Earnings Season Approaches: Analysts Downgrade Financial Stocks' EPS Estimates
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Jan 12 2026
0mins
Should l Buy FISV?
Source: seekingalpha
- Analyst Sentiment Decline: As earnings season approaches, analysts have broadly downgraded earnings expectations for financial companies, leading to a decline in EPS Revision Grades for several stocks, reflecting weakened market confidence in short-term performance.
- Earnings Downgrades: Unum (UNM) and Block (XYZ) received EPS Revision Grades of D and D, respectively, indicating a pessimistic outlook from investors regarding their profitability, which may adversely affect their stock performance.
- Large Financial Stocks Struggling: Lloyds Banking (LYG) and UBS Group AG (UBS) received Revision Grades of D- and D, suggesting significant pressure on these large financial institutions regarding earnings expectations, potentially prompting investors to reassess their investment value.
- Market Focus: Companies like HDFC Bank (HDB) and Mizuho Financial (MFG) also faced negative revisions, with EPS Revision Grades of F and F, respectively, indicating a substantial decline in market confidence in these financial stocks, which may impact their future financing and growth capabilities.
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Analyst Views on FISV
Wall Street analysts forecast FISV stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for FISV is 95.61 USD with a low forecast of 62.00 USD and a high forecast of 180.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
28 Analyst Rating
8 Buy
20 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 58.440
Low
62.00
Averages
95.61
High
180.00
Current: 58.440
Low
62.00
Averages
95.61
High
180.00
About FISV
Fiserv, Inc. is a global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions. Its segments include Merchant Solutions (Merchant) and Financial Solutions (Financial). The businesses in its Merchant segment provide commerce-enabling products and services to companies of all sizes around the world. These products and services include merchant acquiring and digital commerce services; mobile payment services; security and fraud protection solutions; stored-value solutions; software-as-a-service; POS devices; and pay-by-bank solutions. The business lines in its Merchant segment consist of small business, enterprise, and processing. The businesses in its Financial segment provide products and services to financial institutions, corporate and public sector clients across the world, enabling the processing of customer loan and deposit accounts, digital payments and card transactions. The business lines in its Financial segment consist of digital payments, issuing, and banking.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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- Earnings Forecast Downgrade: The company expects adjusted earnings per share for 2025 to range between $8.50 and $8.60, significantly down from the previous forecast of $10.15 to $10.30, indicating the growth challenges and market pressures it faces.
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- Retail Sentiment Shift: Despite the stock's decline, retail investor sentiment for Fiserv shifted from 'bearish' to 'bullish' in the past 24 hours, with message volume surging 925%, indicating some investors' optimism for a potential rebound.
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- Leadership Change: The sudden departure of CEO Alex Chriss, replaced by Enrique Lores, former CEO of HP, may impact the company's strategic direction, prompting investors to closely monitor how the new leadership addresses current challenges and market expectations.
- Surge in Trading Volume: Trading volume soared to 139 million shares, approximately 792% above the three-month average of 16 million shares, indicating a strong market reaction to PayPal's outlook, which could trigger further investor scrutiny and potential sell-offs.
- Market Reaction: PayPal's disappointing performance has led to a reassessment of the entire payment sector, with competitor Fiserv's stock dropping 7.66%, reflecting a decline in investor confidence across payment stocks and potentially affecting industry valuations.
See More
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- Earnings Shortfall: PayPal's Q4 2025 earnings report revealed revenue of $6.7 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.23, both falling short of analyst expectations, resulting in a 20.31% stock drop that reflects market concerns over future growth.
- Leadership Change: CEO Alex Chriss's sudden departure, with Enrique Lores taking over, who previously led HP and served on PayPal's Board, may impact the company's strategic direction and investor confidence.
- Surge in Trading Volume: PayPal's trading volume reached 139 million shares, approximately 792% above its three-month average, indicating heightened investor attention and significant market volatility.
- Sector Reassessment: PayPal's weak outlook prompted a reevaluation of the entire payment sector, with rival Fiserv's stock declining by 7.66%, highlighting widespread market concerns regarding payment stocks.
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- PayPal Earnings Impact: PayPal's earnings report revealed a 4% year-over-year revenue growth to $8.68 billion, missing Wall Street's $8.80 billion estimate, which heightened investor concerns about consumer and retail merchant health, leading to a decline in Fiserv's stock.
- Market Reaction: Fiserv shares are currently trading 12% below their 20-day simple moving average and 11.2% below their 50-day average, indicating a bearish trend in the short term, with an 8.79% decrease over the past 12 months.
- Financial Outlook: Fiserv's next earnings report is expected on February 10, with analysts estimating an EPS of $1.90, down from $2.51 year-over-year, and a revenue estimate of $4.95 billion, reflecting cautious market sentiment regarding its future growth.
- Value Opportunity: Although Fiserv trades at a P/E of 9.7x, indicating a value opportunity, analysts project a 24% decline in earnings, suggesting that investors should exercise caution in the current market environment.
See More
