Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.03), FiscalAI reports. Waystar had a net margin of 10.20% and a return on equity of 6.86%. The business had revenue of $303.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $294.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. Waystar updated its FY 2026 guidance to 1.590-1.680 EPS.

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

• Waystar crossed $1 billion in revenue for FY2025, reporting Q4 revenue of $304M (+24% YoY, 12% organic) and adjusted EBITDA of $129M with roughly a 43% margin, beating guidance.
• The acquisition of Iodine added >1,000 hospitals (only ~35% overlap), meaningfully expanded the addressable market, and integration is ahead of plan with over 90% of the $15M cost synergies expected in fiscal 2026.
• Waystar highlighted AI leadership—Altitude AI prevented >$15 billion in denials, reduced appeal package generation time by 90%, ~30% of 2025 bookings were AI-related, and ~40% of revenue is driven by AI-embedded workflows.
• Momentum in sales continued with a record bookings quarter and more million-dollar+ deals, and management guided 2026 revenue of $1.274B–$1.294B (midpoint +17% YoY) and adjusted EBITDA of ~$535M (~42% margin).
• Balance sheet and cash flow: $86M cash, $1.5B gross debt and net leverage ~3x (down ~0.5x); management plans to run at or below 3x and continue deleveraging while reinvesting to drive growth.

Waystar Stock Performance

Waystar stock opened at $25.41 on Thursday. Waystar has a 52 week low of $21.13 and a 52 week high of $45.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.44 and a 200-day moving average of $34.14.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Waystar in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore set a $27.00 target price on Waystar in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Waystar in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waystar in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Waystar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

Insider Transactions at Waystar

In other news, insider Eric L. (Ric) Sinclair III sold 40,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.08, for a total transaction of $1,209,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 474,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,282,766.08. The trade was a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Christopher L. Schremser sold 8,623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.41, for a total transaction of $262,225.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 422,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,844,302.11. This trade represents a 2.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,949 shares of company stock valued at $1,916,380. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Waystar by 11.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 21,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $808,000 after buying an additional 2,195 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waystar in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Waystar by 91.1% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 46,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 22,364 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waystar during the first quarter worth approximately $234,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Waystar by 13.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 747,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,918,000 after purchasing an additional 88,256 shares in the last quarter.

More Waystar News

Here are the key news stories impacting Waystar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue and guidance: Waystar topped revenue estimates for Q4 (reported ~$303.5M vs. ~294.7M est.) and set FY‑2026 guidance in line with consensus while targeting double‑digit/ ~17% revenue growth, which supports the company’s growth story. Waystar Q4 Highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability momentum: Management highlighted a swing to profitability and a double‑digit growth outlook that previously drove an intraday rally, reinforcing operating leverage as revenue scales. Swing to profits coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance relative to expectations: FY‑2026 EPS guidance (1.590–1.680) roughly matches consensus, so while guidance isn’t aggressive, it removes major uncertainty around next‑year targets. Earnings call summary
• Negative Sentiment: EPS miss: Q4 EPS came in at $0.36 vs. ~$0.39 consensus, and the miss has pressured sentiment despite the revenue beat. Zacks EPS coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts trimming targets: Several firms lowered price targets after the print — Needham to $33 (from $46), Citi to $35, Truist to $38 and Mizuho earlier to $42 — which increases near‑term downside pressure even where ratings were kept at Buy/Outperform. Needham PT cut Analyst PT cuts summary
• Negative Sentiment: Options activity and selling signals: Unusually large put buying (over 5,000 puts on one session, well above average) suggests short‑term bearish positioning by some traders. Options flow report
• Negative Sentiment: Risk flag — AI/legal/operational concerns: An analyst note highlighted growing AI‑related legal, operational and competitive risks tied to Waystar’s tech roadmap, which may weigh on sentiment for a software firm emphasizing AI automation. AI risk note

About Waystar

Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) is a leading provider of cloud-based revenue cycle management and payment solutions for healthcare organizations. The company’s unified platform streamlines the entire financial continuum of patient care, from eligibility verification and claim submission to payment reconciliation and patient billing. By automating key processes and improving claim accuracy, Waystar helps providers reduce administrative overhead, accelerate cash flow and enhance overall revenue performance.

At the core of Waystar’s offering is a SaaS-based architecture that integrates seamlessly with existing electronic health record (EHR) systems and payer networks.