FISV — Fiserv Inc
Snapshot dated August 31, 2026.
Fiserv Inc provides financial technology and payment services to a diverse range of clients, including financial institutions, merchants, and corporations. The company operates through two primary segments: Merchant Acceptance, which processes transactions for businesses, and Financial Technology, which provides core banking systems and digital banking software. A significant portion of their business revolves around the Clover point-of-sale platform, which integrates hardware and software for small-to-medium-sized enterprises. They also offer digital payment capabilities through their Zelle and Popmoney networks, serving thousands of banks and millions of individual consumers globally. Fiserv maintains a major footprint in the backend of the global economy, competing with other transaction processors and software providers like FIS and Jack Henry & Associates. Recently, the company has focused on expanding its merchant solutions and integrating its platforms to provide a more unified commerce experience for its clients.
Fair Value / Share
$163.85
Price on August 31, 2026
$53.30
Upside to fair value
207.41%
Margin of safety 67.5%
Upside is measured against what you pay; margin of safety is measured against what the business is worth.
Data by Equibles and SEC filings. Figures are as of August 31, 2026 and are not live.
Earnings Yield
Earnings Yield shows how much profit a company generates relative to its share price. EPS ÷ Stock Price.
Stock Price
$53.30
Market Cap
$28,446,210,000
Net Income (TTM)
$2,801,000,000
Diluted Shares
533.7 million
EPS (TTM)
$5.25
Earnings Yield
9.85%
AI Analysis
Fiserv Inc has an earnings yield of 9.85%, calculated using an EPS of $5.25 and a stock price of $53.30. This figure sits above the 4-5% return available from a safe alternative like a bond. Mechanically, this indicates that for every dollar of the current share price, the company is generating roughly double the earnings compared to a risk-free benchmark, suggesting that the current market price does not embed an expectation of aggressive short-term earnings growth. If the earnings yield were to rise, it would require the stock price to decrease or the company's EPS to increase. Conversely, a lower yield would reflect a higher share price relative to current profits. This measure does not account for the company's debt levels or its future investment requirements.
Return on Capital
EBIT ÷ (Net Working Capital + Net Fixed Assets) — how efficiently the business turns capital into profit.
EBIT (TTM)
$4,660,000,000
Net Working Capital
$1,637,000,000
Net Fixed Assets
$3,328,000,000
Invested Capital
$4,965,000,000
Return on Capital
93.86%
AI Analysis
Fiserv Inc reports a return on capital of 93.86%, derived from an EBIT of $4.7B and a total invested capital base of $5B, consisting of $1.6B in net working capital and $3.3B in net fixed assets. By the framework's benchmark of 30% or more, this result indicates a highly efficient use of capital, as the company generates nearly a dollar of profit for every dollar of capital invested in its operations. This measure relies on tangible operating capital, effectively isolating the profit generated by the business's core activities from its financing decisions. A shift in this percentage would require either a change in operational profitability or a significant increase in the assets required to sustain the business model. It is important to note that this metric does not capture intangibles or intellectual property that may contribute to earning power without appearing on the balance sheet as traditional fixed assets.
Acquirer's Multiple
Enterprise Value ÷ Operating Earnings — how many years of operating earnings it would take to buy the whole business.
| Company | Operating earnings | Enterprise value | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| FISVFiserv Inc | $4.7B | $55.7B | 12.0x |
| FISFidelity National Information Services, Inc. | $1.9B | $41.5B | 21.7x |
| GPNGlobal Payments Inc | $1.3B | $42.5B | 32.4x |
Where FISV sits: 12.0x against a peer median of 27.0x (peers: 21.7x and 32.4x) — 55.8% below the median.
Show the enterprise value bridge for each companyHide the enterprise value bridge
FISV
Debt $27.9B. This is the company's reported total debt — borrowings due within a year plus long-term borrowings. The company separately reports $126M of operating lease liabilities as of 2026-06-30. These are excluded from debt because operating lease cost already sits inside operating earnings — counting the liability again as debt would charge the business twice for the same thing.
