July 22 (Reuters) - Credit bureau Equifax ( EFX ) beat

Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by

a smaller-than-expected drop in inquiries for mortgage credit

reports, and raised its annual revenue forecast marginally.

Mortgage inquiries buoyed Equifax's ( EFX ) second-quarter results

in an otherwise subdued mortgage market, with the 30-year

mortgage rate - the interest rate for the most popular U.S. home

loan - at lower levels than a year earlier when the Federal

Reserve's benchmark interest rate was at a record high.

U.S. mortgage inquiries fell 8% in the quarter from a year

earlier, better than Equifax's ( EFX ) expectation of an 11% decline. In

the second quarter of 2024, the metric fell by 13%.

However, the U.S. mortgage market has seen suppressed loan

demand amid rising Treasury yields and economic uncertainties,

including fluctuating trade policies from President Donald

Trump, and global political tensions.

Elevated mortgage rates have discouraged borrowers. That

acted as a headwind for Equifax ( EFX ), which sells credit reports and

data analytics to consumers and mortgage lenders, as per its

earnings report.

The company now expects U.S. mortgage inquiries to decline

by 11% in 2025, a slight upgrade from the 12% expected in the

previous quarter.

This helped the company in revising its annual revenue

guidance to the range of $5.97 billion to $6.04 billion, from

$5.91 billion to $6.03 billion.

Analysts were expecting 2025 revenue of $6 billion,

according to estimates compiled by LSEG.

On an adjusted basis, Equifax ( EFX ) earned $249.7 million, or $2

per share, in the three months ended June 30, compared with

$226.6 million or, $1.82 per share, in the year earlier.

Analysts had expected a profit of $1.92 apiece.

The company's shares, which have gained nearly 2% in 2025,

were up marginally in trading before the bell.