World Acceptance Corporation (WRLD)

Financial Services Credit Services

179.80 $

-0.7% vs. previous close

Closing price · As of: 31. Jul 2026

symbol.quality_heading

Open questions

The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.

Whoever buys today bets that Washington keeps not enacting the 36 percent cap, that the charge-off ratio stays below its ten-year average, and that the buyback machine keeps levering earnings per share. Whoever waits checks three spots in every quarterly report (10-Q): the net charge-off ratio (heading toward 17 percent or beyond?), the fixed-charge covenant (does the regular 2.25 bar apply again from the quarter ending December 31, 2026?), and the CEO search (who leads for good?). A permanent CEO plus two quarters without covenant forbearance would be the strongest signals that the machine is running smoothly again. The decision is yours.

symbol.quality_note

Read the Full Deep Dive

World Acceptance Stock: A Cash Machine Charging 51 Percent Interest — and the One Sentence in the 10-K That Could End It All

World Acceptance lends small sums through 1,009 branches to Americans hardly anyone else will lend to — at an average annual rate of 51.4 percent (March 31, 2026). The result: $259 million of operating cash flow in fiscal 2026 against a market value of only about $640 million — rank 11 in our FCF/market-cap scanner (as of July 18, 2026). We read the annual reports (10-K) for fiscal 2025 and 2026 and the quarterly reports (10-Q) and found things no ratio shows: a sentence stating that a 36 percent rate cap would "almost certainly eliminate" the business, a 61 percent profit collapse, a CEO who left in April 2026, a bank that had to loosen its loan covenants, and an anchor shareholder holding 46.3 percent. Not investment advice — just the math on what a money machine is worth when one sentence from Washington could erase its blueprint.

Read the analysis

Stock Watch

This analysis is as of July 18, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at WRLD since then.

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Appears in These Scanners

This stock currently matches 12 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.

Quality & Balance Sheet

FCF/Market Cap Pros 80%

Breakout & Setup

Strong DCR (≥80) Tight & Near High Tight Weekly Range (WCR≥90)

Earnings & Surprises

Recent Earnings Winners

Momentum & Trend

21-EMA Trend Above the 50- & 200-SMA Power Trend Stage 2 Leader Stan Weinstein: Stage 2

Research

Side Finds

Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners

Trading Day

Previous Close

181.10$

Open

181.60$

Day High

184.10$

Day Low

175.90$

Volume

97,010shares

Key levels of the most recently completed trading day — not a live quote.

52-Week Range

52-Week Low 52-Week High

115.60 $ 223.80 $

01/28/2026 06/30/2026

Current price 179.80 $ — 59% of the range above the low.

Lowest and highest closing price over the last 52 weeks. The marker shows where the current price sits within that range: close to the high speaks for strength, close to the low for weakness.

Basics

Market Cap

0.8$B

Shares Outstanding

5Mio.

Float

47.0%

Beta

1.1

Performance

Perf. 1M

38.50%

Perf. 3M

71.40%

Perf. 6M

51.30%

YTD Performance (%)

31.50%

52-Week-High Distance

-0.4%

Perf. 1Y

14.30%

Perf. 3Y

13.88%

Perf. 5Y

-5.15%

Perf. 10Y

313.74%

Perf. Since Inception

7,606.25%

Technical Indicators

MA 38 Days

191.30$

MA 50 Days

184.80$

MA 200 Days

152.50$

RSI (14)

42.5

Volatility 30 Days

58.6%

Volatility 250 Days

51.5%

Calculated from the price history · as of 08/03/2026

Valuation

P/E

26.1

Forward P/E

9.6

PEG

0.7

P/B

2.4

P/S

1.4

EV/EBITDA

0.0

Price/FCF

3.2

Profitability

Gross Margin

69.2%

EBIT Margin

–

Net Margin

6.6%

Return on Equity

8.8%

Return on Assets

6.3%

Balance Sheet & Safety

Equity Ratio

–

Debt/Equity

1.9

Altman Z″

9.70

Piotroski

7 out of 9

Growth

Sales Growth Last Quarter

7.30%

EPS Growth Last Quarter

-5.40%

Sales Growth (Year)

3.70%

Forward Sales Growth

6.00%

Forward EPS Growth

28.50%

Dividend

This stock currently pays no dividend.

