenue contribution would also shift the math. On the bear side: a third consecutive year of margin compression below 30%, or a revenue growth deceleration below 12%, would confirm the structural-maturation thesis and make 26x trailing earnings genuinely expensive for a 10-12% grower. A regulatory action in a major market (UK FCA, EU) that forces fee compression or capital requirements would be the most damaging single event. I am watching the next two quarterly reports for the operating-margin line specifically, not the revenue line, because revenue growth is not the contested variable here — cost structure is.

Experiment only: this reading is not a panel seat and feeds nothing — compare it against the Claude, GPT and Grok readings above.
Big-3 Panel — where each AI stands
Each AI above independently stated a direction (undervalued, fairly valued, or overvalued) and how strongly it believes it (conviction, 0–5). We combine those into a Bull-Bear Index on a 0–10 scale: 5 is neutral, 10 is maximum bullish (undervalued at full conviction), 0 is maximum bearish. We compute the score ourselves with the same arithmetic for every seat — the models never grade their own bullishness — so the three are directly comparable. Δ shows how far each seat sits from the panel average of 5.7; a large Δ marks the dissenting voice, usually the one worth reading.
Claude claude-opus-4-7 7.0
undervalued · conviction 2/5 · Δ +1.3 vs panel · self: 6.0
GPT gpt-5.4 5.0
fairly valued · conviction 4/5 · Δ -0.7 vs panel · self: 5.0
Grok grok-4.5 5.0
fairly valued · conviction 4/5 · Δ -0.7 vs panel · self: 4.0
Advanced Analysis Forensic deep-dive · separate lenses
Separate reads — Company Quality (is it a great business?), Valuation (is it mispriced?), and General Sentiment (how macro + narrative are pushing it), kept deliberately apart · 2026-08-15 14:28:01
Delvantic - Cairn AI
Quality-and-cheap-ish — starter position, scale on weakness 6/10
Wise is a quality, cash-generative fintech that's only modestly cheap at $13 — a starter, not a table-pounder, until margin stabilization or a sub-$11 print earns bigger size.
The cruxWhether the FY26 operating margin drop from ~48% to 31% is a deliberate AI-enabled price-for-share reinvestment (bullish, durable) or the start of structural take-rate erosion (thesis-breaking).
Forensic checks Derived mechanically from WSE's filed financials — not from the AI lenses
Liquidity & RunwayFortress Balance Sheet
DilutionShare Count Shrinking
Earnings QualityGood Earnings Quality
The four lensesswitch a tab for its full read — score + evidence
Company Quality
+59
Strong
edge √Σ 120 · risk √Σ 51 · conf 8/10

The business is in excellent financial shape. Liquid cash of $27.8B against essentially zero net debt, FCF of $7.53B in the latest year, and OCF/NI of 11.2x point to genuine, cash-backed earnings rather than accounting profit. Revenue has compounded from $1.32B to $1.89B across the three years shown (roughly 20%+ CAGR) while net income held in the $499M-$550M band and free cash flow accelerated from $4.06B to $7.53B - the FCF far outrunning reported net income is consistent with a payments/e-money model where customer float and working capital swell as volumes grow. Diluted share count edged down from 1.05B to 1.03B with SBC only ~5% of revenue, so per-share economics are being protected, not diluted. Operating margin fell from 49.1% and 47.1% to 31.2% in the latest year - a real step-down that deserves scrutiny (reinvestment, pricing changes, or mix). The Altman Z 0.53 'distress' flag is a false positive: Z-score is calibrated for asset-heavy industrials, and a fintech carrying enormous customer cash balances mechanically distorts the ratio. Insider activity is benign: two small option-exercise-and-sell transactions totaling ~$1.3M, immaterial for a $13B company. Overall this reads as a durable, well-capitalized, self-funding compounder with one genuine yellow flag in the margin compression.

