Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV) reported third-quarter results that were in line with its expectations, with organic revenue flat year over year as the payments and financial-services company said it moved past its second-quarter revenue trough. Management reaffirmed its full-year outlook, projected a return to organic growth in both major segments during the fourth quarter, increased its Project Elevate savings target to $1 billion, and announced plans to repurchase $500 million of stock in the fourth quarter.
Chief Executive Officer Takis Georgakopoulos said the company’s revenue trajectory is stabilizing as prior-year comparisons involving nonrecurring revenue normalize. Total adjusted revenue fell 1% to $4.85 billion in the third quarter, while organic revenue was flat. Chief Financial Officer Paul Todd said divestitures of the student loan servicing and managed ATM businesses created roughly a 100-basis-point headwind to adjusted revenue.
Adjusted operating income was $1.5 billion, producing a 31.2% adjusted operating margin. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.75, and free cash flow totaled $679 million. The company also recorded a non-cash goodwill impairment charge that affected GAAP earnings per share by $12.04, which Todd attributed to the sustained decline in Fiserv’s share price and market capitalization.
Fourth-Quarter Growth Expected Across Both Segments
Fiserv maintained its 2026 guidance for adjusted revenue to decline between 1.5% and 0.5%, with organic revenue ranging from a 1% decline to flat. It continues to expect an adjusted operating margin of approximately 31% to 31.5%, adjusted EPS of $7.20 to $7.40, and free-cash-flow conversion of about 90%.
For the fourth quarter, the company expects both Merchant Solutions and Financial Solutions to deliver organic revenue growth consistent with their medium-term targets. Merchant Solutions adjusted and organic revenue are expected to grow between 6% and 8%, Todd said.
“We are past the Q2 revenue trough,” Georgakopoulos said. “In Q3, organic revenue stabilized and was flat year-over-year, in line with our expectations.”
Financial Solutions adjusted revenue was unchanged from the prior year, while organic revenue grew 2%. The segment’s adjusted operating income was $887 million and its adjusted operating margin was 38.1%.
Within Financial Solutions, issuing adjusted revenue grew 5% and organic revenue increased 7%, supported by existing-customer growth and implementations including Desjardins in Canada and the U.S. federal government’s Direct Express program. Digital payments organic revenue was flat, with payment-platform transaction growth of 4%, while Zelle transactions increased more than 20%.
Banking revenue declined 3% on an adjusted basis and 5% organically. However, management said client attrition and new business trends are improving. Georgakopoulos said attrition, measured by revenue, was down 17% so far in 2026, while client wins increased more than 50% from the prior year. Todd said the resulting revenue benefit should begin to appear in nine to 12 months, or in the back half of 2027.
Merchant Results Reflect Nonrecurring Comparison Effects
Merchant Solutions adjusted revenue declined 3%, and organic revenue fell 2%, as the segment faced its largest comparison impact from prior-year nonrecurring revenue. The segment generated adjusted operating income of $724 million, with a 28.7% adjusted operating margin.
Small-business revenue declined 2% on an adjusted basis and 1% organically. Clover revenue increased 1%, though Clover processing revenue grew 12%. Clover gross payment volume rose 9% on a reported basis, or 11% excluding a previously discussed gateway conversion.
Todd said the third quarter marked the final period of elevated prior-year nonrecurring Clover revenue comparisons. Fiserv expects Clover to return to double-digit revenue growth in the fourth quarter, while maintaining its full-year expectation for mid-single-digit Clover revenue growth.
Enterprise adjusted and organic revenue both declined 3%, while enterprise transaction growth was 5%. Management said Commerce Hub transactions doubled as customers moved to the platform, and the company cited client activity involving Microsoft, Dell, the California Franchise Tax Board, a sports betting company and a global fast-food chain.
Georgakopoulos said Fiserv plans to launch Clover for Enterprise in 2027, combining card-present and e-commerce acceptance for larger and more complex merchants. He said the product is intended to enable Clover customers to scale beyond the small-business segment and allow enterprise Commerce Hub customers to use Clover hardware.
Project Elevate Savings Target Raised
Fiserv increased its Project Elevate savings opportunity estimate to $1 billion from more than $500 million previously. The initiative includes consolidating legacy technology and product platforms, exiting certain smaller non-core offerings, simplifying processes and expanding the use of artificial intelligence across operations and software development.
Management said the additional savings provide confidence that the company can trend toward a 37% adjusted operating margin over the long term. Todd cautioned that much of the incremental benefit is expected beyond 2027, particularly from system decommissioning and expanded operational improvements.
- Fiserv has reduced contractors and employees by 3,000 since Georgakopoulos became CEO, including a reduction of more than 10% in senior management.
- The company said it is working to consolidate more than a dozen legacy merchant gateways and switches through Commerce Hub.
- In one Clover risk-hold process, management said AI reduced decision times by two-thirds and reduced false positives by more than 40%.
- Fiserv said its agentic call-center deployment with Sierra AI has achieved a containment rate above 40%, with no negative impact on customer net promoter scores.
The company is also considering alternative ownership arrangements for multiple non-core businesses and activities following a portfolio review. Georgakopoulos said discussions with multiple parties are underway, though Fiserv cannot yet estimate any proceeds. Todd said any after-tax proceeds would be directed toward a combination of debt reduction and share repurchases.
Capital Allocation and Platform Strategy
Fiserv ended the quarter with gross debt-to-adjusted EBITDA of 3.1 times after paying down more than $800 million of debt during the quarter. The company expects to end 2026 with gross leverage of approximately three times.
Alongside debt reduction, Fiserv plans to restart share repurchases with $500 million planned for the fourth quarter. Management said the repurchase plan remains consistent with its year-end leverage objective.
Georgakopoulos emphasized the company’s scale across merchant acquiring, banking, issuing and debit networks, as well as the potential to use AI and interoperable products to deepen relationships with merchants and financial institutions. He said agentOS, Fiserv’s automation and AI orchestration platform, has nearly 200 banks in its pipeline and is expected to serve as both a retention tool and a source of future revenue based on customer usage and value generated.
About Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV)
Fiserv, Inc is a global financial technology company that provides payment, banking, and commerce solutions to financial institutions, merchants, and other businesses. Its services support electronic payments, card processing, digital banking, account processing, fraud prevention, and related financial workflows.
The company’s offerings include merchant acceptance and payments technology, issuer processing, digital banking platforms, core account-processing systems, electronic bill payment, and data-driven financial services.