Quality & Screener

Stage

RS Rating

EPS Rating

Piotroski

7 out of 9

Fundamental Rating

C (49 out of 100)

Altman Z″

9.70

AI Rating

Neutral

Geprüft am 18.07.2026 gegen die Geschäftsberichte (10-K) für die Geschäftsjahre 2026 (eingereicht 04.06.2026) und 2025 (22.05.2025) sowie die vier jüngsten Quartalsberichte (10-Q): In den ausgewerteten SEC-Filings von World Acceptance findet sich kein wesentlicher KI-Bezug. Die einzige Erwähnung von „artificial intelligence“ steht im Cybersecurity-Risikoteil des 10-K GJ 2026 und beschreibt KI ausschließlich als Werkzeug externer Angreifer („Artificial intelligence (‚AI') tools may increase threat actors' ability to detect or exploit vulnerabilities, to develop ransomware or other malware, to launch cyberattacks…“) — eine generische Bedrohungs-Floskel ohne konkreten Bezug zum eigenen Geschäftsmodell (Filial-Ratenkredite, Kreditversicherungen, Steuererklärungs-Service). Die vier 10-Q und der 10-K GJ 2025 enthalten null Treffer für „artificial intelligence“, „machine learning“ oder „AI“. Weder KI-Umsatzquelle (nicht „verkauft“) noch dokumentierter operativer KI-Einsatz etwa im Underwriting (nicht „nutzt“) noch ein konkretes, geschäftsmodellspezifisches KI-Risiko (nicht „bedroht“) — nach Kriterienkatalog dokumentierter Negativ-Befund: „neutral“.

View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings

Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2026-06-04 · 10-K 2025-05-22 · 10-Q 2026-02-09 · 10-Q 2025-11-06 · 10-Q 2025-08-06 · 10-Q 2025-02-06

Rated on July 18, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built

Analysts & Price Target

Current Price 179.80 $

Price Target (average) 210.00 $

The price target sits 16.8% above the current price.

Consensus: Hold
Analyst Ratings: 2

Distribution of Recommendations

Strong Buy 0

Buy 0

Hold 2

Sell 0

Strong Sell 0

Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.

Estimates by Fiscal Year

Estimates by Fiscal Year
Fiscal Year	EPS Estimate ($)	EPS Range ($)	Revenue Estimate ($M)	Expected Growth	Analysts
03/31/2027	13.18	13.18 – 13.18	613	89.1%	1
03/31/2028	15.14	15.14 – 15.14	655	14.9%	1

Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.

Next Reporting Date

22. Oct 2026 · before the open · Q3 2026

Expected Earnings per Share: 0.79 $

Expected date of the next quarterly or annual figures. Dates do shift occasionally — only the invitation issued by the company is binding.

From To Indexed

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The figures could not be loaded right now.

Sales Per Quarter ($M)

Source: fundamental data

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Quarterly Figures

Quarterly Figures
Quarter	EPS (Earnings Per Share)	EPS YoY (%)	Sales ($M)	Sales YoY (%)	Net Margin (%)	OCF ($M)	FCF ($M)
2024: Q4	2.45	-13.80	139	0.60	9.70	61	60
2025: Q1	8.13	33.40	165	3.80	26.80	91	90
2025: Q2	0.25	-85.80	133	2.30	1.00	58	57
2025: Q3	-0.38	-109.50	135	2.30	-1.40	49	48
2025: Q4	-0.18	-107.40	141	1.90	-0.60	58	57
2026: Q1	7.70	-5.30	178	7.40	20.60	95	94

What Do These Terms Mean?

EPS (Earnings Per Share):: Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
YoY (Year over Year):: Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
Sales:: All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
Net Margin:: What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
OCF (Operating Cash Flow):: The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
FCF (Free Cash Flow):: Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.

Annual Figures

Annual Figures
Fiscal Year	Revenue ($M)	EBIT ($M)	Net Income ($M)	EPS ($)	Operating Cash Flow ($M)	Equity ($M)	Total Assets ($M)
2017	491	106	74	8.38	219	461	801
2018	503	97	54	5.99	218	541	841
2019	545	90	37	4.05	245	552	855
2020	590	35	28	3.54	281	412	1,030
2021	528	111	88	13.23	227	405	954
2022	585	66	54	8.47	272	373	1,218
2023	617	27	21	3.60	292	385	1,117
2024	573	99	77	13.19	266	424	1,056
2025	565	159	90	16.30	254	437	1,008
2026	585	45	35	6.88	259	351	1,054

Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.

