Fiserv (FISV) Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates

Core Viewpoint - Fiserv reported quarterly earnings of $1.99 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.90 per share, but down from $2.51 per share a year ago, indicating an earnings surprise of +4.94% [1] Group 1: Earnings Performance - The company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times over the last four quarters [2] - Fiserv's revenues for the quarter were $4.9 billion, matching year-ago revenues but missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.97% [2] - The company has not beaten consensus revenue estimates in the last four quarters [2] Group 2: Stock Performance and Outlook - Fiserv shares have declined approximately 10.5% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.7% [3] - The future performance of the stock will largely depend on management's commentary during the earnings call and the earnings outlook [4][6] - The current consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is $1.76 on revenues of $4.86 billion, and for the current fiscal year, it is $8.12 on revenues of $20.55 billion [7] Group 3: Industry Context - The Financial Transaction Services industry, to which Fiserv belongs, is currently ranked in the bottom 40% of over 250 Zacks industries, which may negatively impact stock performance [8] - Empirical research indicates a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions, suggesting that investors should monitor these revisions closely [5]