Debt recovery company Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ: ECPG) announced better-than-expected revenue in Q4 CY2025, with sales up 78.3% year on year to $473.6 million. Its GAAP profit of $3.37 per share was 51.1% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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“Encore’s industry leadership and operational innovation are on full display after delivering very strong 2025 financial results,” said Ashish Masih, Encore’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

Company Overview

Operating in the often misunderstood world of debt collection since 1999, Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ: ECPG) purchases portfolios of defaulted consumer debt at deep discounts and works with individuals to recover these obligations while helping them toward financial recovery.

Revenue Growth

Reviewing a company’s long-term sales performance reveals insights into its quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but the best consistently grow over the long haul. Over the last five years, Encore Capital Group grew its revenue at a sluggish 3.3% compounded annual growth rate. This fell short of our benchmark for the financials sector and is a poor baseline for our analysis.

Long-term growth is the most important, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes and market returns. Encore Capital Group’s annualized revenue growth of 20.3% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting its demand recently accelerated. Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers, impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.

This quarter, Encore Capital Group reported magnificent year-on-year revenue growth of 78.3%, and its $473.6 million of revenue beat Wall Street’s estimates by 12.2%.

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Key Takeaways from Encore Capital Group’s Q4 Results

It was good to see Encore Capital Group beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. We were also excited its revenue outperformed Wall Street’s estimates by a wide margin. Zooming out, we think this was a solid print. The stock traded up 4.5% to $61.75 immediately following the results.

Encore Capital Group put up rock-solid earnings, but one quarter doesn’t necessarily make the stock a buy. Let’s see if this is a good investment. We think that the latest quarter is only one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).