Assessment: Opportunities & Risks

Cash conversion & buyback machine

$259.4 million of operating cash flow against $3.9 million of capital expenditures and $132.4 million of share repurchases in fiscal 2026; shares outstanding fell from 9.3 million (2019) to 4.6 million (May 2026) — a capital-light business that consistently returns to its remaining shareholders (10-K FY 2026).

Earnings quality & loan book

Net income without a trend ($21.2 to $89.2 million across eleven years, most recently −61.2 percent to $34.6 million), driven by loss provisioning (32.2 percent of revenue) and a bonus yo-yo ($22.0 million reversed in FY 2025, $39.0 million more stock compensation in FY 2026); an 18.5 percent net charge-off ratio against a 51.4 percent average APR.

Regulatory risk

The company itself writes that a national 36 percent rate cap would "almost certainly eliminate" the current business; 61.7 percent of the loan book sits above that threshold, and the CFPB holds supervisory powers (10-K FY 2026, Item 1/1A). Not an acute risk, but a permanent existential one.

Leadership & funding

CEO resignation effective April 10, 2026 with an interim successor (Matricciani, CEO 2015–2018), a COO change in February 2026; after the bond redemption, funding hangs on a secured bank facility whose fixed-charge covenant had to be lowered temporarily from 2.25 to as low as 2.10 on May 22, 2026 (10-K FY 2026, Note 19).

Technicals & ownership structure

Stage-2 uptrend, price above the 50- and 200-day lines, 11 scanner hits, Piotroski 7 of 9 (data as of July 8, 2026) — but a thin float (Prescott ~46.3 percent, only 4.6 million shares) amplifies moves in both directions, and the insider tally reads 9 sales to zero purchases in twelve months.

Bottom Line

World Acceptance is the cheapness trap in its purest form, served as an exam question: a genuine cash machine with a radical buyback policy at 3.6 times a free cash flow that is systematically flattered for lenders — set against a business model whose ending the company itself describes in one sentence, a profit zigzagging on bonuses and charge-offs, a bank covenant loosened on May 22, 2026, a vacant corner office and a 46.3 percent anchor shareholder. The low multiple is the premium for exactly these risks — not the proof they are absent. Not investment advice.

Worth Noting:

WRLD reached the research list via rank 11 in our in-house FCF/market-cap scanner (as of July 18, 2026); the 11 hits in the in-house stock scanner (data as of July 8, 2026) provided the confluence. Scanner memberships shift daily — the stated data cut-off governs.
Lender particularity: operating cash flow contains interest and principal collections but not newly originated loans (investing cash flow). FCF-based metrics therefore systematically overstate free liquidity; in fiscal 2026 the loan book grew by roughly $230 million net. The trailing P/E is simultaneously distorted by stock-compensation reversals (FY 2025) and catch-up expense (FY 2026).
Valuation figures dated July 8, 2026 (about $640 million market value); analyses are evergreen, daily prices are not a buy argument. All filing quotes were verified verbatim against the SEC originals (10-K FY 2026, filed June 4, 2026).

About the Company

World Acceptance Corporation ist im Verbraucherkreditgeschäft in den USA tätig. Das Unternehmen bietet kurzfristige kleine Ratenkredite, mittelfristige größere Ratenkredite, zugehörige Kreditversicherungen sowie ergänzende Produkte und Dienstleistungen für Privatpersonen an.

Employees	2,907
Headquarters	Greenville, SC
Address	104 S. Main St., 29601 Greenville, United States
Phone	864 298 9800
Website	loansbyworld.com
IPO Date	26. Nov 1991
ISIN	US9814191048
Stock Split	3:1 on 09/01/1995

Management

Management
Name	Title	Birth Year
Luke J. Umstetter	Senior VP, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer & Secretary	1980
Rodney D. Ernest	Senior Vice President of Operations	–

Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.

Insider Transactions

Insider Transactions
Date	Person	Role	Type	Shares	Price	Value
30. Jul 2026	Calmes John L Jr	See remarks	Sell	2,000	186.00	372,000

Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.

View all insider transactions →

Chart

Interactive price chart (TradingView).

Data as of: July 31, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)

Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.