Strengths 3
m80
Fortress liquidity and net cash
$27.8B liquid cash, $27.5B net cash, and $7.53B annual FCF eliminate any survival question and give the business enormous operating optionality.
m70
Cash earnings dwarf reported earnings
OCF/NI of 11.22x and accruals at -21% of assets indicate reported profits are conservative relative to cash generation - a hallmark of high earnings integrity.
m55
Revenue compounding with shrinking share count
Revenue grew from $1.32B to $1.89B (~20%+ CAGR) while diluted shares fell ~0.9% CAGR and SBC is a modest 5% of revenue - per-share value is being concentrated.
Concerns 3
m45
Operating margin step-down
Operating margin dropped from 49.1% and 47.1% to 31.2% in the latest year while net income was roughly flat - a meaningful reversal that needs explanation (reinvestment, price cuts, or mix).
m20
Insider sales without buys
Two July 2026 option-exercise-and-sells totaling ~$1.3M and zero open-market buys in 12 months - small in absolute terms but a mild directional tilt.
m15
Altman Z 0.53 flag (likely false positive)
Distress-zone Z-score reflects the model's asset-heavy calibration misfiring on a fintech holding massive customer float; still worth noting as a structural quirk.
This is a high-quality business hiding behind one ugly-looking data point. The balance sheet is a fortress, FCF is real and growing fast, and the share count is actually shrinking - the fundamentals of business integrity are all in the green. The Altman Z flag is a modeling artifact for a fintech, not a real distress signal. What genuinely gives me pause is the operating margin collapsing from ~48% to 31% in one year while net income stayed flat; that is a real change in unit economics or reinvestment intensity and I want to understand it before calling this Fortress. Landing at Strong feels right - durable, well-run, cash-rich, but with one honest question mark on the profitability trajectory.
Verify before trusting this (5)
  • What drove the operating margin drop from 47.1% to 31.2% in FY26 - interest income reclassification, pricing cuts to customers, marketing spend, or one-offs?
  • How much of the $7.53B FCF reflects customer float/working capital vs. genuine operating cash - and how it would look on a customer-cash-adjusted basis
  • Segment and geographic customer concentration in the 10-K/annual report
  • Nature of the two named insiders' roles and any 10b5-1 plan disclosures around the July 2026 sells
  • Regulatory capital requirements as an e-money institution and any restrictions on the cash balance
Valuation / Mispricing
-17
Modestly Cheap
edge √Σ 71 · risk √Σ 88 · conf 6/10
price $13.09 vs a skeptical deserved value ~$18-22 (anchored on EPV $33 haircut for margin risk, ignoring runaway DCF $202) - roughly 30-50% margin, modestly cheap. attractive below $11.00

The e2e composite fair value of $146 and signal-adjusted $199 imply ~1400% upside on a $13 stock - that is not a valuation, it is a broken model (likely a DCF with unrealistic terminal growth on a 20%-grower whose operating margins just wobbled). I throw those out as anchors and lean on the EPV floor of $33.40, which at least reflects current earnings power without heroic assumptions. Even haircutting that EPV for the recent operating margin compression (48% down materially) and competitive pressure from Stripe, PayPal and bank rails, a deserved value in the high teens to low $20s is defensible for a net-cash, FCF-growing, buyback-active fintech compounding revenue ~20%. Against $13.09, that's a 30-50% gap - real, but not the frame-extreme dislocation the composite suggests. The market is pricing Wise as a fallen fintech whose take-rate and operating leverage are structurally impaired; the bull case only needs margins to stabilize, not re-expand, for the stock to re-rate. Quality is genuine (strong lens, net cash, shrinking share count), which raises deserved value modestly, but I refuse to double-count quality as cheapness. This is a modest discount to a good business, not a deep-value layup.