FIS
Named as a competitor: Directly competes in core banking software, issuer processing, and merchant acquiring
Debt $21.2B. This is the company's reported total debt — borrowings due within a year plus long-term borrowings. The company separately reports $82M of operating lease liabilities as of 2026-06-30. These are excluded from debt because operating lease cost already sits inside operating earnings — counting the liability again as debt would charge the business twice for the same thing.
GPN
Named as a competitor: Competes directly in merchant processing, payment acceptance, and point-of-sale solutions
Debt $22.4B. This is the company's reported total debt — borrowings due within a year plus long-term borrowings. The company separately reports $363.9M of operating lease liabilities as of 2025-12-31 ($305.8M non-current, $58.1M current). These are excluded from debt because operating lease cost already sits inside operating earnings — counting the liability again as debt would charge the business twice for the same thing.
Operating earnings — FISV
AI Analysis
Fiserv (FISV) has an Acquirer's Multiple of 12.0x, derived from an enterprise value of $55.7B and operating earnings of $4.7B. Among the analyzed companies, FISV carries the lowest multiple, while competitor GPN has the highest at 32.4x, and competitor FIS sits at 21.7x. The company's 12.0x multiple sits 55.8% below the peer median of 27.0x. The Acquirer's Multiple measures the price of the entire business relative to its operating profit, though it does not account for differences in capital structure or underlying business model variation between firms. This comparison would shift if Fiserv realized higher operating margins or if the competitors reduced their debt loads, thereby lowering their respective enterprise values and multiples relative to the current baseline.
FS-Score
A 10-check read on financial health, across profitability, balance-sheet stability and operating momentum.
FS-Score
5/10
Decent score — worth a deeper look before investing.
Section 1
Current Profitability
3/3
Fiserv displays strong current profitability, passing all three checks by generating positive accounting earnings and free cash flow relative to its asset base.
- Return on Assets is positive at 4.34%
- Free Cash Flow to Total Assets is positive at 5.36%
- Accruals are healthy with a CFO / Net Income ratio of 1.74, indicating earnings are well-supported by cash
This score indicates the business is currently self-sustaining, though a significant drop in cash flow from operations relative to net income would weaken this result.
Return on Assets (ROA > 0)
PassFree Cash Flow to Total Assets (FCFTA > 0)
PassAccruals (CFO / Net Income > 1)
PassSection 2
Stability
1/3
The stability profile is weak, as the company shows evidence of increasing financial obligations and slightly lower liquidity compared to the previous year.
- Leverage increased from 0.31 to 0.35 year over year
- Liquidity decreased as the current ratio moved from 1.06 down to 1.03
- Net Dilution passed as diluted shares outstanding fell from 582.1 million to 549.0 million shares
The score would improve if the company reduced its long-term debt relative to assets or increased its current assets relative to current liabilities.
Change in Leverage (↓ or unchanged)
FailChange in Liquidity (↑ Current Ratio)
FailNet Dilution (annual diluted weighted-average shares, this year vs last)
PassSection 3
Recent Operational Improvements
1/4
Operational improvements are weak, with the company failing to increase its efficiency or margins despite a slight uptick in return on assets.
- Return on Assets improved from 4.06% to 4.34%
- Free Cash Flow to Total Assets declined from 6.56% to 5.36%
- Gross Margin compressed from 60.83% to 59.36%
- Asset Turnover slowed slightly from 0.27 to 0.26
A higher score in this section would require reversing the downward trend in gross margins and generating more revenue per dollar of assets.
Change in ROA (↑)
PassChange in FCFTA (↑)
FailChange in Gross Margin (↑)
FailChange in Asset Turnover (↑)
FailFramework conclusion
Fiserv earns a total score of 5/10, a result that is solid but mixed. While current profitability is robust, the score is weighed down by a lack of operational momentum and a slight deterioration in balance sheet stability. This middling result suggests that if the stock is priced cheaply, the low valuation may be a response to these softening operational trends rather than a simple mispricing.
