Equifax Inc.

ticker: EFX step: 01 generated: 2026-05-13 source: quick-research

Equifax Inc. (EFX) — Business Overview

Business Description

Equifax (NYSE: EFX) is one of the three major global consumer credit bureaus (alongside Experian and TransUnion), operating as a data, analytics, and technology company serving financial institutions, employers, government agencies, and businesses in 22 countries. Beyond traditional credit reporting, Equifax's most distinctive competitive asset is The Work Number — a proprietary database of 813 million employment and income records from 2.9 million employers, enabling income verification at a scale no competitor can replicate. Post a $1.5B data breach settlement in 2017, Equifax invested ~$3B in cloud transformation (the "Equifax Cloud"), completed the migration by 2024, and is now in what management calls the "post-cloud growth" phase — leveraging superior data infrastructure, AI/ML, and new product development.

Revenue Model

Three segments generate revenue: Workforce Solutions (EWS) (~45% of revenue) — verification of income and employment, tax credits, and HR services via The Work Number; U.S. Information Solutions (USIS) (~35%) — credit data, fraud prevention, and mortgage/auto/fintech analytics; and International (~20%) — credit reporting and data analytics in the UK, Canada, Europe, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific. Revenue within USIS has significant mortgage market sensitivity — higher mortgage originations drive more credit inquiries, meaningfully boosting revenue. EWS revenue is more non-mortgage (employer services, government) and more resilient to interest rate cycles.

Products & Services

• The Work Number: Automated employment/income verification — 813M total records, 209M active; used by lenders, landlords, government agencies for instant income/employment verification
• Credit Reports & Scores: Traditional consumer credit data sold to banks, auto lenders, credit cards, fintechs
• Mortgage Solutions: Credit trimerge reports, credit decisioning tools — directly tied to mortgage origination volume
• Fraud & Identity: ID verification, synthetic identity detection, anti-money laundering compliance
• EFX.AI Platform: AI/ML model factory — 95% of new models and scores built with AI in 2024; 400+ AI patents pending/granted
• Commercial Credit: Business credit profiles and analytics for B2B lending and trade credit decisions
• International: Consumer credit reporting in 24 countries; Kount (acquired 2021) for digital identity fraud

Customer Base & Go-to-Market

Banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders, auto lenders, fintechs, insurance companies, employers, government agencies, and landlords. The Work Number is sold as a subscription/per-verification model — lenders and landlords pay per verification pull. Credit data is sold per-inquiry (tied to application volume) and via subscription analytics products. Enterprise sales force covers major financial institutions; API-based access serves fintechs and smaller businesses.

Competitive Position

Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion form an oligopoly in consumer credit data — regulatory barriers (FCRA compliance requirements), historical data depth, and lender relationship lock-in create durable competitive moats. Equifax's unique differentiation vs. Experian/TransUnion is The Work Number — a 30-year head start in employment/income verification with 2.9M employer partnerships that is functionally impossible to replicate. Equifax Cloud ($3B investment, fully deployed by 2024) provides modern data infrastructure enabling faster product development and AI integration. Addressable market: $50B total; $13B Employment & Income Verification segment alone.

Key Facts

• Founded: 1899
• Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia
• Employees: ~15,000
• Exchange: NYSE
• Sector / Industry: Industrials / Professional Services (Data & Analytics)
• Market Cap: ~$23B

ticker: EFX step: 04 generated: 2026-05-13 source: quick-research

Equifax Inc. (EFX) — Financial Snapshot

Income Statement Summary

Revenue growth has been constrained by the weakest U.S. mortgage market in decades (30-year fixed rates 6.5–7.5% suppressing originations). USIS mortgage revenue represents ~10–15% of total company revenue but carries outsized margin impact. Even against this headwind, FY2024 revenue grew 7.8% on non-mortgage strength (Workforce Solutions, fraud/identity, international).

Cash Flow & Balance Sheet (FY2024)

FCF grew 58% YoY in FY2024 ($813M vs. $516M in FY2023), reflecting cloud migration completion reducing heavy capex spending — the post-cloud era is expected to structurally improve FCF conversion.

Key Ratios (approximate)

• P/E: ~30x (adjusted) | EV/EBITDA: ~20x | FCF Yield: ~3.5%
• Revenue Growth (FY2024): +7.8% | Adjusted EBITDA Margin: ~32.3%
• Adjusted EBITDA Margin Target (2027): ~36% — driven by cloud savings and operating leverage

Growth Profile

Equifax's revenue has grown modestly since FY2021, held back by a historic mortgage drought. Non-mortgage segments have grown 10–15%/year. The cloud transformation ($3B capex over 5 years, now complete) depressed FCF during construction; post-cloud, capex normalizes to ~$280–300M/year (vs. $500M+ during transformation), structurally improving FCF. The Work Number is the key secular growth engine — expanding into new use cases (tenant screening, government benefits, healthcare) and gaining verifications in existing lending workflows. Management targets $36% adjusted EBITDA margins by 2027 and $50B TAM penetration.

Forward Estimates

• FY2025 Revenue: ~$6.0B+ (guided 8–9% growth; mortgage recovery + EWS expansion)
• FY2025 Adjusted EBITDA Margin Target: ~32.6%
• FY2027 Adjusted EBITDA Margin Target: ~36%
• FY2026 3x$B Buyback Program: $3B authorized share repurchases
• Analyst consensus: 14 Buy ratings; multiple price targets suggesting 20–40% upside from recent levels
• Mortgage volume sensitivity: Every 10% increase in U.S. mortgage originations ~adds ~$60–80M in USIS revenue