Cheap signals 2
m55
EPV floor materially above price
EPV of $33.40 is 2.5x the $13.09 price. Even haircutting 40-50% for margin compression and competitive erosion, deserved value clears the current quote.
m45
Net cash and shrinking share count not in the price
Fortress balance sheet plus buybacks on a ~20% revenue grower at a mid-teens market cap on $13B - the market is pricing structural decline, not a compounder pause.
Rich / priced-in 3
m70
Composite fair value is a runaway model
$146 composite and $199 signal-adjusted FV on a $13 stock (1420% upside) fails the sanity check - almost certainly a DCF with terminal assumptions that will not survive contact with reality. Discount these anchors.
m40
Operating margin compression is real
Margins dropped from ~48% - the Company-Quality lens flagged this as the one genuine concern. Deserved value must be haircut until stabilization is proven; a 20% grower with fading leverage does not deserve a rich multiple.
m35
Competitive intensity rising
Stripe, PayPal, bank rails and AI-native payment entrants are compressing the take-rate narrative that underpins any expansion case. Priced-in mediocrity may be closer to reality than the bulls admit.
I think this is modestly cheap, not deeply cheap. The composite fair values are science fiction on a $13 stock - I ignore them. Anchoring on EPV $33 haircut for real margin risk, I get a deserved value in the high teens to low $20s, so there's a 30-50% gap here, which is a real margin of safety on a genuinely strong business. But I'd want it closer to $11 to swing hard - at $13 it's a starter position, not a table-pounder.
Verify before trusting this (5)
  • Latest operating margin trajectory - is the drop from 48% one-off (interest income normalization) or structural?
  • Take-rate trend by corridor and customer segment in the most recent filing
  • Guidance on operating leverage and reinvestment intensity for the next 12-18 months
  • Actual buyback pace and remaining authorization
  • Customer acquisition cost and cohort revenue retention
General Sentiment
-9
Balanced
tail √Σ 44 · head √Σ 52 · conf 5/10

The macro tape is mildly constructive (VIX 14.3, S&P near highs, risk-on score +52), but with a 0.51 beta Wise barely inhales it - the market-wide tailwind lands as a light breeze here. The active narrative is a fallen-angel archetype at minimal intensity: there is no cult bid, no mania, and no active de-rating story either. That combination produces very little directional pressure - the tape is not doing the work for bulls, and no fresh bear narrative is being weaponized against the name. Analyst tone and news flow are quiet in the brief, reinforcing that this is a low-attention name rather than a battleground. Positive multi-year momentum (19.6% CAGR) provides a mild trend tailwind, offset by softer 3-year relative performance and a modest rise in leverage that gives skeptics something to point at. Higher rates and a stretched market PE are a generic overhang on fintech multiples, but Wise's profitability and low beta blunt that pressure versus story-driven fintech peers. Net: crosscurrents roughly cancel, with a very slight lean to neutral-positive from the risk-on backdrop and durable (if quiet) narrative.

Tailwinds 3
m30
Risk-on tape, muted transmission
Risk-on regime (+52) and low VIX support fintech sentiment broadly, but a 0.51 beta means Wise only partially participates - a real but ordinary crosswind, not a decisive push.
m25
Trend momentum intact
A 19.6% CAGR trend keeps the tape-following crowd from actively selling; momentum flows are a mild positive even without a hot narrative.
m20
Low cult, low crowding risk
With no cult coefficient and minimal narrative intensity, there is no positioning air-pocket to unwind - sentiment downside is naturally limited.
Headwinds 3
m35
Fallen-angel overhang
The archetype itself signals a name the market has stopped believing in - even at minimal intensity, it caps multiple expansion and keeps growth-oriented buyers away until a re-rating catalyst appears.
m30
Fintech competitive narrative drift
Broader story of AI payment rails and Big Tech encroachment (PayPal, Stripe, banks) is a slow-burn negative framing for cross-border fintech - low intensity now but a persistent background press on sentiment.
m25
Rates and market PE overhang
10y at 4.63% and market PE 26 keep a lid on speculative fintech multiples; Wise's profitability softens the blow but the sector cohort still trades under this weight.
My read: this is a quiet name in a quiet-positive tape. The narrative is dormant rather than hostile - fallen-angel means unloved, not actively hated - and the low beta insulates it from both the risk-on lift and any rates-driven fintech sell-off. There is no dominant force here, just a low-magnitude tug-of-war between a durable-but-uninspiring bear framing and a mildly supportive tape. Balanced, with the burden on a catalyst (a re-rating event, competitive clarity, or a fintech rotation) to break the stalemate either way.
Verify before trusting this (5)
  • Any analyst target revisions or downgrades that would signal the fallen-angel narrative is hardening
  • Cross-border payment volume prints and take-rate commentary that could reignite either bull or bear framing
  • Signs of sector rotation into or out of profitable fintech (Adyen, PayPal tape as tell)
  • Fresh competitive news (Stripe, bank-led rails, stablecoin cross-border) that could sharpen the bear narrative
  • VIX regime shift - a spike would disproportionately spare this low-beta name relative to fintech peers
The market-wide tape + this name's exposure to it (beta / sector / narrative durability). Context on the non-fundamental pressure — not a call on the business or the price. processId: detail-general-sentiment
Growth Outlook
+19
Growing
edge √Σ 115 · risk √Σ 96 · conf 7/10

