Morgan Stanley has upgraded Corpay Inc. (NYSE: CPAY) to Overweight from Equalweight and lifted its price target to $379.00 from $322.00. The firm frames the change around an outlook that the payments company can sustain mid-teens growth in earnings per share over the coming years.
At the time of the analyst action, Corpay carries a market capitalization of $22.42 billion and is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73. Morgan Stanley also assessed concerns tied to stablecoins and concluded those issues appear overstated relative to Corpay's business model.
The investment bank identified nascent signs of recovery in freight and trucking demand as a positive catalyst for Corpay. In support of its valuation argument, Morgan Stanley's new $379.00 target equates to roughly 13 times the company's projected 2027 price-to-earnings ratio and about 17 times its projected 2027 free cash flow figure when excluding stock-based compensation.
Corpay's recent operating results provide context for the rating action. The company reported third-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $5.70, modestly ahead of the consensus estimate of $5.63. Revenue for the quarter reached $1.172 billion, above the $1.16 billion consensus. These data points were cited alongside the analyst reassessment.
Not all research houses reacted the same way. UBS revised its price target for Corpay to $315 from $340 while keeping a Neutral rating. UBS said the adjustment reflects the companys fiscal 2026 organic revenue growth outlook of approximately 9-11 percent, which UBS interprets as consistent with stable-to-improving trends.
Governance developments accompanied the corporate and analyst activity: Corpay announced the appointment of David Bunch to its board of directors. Bunch, who holds a significant executive position at Shell PLC, brings leadership experience across North America, Asia, and Europe.
Taken together, the Morgan Stanley upgrade, the UBS price-target revision, Corpay's Q3 performance, and the board addition sketch a picture of a company with recent top-line and earnings momentum, a contested research landscape, and management steps to bolster corporate oversight. Market participants and sector observers will likely watch the freight and trucking recovery, the company's organic revenue trends into fiscal 2026, and how stablecoin-related considerations evolve relative to Corpay's payments business.