J.P. Morgan opened coverage of Wise's U.S.-listed shares with an "overweight" recommendation and set a December 2027 price target of $17.50. The move came as Wise's London-listed stock was trading higher, up 1.6%.
At the same time, the bank raised its price objective for Wise's London-listed shares to 1,320 pence from a prior 1,260 pence, while retaining the "overweight" rating on that listing.
The research note follows Wise's FY26 results and incorporates the company's FY26 outturn, FY27 guidance and recent comments from management into updated forecasts. J.P. Morgan said its net revenue estimate for FY27 remains "broadly unchanged," but it raised the forecast for Wise's income-before-tax margin to reflect the company's guidance.
Specifically, J.P. Morgan now anticipates net revenue growth "in-line with guidance," targeting the middle of Wise's 15%-20% growth range for FY27. For income before tax, the brokerage expects performance "around the top" of the company's 20%-25% guided margin band.
On the revenue trajectory, the broker highlighted expectations for growth above Wise's stated mid-term guidance range in the first and second quarters, pointing to what it described as "clear positive momentum in volumes, user activity and balances."
J.P. Morgan's update also forecasts continued additions of new platform customers throughout the year and further expansion of existing partner relationships. It cautioned, however, that planned price reductions totalling roughly 5 basis points over the year would act to slow growth in the second half.
On the cost side, the bank noted an improving underlying transaction expense ratio at Wise. It expects this improvement to continue even with the tariff cuts, as direct integrations in Japan and Brazil annualize and agreements with third-party vendors are renegotiated.
Excluding one-off items in the FY27 base, J.P. Morgan projects operating expenses to rise by about 23% in FY27.
Turning to capital allocation, the brokerage incorporated the $500 million share buyback that Wise announced for FY27 into its model and factored in a growing buyback program through its forecast period. J.P. Morgan estimates Wise's corporate free cash flow will reach $700 million in FY27 and that the company will hold approximately $2.2 billion in corporate cash, which the bank said provides "ample headroom for share buyback growth."
Following a change to U.S. GAAP accounting, J.P. Morgan shifted its valuation framework for Wise from enterprise-value-based metrics to a price-to-earnings approach. The bank applied a 20 times calendarized 2028 P/E multiple, which it said equates to a 1.0 times price/earnings-to-growth ratio, based on an assumed 20% earnings-per-share compound annual growth rate from calendar 2025 to 2028.
J.P. Morgan noted that this multiple sits at the high end of valuations for high-growth fintech and payments peers and amounts to roughly a 10% premium to peer Remitly. The brokerage said this premium is warranted because of a structural cost advantage it attributes to Wise.
The note concludes with a set of risks the bank sees for the company. These include competitive price responses, a slower-than-expected rollout of Wise's Platform business, potential regulatory or technology breaches, and the faster adoption of stablecoins, which could pose a threat to providers of cross-border transfers.
Contextual note: The analysis reflects J.P. Morgan's updated forecasts and valuation approach based on currently reported FY26 results, FY27 guidance and management commentary; it does not incorporate any information beyond what Wise disclosed or what was described by the broker.