As the Q3 earnings season comes to a close, it’s time to take stock of this quarter’s best and worst performers in the payment processing industry, including Jack Henry (NASDAQ: JKHY) and its peers.

Payment processors facilitate transactions between merchants, consumers, and financial institutions. Growth comes from e-commerce expansion, declining cash usage globally, and value-added services beyond basic processing. Headwinds include margin pressure from merchant negotiating power, rapid technological change requiring investment, and emerging competition from technology companies entering the payments ecosystem.

The 4 payment processing stocks we track reported a slower Q3. As a group, revenues missed analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.3%.

Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 5.9% since the latest earnings results.

Jack Henry (NASDAQ: JKHY)

Founded in 1976 by two entrepreneurs who saw the need for specialized banking software in the early days of financial computing, Jack Henry & Associates (NASDAQ: JKHY) provides technology solutions that help banks and credit unions innovate, differentiate, and compete while serving the evolving needs of their accountholders.

Jack Henry reported revenues of $636.1 million, up 8.7% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 0.8%. Overall, it was a strong quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts’ Processing segment estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

Jack Henry delivered the weakest full-year guidance update of the whole group. Interestingly, the stock is up 23% since reporting and currently trades at $187.45.

We think Jack Henry is a good business, but is it a buy today? Read our full report here, it’s free.

Best Q3: EVERTEC (NYSE: EVTC)

Operating one of Latin America's leading PIN debit networks called ATH, EVERTEC (NYSE: EVTC) is a payment transaction processor and financial technology provider that enables merchants and financial institutions across Latin America and the Caribbean to accept and process electronic payments.

EVERTEC reported revenues of $228.6 million, up 7.9% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2%. The business had a strong quarter with full-year EPS guidance beating analysts’ expectations and full-year revenue guidance topping analysts’ expectations.

EVERTEC delivered the biggest analyst estimates beat and highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 5.3% since reporting. It currently trades at $29.57.

Is now the time to buy EVERTEC? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Weakest Q3: Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV)

Powering over 1 billion accounts and processing more than 12,000 financial transactions per second globally, Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV) provides payment processing and financial technology solutions that enable merchants, banks, and credit unions to accept payments and manage financial transactions.

Fiserv reported revenues of $4.92 billion, flat year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 7.9%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and a significant miss of analysts’ organic revenue estimates.

Fiserv delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates and slowest revenue growth in the group. As expected, the stock is down 47% since the results and currently trades at $66.90.

Read our full analysis of Fiserv’s results here.

Shift4 (NYSE: FOUR)

Starting as a payment gateway provider in 1999 and now processing over $200 billion in annual payment volume, Shift4 Payments (NYSE: FOUR) provides integrated payment processing solutions and software that help businesses accept and manage transactions across in-store, online, and mobile channels.

Shift4 reported revenues of $1.18 billion, up 29.4% year on year. This result met analysts’ expectations. Taking a step back, it was a mixed quarter as it also recorded a solid beat of analysts’ transaction volumes estimates but EPS in line with analysts’ estimates.

Shift4 delivered the fastest revenue growth among its peers. The stock is down 5% since reporting and currently trades at $63.78.

Read our full, actionable report on Shift4 here, it’s free.

Market Update

Thanks to the Fed’s series of rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, inflation has cooled significantly from its post-pandemic highs, drawing closer to the 2% goal. This disinflation has occurred without severely impacting economic growth, suggesting the success of a soft landing. The stock market thrived in 2024, spurred by recent rate cuts (0.5% in September and 0.25% in November), and a notable surge followed Donald Trump’s presidential election win in November, propelling indices to historic highs. Nonetheless, the outlook for 2025 remains clouded by potential trade policy changes and corporate tax discussions, which could impact business confidence and growth. The path forward holds both optimism and caution as new policies take shape.

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