Paysafe Cuts 2026 Guidance and Books a $203m Goodwill Impairment

The owner of Skrill and PaysafeCard now expects 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $415m to $422m, below the $449m floor it held in August. North American iGaming kept merchant revenue growing, but a $247.5m quarterly loss and net leverage of 5.5x leave little margin for error.

• Paysafe reported third-quarter revenue of $439.6m, up 1% and 2% organically, while adjusted EBITDA fell 17% to $105.7m and adjusted EPS fell to $0.44 from $0.70
• The net loss widened to $247.5m, including a $203.3m non-cash goodwill impairment that the release does not attribute to any segment or reporting unit
• Full-year guidance is now revenue of $1,761m to $1,771m, adjusted EBITDA of $415m to $422m and adjusted EPS of $1.45 to $1.54, each below the floor of the August ranges
• Merchant Solutions grew 2% on North American iGaming and small-business sales; Digital Wallets grew 2% organically as Latin America and PaysafeWallet offset pressure in areas including crypto and financial trading
• Net debt stood at $2.3bn after an August refinancing, and Paysafe joins Super Group among gambling-exposed companies lowering 2026 outlooks this month

A Weaker Second Half Pushed Paysafe Below Its August Ranges

Paysafe (NYSE: PSFE), the payments group behind Skrill, PaysafeWallet and PaysafeCard, published its third-quarter 2026 results on 12 November. Revenue rose 1% to $439.6m from $433.8m, or 2% on an organic basis.

Adjusted EBITDA fell 17% to $105.7m from $126.6m, which the company attributes largely to business mix, continued investment and severance-related costs. The net loss of $247.5m, against $87.7m a year earlier, includes a $203.3m non-cash goodwill impairment and higher costs including refinancing fees, partly offset by an $84.9m fall in income tax expense. Neither the release nor the earnings presentation says which business or reporting unit the impairment relates to.

North American iGaming Carried the Merchant Business

Merchant Solutions revenue rose 2% to $236.7m on North American iGaming and better small-business sales, partly offset by lower data licensing revenue, which the company had cited as a support when the segment grew 6% in the second quarter. Segment adjusted EBITDA fell 5% to $45.2m, which the presentation puts down to client mix.

Digital Wallets revenue rose 1% to $208.1m, or 2% organically. Paysafe says Latin America and PaysafeWallet in Europe offset "market softness and regulatory pressures in certain geographies and sub-verticals, including cryptocurrency and financial trading". Segment adjusted EBITDA fell 9% to $85.0m. Three-month active consumers rose 14% to 8.1m, but average revenue per active user fell 11% to $26. Corporate costs rose 68% to $24.5m.

The New Ranges Sit Below Every August Floor

The August guidance, revised then only for adjusted EPS, had revenue at $1,790m to $1,830m and adjusted EBITDA at $449m to $464m, with adjusted EPS at $1.90 to $2.03. At the midpoints, the cut takes $44m off revenue, about 8% off adjusted EBITDA and about 24% off adjusted EPS.

Chief executive Bruce Lowthers said "market and currency headwinds in the second half have been greater than we anticipated", while still expecting mid single-digit revenue growth for 2026, which the presentation puts at about 4%. According to the presentation, volume grew at a high single-digit rate in July and softened from August to October.

The August refinancing brought a new $650.9m term loan and a new €478.4m term loan, both due in June 2030, and a $372.5m revolving credit facility due in August 2031. Operating cash flow fell to $30.3m from $69.2m. The presentation shows net leverage of 5.5x, expected to stay at about 5.5x at year end, and names debt reduction as the priority for the next 24 months.

The Wallet Is Adding Users Faster Than It Adds Revenue

More users, lower revenue per user and a 9% fall in segment profit suggest the wallet's growth is coming from lower-yielding users and markets; the presentation says Latin America weighs on revenue per user, and puts the segment's margin fall mainly down to product mix and spending on marketing and IT. The release names crypto and financial trading, not gambling, as the pressured sub-verticals, so blaming gambling rules would overstate the evidence. Regulators are nonetheless looking harder at payment flows: Spain now requires the payment method to match the account holder, and Britain's Gambling Commission says it will follow the money to illegal operators.

North American iGaming Is a Volume Story, Not a Margin One

Regulated US iGaming is the clearest growth engine Paysafe names, but merchant margins fell on client mix and data licensing has turned from support to drag. The payments layer in the United States also carries legal exposure: Florida named four processors in its sweepstakes suits in August, none of them Paysafe.

Leverage Turns a Guidance Cut Into a Balance Sheet Question

The EPS cut is about three times the EBITDA cut in percentage terms because interest and depreciation do not shrink with EBITDA, and the release attributes a $7.5m rise in quarterly interest expense to higher rates after the refinancing. With EBITDA lower, net leverage holds near 5.5x rather than falling. The goodwill charge costs no cash, but it records that at least one part of the business was carried at more than it is now judged to be worth, and Paysafe has not said which.

North American iGaming remains a real source of growth for Paysafe. Until wallet monetisation and leverage improve, that growth is servicing a balance sheet rather than expanding margins.