Equifax, Inc. (EFX) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
Equifax (EFX) is one of the three major US credit bureaus, but its real crown jewel is Workforce Solutions and The Work Number payroll database, which gives it a data moat rivals cannot easily copy. You invest in EFX as a data-analytics compounder that is highly sensitive to lending and hiring cycles.
EFX stock price
As of 2026-07-10, Equifax, Inc. (EFX) last closed at $166.44, down 35.7% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $151.93 and $263.09.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Equifax, Inc.'s investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Equifax, Inc. (EFX) do?
Equifax is one of the three nationwide US consumer credit bureaus, alongside Experian and TransUnion, but it has spent the last decade shifting its center of gravity toward data analytics. Its largest and fastest-growing segment, Workforce Solutions, sells income and employment verification through The Work Number, a proprietary database that ended 2025 with roughly 209 million active records and 813 million total records. The rest of the company splits between US Information Solutions (traditional credit reporting and analytics) and International.
The investment picture is a high-quality, moat-heavy data franchise that is nonetheless tied to lending, mortgage, and hiring activity. When credit and mortgage volumes are strong, Equifax compounds nicely on a mostly fixed cost base, but the same operating leverage cuts the other way in a slowdown. Full-year 2025 revenue was about ~$6.07B, up roughly 7 percent, and Q1 2026 revenue accelerated to about ~$1.65B, up 14 percent, signaling improving momentum. The stock typically trades at a premium multiple, so the question for investors is whether cyclical recovery and Workforce Solutions growth justify the price.
What's driving Equifax, Inc. (EFX)?
1. Workforce Solutions and The Work Number
The Work Number payroll and income database is the standout asset, delivering ~$2.582B of 2025 revenue (up 6 percent) and growing records at a double-digit clip to roughly 209 million active records. Verification Services grew about 14 percent in Q1 2026, showing the demand for instant income and employment checks in lending, government, and background screening. This is the segment most responsible for the premium multiple.
2. Mortgage and lending cycle leverage
A large share of Equifax revenue is tied to mortgage originations and consumer credit inquiries, which have been depressed by higher interest rates. As rates ease and mortgage volumes normalize, the business enjoys meaningful operating leverage on a data-heavy fixed cost base. That same sensitivity is a swing factor in both directions.
3. Cloud transformation and margin expansion
Equifax has completed a multi-year migration to its own cloud data platform, which management frames as a driver of faster product rollout, lower unit costs, and improving free cash flow after years of heavy capital spending. If the promised margin and cash-flow benefits materialize, they support both reinvestment and capital returns.
4. New products and international
The company leans on a steady cadence of new products (its Vitality Index) and on international markets in Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific for incremental growth. Adjacencies in identity, fraud, and analytics broaden the base beyond pure credit reporting.
What are the risks to Equifax, Inc. (EFX)?
Equifax is cyclical and rate-sensitive, so a weak mortgage market or a rise in unemployment can pressure both credit-inquiry and verification volumes. It operates under heavy regulatory scrutiny (the CFPB, FTC, and FCRA), and the memory of its 2017 data breach is a reminder that a security or privacy failure carries large financial and reputational cost. The Work Number depends on continued employer payroll contributions, which could face pushback or competition, and government-related verification revenue can be lumpy. Finally, the stock often trades at a premium valuation, which leaves limited margin for error if growth disappoints.
How is Equifax, Inc. (EFX) valued? (approximate, JULY 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Equifax, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (FY2025): ~$6.07B
- Revenue growth (FY2025): ~7% YoY
- Q1 2026 revenue: ~$1.65B (up ~14%)
- Workforce Solutions revenue (FY2025): ~$2.58B
- Net income (FY2025): ~$660M
- Diluted EPS (FY2025): ~$5.32
- Forward P/E: ~18-20x
Equifax carries a premium valuation, with a forward P/E in the high-teens to low-20s that sits above the broader business-services median. That reflects the durability of The Work Number data moat and expectations for a lending-cycle recovery. The multiple leaves little cushion if mortgage volumes or hiring soften.
Who competes with Equifax, Inc. (EFX)?
Consumer credit bureaus
Experian (EXPGY) and TransUnion (TRU) are the other two nationwide US credit bureaus and Equifax's most direct peers in credit reporting, scores, and consumer analytics. Experian is the largest and most diversified, while TransUnion competes closely on price and international growth.
Data, analytics and verification
In income and employment verification and workforce data, Equifax faces payroll and fintech players such as Argyle, Plaid, and Truework, plus broader data-analytics firms like Fair Isaac (FICO), which owns the dominant credit-score model that bureaus license.
Information services and screening
Larger information and analytics companies such as Thomson Reuters, S&P Global, and background-screening providers overlap in enterprise risk, identity, and fraud analytics, competing for the same corporate and government budgets.
How to invest in Equifax, Inc. (EFX)
There are three common ways to get EFX exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so EFX sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where EFX fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
The bottom line on Equifax, Inc. (EFX)
EFX is a wide-moat credit and workforce data business trading at a premium multiple, so the debate is less about quality and more about the price you pay for cyclical, rate-sensitive earnings.
More on Equifax, Inc. (EFX)
Whether EFX is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is EFX a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the EFX stock forecast.
For income investors, whether EFX pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does EFX pay a dividend?
Build a basket around EFX with Walnut
Use Equifax, Inc. as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
Is Equifax just a credit bureau?
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No. Equifax is one of the three major US credit bureaus, but its largest and fastest-growing business is Workforce Solutions, which sells income and employment verification through The Work Number database. Traditional credit reporting sits in its US Information Solutions segment.
What is The Work Number?
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The Work Number is Equifax's proprietary database of payroll-sourced income and employment records, ending 2025 with roughly 209 million active records. Lenders, government agencies, and screeners pay to verify a person's income and employment instantly, which is a hard-to-replicate data moat.
How did Equifax perform recently?
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Full-year 2025 revenue was about ~$6.07B, up roughly 7 percent, with net income near ~$660M and diluted EPS around ~$5.32. Q1 2026 revenue accelerated to about ~$1.65B, up 14 percent, as of JULY 2026.
Why is EFX sensitive to interest rates?
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A large share of Equifax revenue comes from mortgage originations and consumer credit inquiries, which fall when rates rise and recover when rates ease. That gives the stock meaningful operating leverage to the lending cycle in both directions.
Who are Equifax's main competitors?
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Its closest peers are the other two nationwide credit bureaus, Experian and TransUnion. In verification and analytics it also competes with payroll-data firms like Argyle, Plaid, and Truework, and with FICO, which licenses the dominant credit-score model.
Is Equifax expensive?
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Equifax typically trades at a premium, with a forward P/E in the high-teens to low-20s as of JULY 2026, above the broader business-services median. The premium reflects The Work Number moat, so the debate centers on the price you pay for cyclical earnings.
Does Equifax pay a dividend?
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Yes. Equifax pays a quarterly dividend, though the yield is modest because the company reinvests heavily and prioritizes growth and, more recently, share buybacks after finishing its cloud migration and capital-spending peak.
What are the biggest risks with EFX?
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The main risks are cyclical exposure to mortgage and hiring activity, heavy regulatory oversight under the FCRA and CFPB, data-security and privacy risk (recalling the 2017 breach), and a premium valuation that leaves little room for disappointment. Equifax is not risk-free, and Walnut is not an investment adviser.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Equifax, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.