By Connor Hart

Shares of GEO Group climbed after the company raised its full-year outlook as it logged higher profit and revenue in the first quarter, citing new business wins.

Its stock rose 13%, to $20.82, in premarket trading Wednesday. Through Tuesday's close, shares have lost about a third of their value over the past year.

The prison operator said before the bell that it now expects to post earnings of $1.15 to $1.25 a share on revenue of $2.95 billion to $3.1 billion for the year. It had previously guided for annual earnings of 99 cents to $1.07 a share on revenue of $2.9 billion to $3.1 billion.

For the current quarter, GEO Group projects earnings of 25 cents to 29 cents a share, compared with analyst views for 27 cents a share. Revenue is forecast to be between $715 billion and $725 million, compared with Wall Street models for $723.8 million.

Chief Executive George Zoley attributed the outlook boost to the new growth opportunities the company had captured in 2025, which are now normalizing.

"Last year was the most successful period for new business wins in our company's history with new or expanded contracts representing up to $520 million in annualized revenues," he said. "We expect 2026 to be very active as well and therefore believe that we have upside potential across our diversified business segments."

In the first quarter, GEO Group notched a profit of $38.3 million, up from $19.6 million a year earlier. Quarterly earnings of 29 cents a share topped analyst expectations of 20 cents a share, according to FactSet.

Revenue climbed 17% to $705.2 million, ahead of Wall Street models of $688.9 million.

Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 06, 2026 08:11 ET (12:11 GMT)

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