- Accruals show high earnings quality with a ratio of 1.74
- Net dilution improved as shares outstanding were reduced to 549.0 million shares
- Gross Margin showed recent weakness, falling to 59.36%
- Asset Turnover remains low and slightly down at 0.26
Intrinsic Value (DCF)
A 10-year discounted cash flow, then the bridge from business value to value per share.
Reported cash flow → unlevered free cash flow
Free Cash Flow (reported)
$3.9B
+ After-Tax Interest Expense
$1.3B
= Unlevered Free Cash Flow
$5.3B
Business value (10-year DCF)
PV of Years 1–10
$44.5B
PV of Terminal Value
$70.2B
= Business Value
$114.7B
Terminal value share
61.2%
Business value → share value
Intrinsic Value (business)
$114.7B
+ Cash & Equivalents
$627M
− Debt
$27.9B
= Shareholders' Value
$87.4B
÷ Diluted Shares
533.7 million
= Fair Value / Share
$163.85
Divided by 533.7 million diluted shares — the weighted-average diluted count from the most recent quarterly income statement, for the quarter ended 2026-06-30.
Risk bucket → discount rate
low (9%)
Year-1 FCF
$5.3B
Trailing twelve months.
FY2023 $3.8B · FY2024 $5.1B · FY2025 $4.3B
Growth rate (yrs 1–10)
7%
Terminal growth (after yr 10)
3%
AI Analysis
The valuation of Fiserv Inc uses a 9% discount rate, reflecting the lower risk profile inherent in its business model of high recurring revenue and a dominant position in core financial processing. The model projects 7.00% annual free cash flow growth over the next decade, a rate selected to balance solid historical expansion against recent growth moderation. The Year-1 free cash flow of $5.3B is an unlevered, fixed baseline figure applied consistently across all valuations. Beyond year 10, the model applies a fixed 3% terminal growth rate, a standard assumption that prevents the business from outpacing the economy indefinitely. The terminal value constitutes 61.2% of the total business value. To derive the fair value per share of $163.85, the model calculates the present value of future cash flows, adds $627M in cash, and subtracts $27.9B in debt before dividing by 533.7 million shares. At a current price of $53.30, this results in a margin of safety of 207.41%, which serves as a quantitative buffer for potential inaccuracies in the projection. The result is most sensitive to the long-term growth assumption, as even minor adjustments to the terminal growth rate significantly alter the terminal value component, which accounts for the majority of the total intrinsic value.
Overall Verdict
How the five signals above stack up together, then the full synthesis.
Earnings Yield
9.85% vs ~4-5% bond-yield benchmark
Return on Capital
93.86% ROC vs ~30% benchmark
Acquirer's Multiple
12.0x against a peer median of 27.0x (peers: 21.7x and 32.4x) — 55.8% below the median.
FS-Score
5/10 — Solid but mixed
Intrinsic Value
207.41% upside to fair value
The combined framework presents a profile defined by high operational efficiency and favorable pricing relative to the benchmarks calculated. The Return on Capital of 93.86% indicates a capacity to generate returns far exceeding the 30% benchmark, while the FS-Score of 5/10 suggests that, despite this operational strength, the broader financial health shows mixed results. On the pricing side, the Earnings Yield of 9.85% sits above bond-yield benchmarks, and the Acquirer's Multiple of 12.0x is 55.8% below the peer median. Coupled with an Intrinsic Value calculation showing a 207.41% margin of safety, these metrics collectively place the current price levels notably beneath the estimated valuation framework. A tension persists between the exceptional return metrics and the mid-tier FS-Score, which points to underlying financial variables that are not consistently performing. If the FS-Score were to shift toward the upper end of the scale, it would suggest a more consistent financial trajectory, altering the weight of the current quality assessment.
Comments
Notes from readers on FISV — one each. Comments stay with the company, so they carry across to a later snapshot, and each one shows the date it was written.
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