Raymond James Downgrades Payment Firms Ratings
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Mar 26 2026
0mins
Should l Buy FISV?
Source: seekingalpha
- Rating Downgrade: Raymond James has downgraded Fiserv, Global Payments, and Shift4 Payments, reflecting a reassessment of overall growth expectations in the payments and fintech sectors, indicating weakened market confidence in these companies.
- P/E Compression: Analysts noted that the average NTM P/E for the payments industry has declined by approximately 45% to around 11x, highlighting an increased market focus on the durability of organic growth and earnings quality.
- Organic Growth Forecast: By 2026, organic revenue growth in the payments sector is expected to be about 55% lower than in 2022, exacerbating the market's recalibration of valuations and reflecting a cautious outlook on future growth.
- Impact of Downgrades: Raymond James lowered its ratings for Fiserv and Global Payments from Outperform to Market Perform, and for Shift4 Payments from Strong Buy to Outperform, which may influence investor confidence and stock performance for these companies.
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Analyst Views on FISV
Wall Street analysts forecast FISV stock price to rise
28 Analyst Rating
8 Buy
20 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 64.140
Low
62.00
Averages
95.61
High
180.00
Current: 64.140
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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- Strategic Decisions Conference: Additionally, Fiserv will speak at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference on May 28, further emphasizing its innovative capabilities in payment and financial services technology solutions.
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- Alliance Impact: The original press release detailed a significant alliance between CPI and Fiserv aimed at modernizing the instant issuance experience for financial institutions; the withdrawal may raise concerns in the market regarding the future prospects of this collaboration, potentially affecting business development for both parties.
- Media Relations Transparency: By promptly notifying the withdrawal through its media relations department, CPI Card Group demonstrates transparency in handling public relations, yet this incident also highlights lapses in their information release protocols, necessitating stronger internal review mechanisms.
- Investor Communication Strategy: The company provided investor relations contact information, emphasizing its commitment to investor communication; however, frequent erroneous releases could negatively impact the company's image, necessitating measures to restore market trust.
See More
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- Strategic Partnership: This collaboration positions CPI as a strategic partner for instant issuance solutions for Fiserv's U.S. clients, further solidifying its market position in the fintech sector.
- Technology Integration: CPI is advancing a unified payments issuance strategy by expanding its proprietary technology platform that combines digital and physical card offerings, enhancing integration with Fiserv's customer ecosystem.
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See More
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- Market Reaction Analysis: Burry noted a 'reflexive positive feedback loop' between falling equity prices and stress in bank debt related to software companies, which accelerated the declines, and he expects these technical pressures will not affect these stocks for much longer.
- Position Dynamics: Burry disclosed that he opened a roughly 3.5% position in PayPal while maintaining holdings in Fiserv, Adobe, Autodesk, and Veeva Systems, and he plans to add positions in Salesforce and MSCI on Thursday.
- Industry Outlook Assessment: Although fears mount that artificial intelligence could disrupt business models in the software industry, Burry believes that the companies he selected will not be severely affected, expressing optimism about their investment potential after thorough forensic, competitive, and fundamental analysis.
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