The structural migration of cross-border payments from correspondent banking to purpose-built rails is early and slow-moving, which favours Wise for years regardless of the macro print. Two forces cut the other way: the rate cycle turning down deflates float-based interest income (already visible in negative earnings YoY against strong revenue), and regulated dollar-stablecoin settlement could compress the cost advantage on major corridors late this decade. Migration, remote work and SME e-commerce keep the underlying volume pool expanding. Net: business direction up, reported earnings noisier than the franchise.

Growth drivers 4
m78
Share gain against broken incumbents
Recent revenue YoY 22.5% versus industry ~5.6% is a +16.9pt gap sustained over years (19.6% revenue CAGR, low 2.8% volatility). Cross-border transfer is still overwhelmingly bank-intermediated at multiples of Wise's price; each price cut widens the wedge and pulls volume, a mechanism that has repeated for a decade rather than a one-off cycle.
m62
Owned infrastructure / direct clearing cost curve
Direct access to local payment systems in an expanding set of jurisdictions lowers unit cost per transfer, which Wise passes into price. This is a self-reinforcing loop competitors renting correspondent rails cannot match on cost, and it is why growth has not required rising marketing intensity — FCF CAGR of 36% outpaces revenue.
m49
Account, card and Platform revenue layering on transfers
Multi-currency accounts, debit cards and Wise Platform (banks/fintechs reselling the rails) diversify away from pure transfer take-rate and raise revenue per customer. Platform in particular converts would-be competitors into distribution, extending volume growth beyond direct customer acquisition.
m30
Category in expansion phase
Sector demand cycle reads expansion with positive signals; industry revenue CAGR 5.5%. Wise is not swimming against a shrinking pool — the tide is mildly favourable and the share shift does the heavy lifting.
Growth risks 5
m63
Interest income normalisation compressing earnings
Recent earnings YoY is -9.4% and 5-yr earnings CAGR ~0% despite ~20% revenue growth. A meaningful slice of income comes from balances held on customer float; as policy rates ease, that line deflates without any loss of operating quality — but reported profit growth lags revenue and can look like deterioration.
m48
Deliberate take-rate compression
Management's strategy is to cut prices continuously, so revenue grows materially slower than volume. If volume elasticity ever weakens, the same policy converts from flywheel to margin drag, and reported growth decays faster than the customer base.
m41
Competitive encroachment: Revolut, Stripe/PayPal, stablecoin rails
Neobanks bundle FX into broader accounts, and dollar-stablecoin settlement could eventually neutralise Wise's cost edge on some corridors. Not yet visible in the numbers, but it attacks precisely the moat (cheap cross-border settlement) rather than the periphery.
m29
Regulatory/licensing and compliance cost creep
Growth depends on adding licensed local rails; each jurisdiction adds fixed compliance cost and gives regulators a lever. Operating leverage has been flat-to-down, consistent with rising compliance spend absorbing scale benefits.
m19
Macro drag on volumes
Macro headwinds flagged with 10y at 4.63; SME cross-border trade and migrant remittance flows are cyclically sensitive. A slowdown trims volume growth but does not reverse the share shift.
vs expectations: ~6m inline · 1y inline · 2-3y above
The forward growth verdict — is the business itself likely to grow (next 2 quarters / year 1 / years 2–3), judged against its category and against printed expectations. The full horizon ladder + creme renders on the Growth Outlook card above. Not a call on the price (Valuation owns that) or the tape (Sentiment owns that).
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Lenses kept deliberately separate — Company Quality (price-agnostic), Valuation (price-conditional), General Sentiment (non-fundamental macro/narrative pressure), and Growth Outlook (the forward growth verdict). The scores are not blended. Filing-level items (convertibles, lock-ups, customer concentration) are v2 — see each lens's "verify."
Price Prediction
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Prediction unavailable. valuation-synthesis has no result for WSE — the prediction needs its fair-value anchors.

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My Notes personal — only you see this
v1.1.760 · f4b58a28 · 2026-10-07 20:07:48