ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.16 EPS

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The technology company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.16, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $425.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.08 million. ACI Worldwide had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 16.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from ACI Worldwide’s conference call:

• ACI posted a strong Q1 with ~6% organic revenue growth (6% CC), $426M total revenue, and a 12% year-over-year increase in adjusted EBITDA to $105M, and has raised full?year guidance to $1.89B–$1.92B revenue and $540M–$555M adjusted EBITDA.
• Connetic momentum is building—ACI expanded the platform (multi?rail, embedded fraud/verification), is seeing interest from large and mid?tier banks, has early SaaS wins, and a healthy pipeline though Connetic revenue is not yet material to 2026 guidance.
• Biller/Speedpay One traction drove a 39% increase in new ARR bookings ($12M) and 10% Biller revenue growth, with new logos and meaningful expansions in utilities, insurance and consumer finance supporting recurring revenue strength.
• Capital allocation and balance sheet remain supportive of shareholder returns: ACI repurchased ~1.5M shares (~$65M) in Q1, plans to direct 50%–60% of operating cash flow to buybacks in 2026, and finished the quarter with net leverage ~1.3x and ~$560M total liquidity.
• Near?term cash flow was weaker due to working capital timing (Q1 operating cash flow $64M vs $78M Y/Y) and management flagged macro/geopolitical uncertainty (Middle East/energy) as potential downside risks.

ACI Worldwide Price Performance

ACIW stock traded up $3.38 during trading on Thursday, hitting $46.65. 1,323,850 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 740,979. ACI Worldwide has a 52 week low of $38.05 and a 52 week high of $54.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.50 and a beta of 1.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ACIW shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of ACI Worldwide from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research lowered shares of ACI Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at ACI Worldwide

In other ACI Worldwide news, Director Adalio T. Sanchez acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $40.98 per share, for a total transaction of $122,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 64,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,638,210.44. This trade represents a 4.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Juan Benitez II acquired 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $41.90 per share, with a total value of $100,560.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $707,313.90. The trade was a 16.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ACI Worldwide

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ACI Worldwide by 879.8% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,430,404 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $75,482,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284,419 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ACI Worldwide by 90.3% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,816,588 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $86,851,000 after acquiring an additional 861,779 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of ACI Worldwide by 305.1% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 433,783 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,915,000 after acquiring an additional 326,699 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of ACI Worldwide by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,682,148 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,423,000 after acquiring an additional 326,657 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of ACI Worldwide by 16.2% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,228,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $102,293,000 after acquiring an additional 310,785 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

ACI Worldwide News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting ACI Worldwide this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings and revenue beat expectations — ACI delivered $0.61 EPS (vs. $0.45 consensus) and $425.8M in revenue (vs. ~$410M consensus), with revenue up ~8% year?over?year, signaling solid top?line and margin performance. Zacks: Q1 beat
• Positive Sentiment: Company raised 2026 outlook — Management increased full?year guidance after the strong quarter and issued Q2 revenue guidance of about $420M–$440M (consensus roughly $429M), which supports upside to consensus estimates. TipRanks: Raises 2026 outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability metrics look healthy — Q1 net margin (~12.9%) and return on equity (~16.4%) indicate efficient operations and improving profitability, which supports investor confidence. MarketBeat: Q1 metrics & press release
• Neutral Sentiment: Management commentary and details available — The earnings call transcript and slide deck provide color on customer wins, product demand and margin drivers; investors will look there for sustainability of growth. Seeking Alpha: Q1 earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and upside considerations — At a P/E around 21.5 and with the stock still below its 52?week high, some of the beat may already be priced in; investors should watch whether guidance/forward estimates are raised enough to justify a higher multiple.

ACI Worldwide Company Profile

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) is a global software company that provides electronic payment and banking solutions to financial institutions, merchants and billers. The company’s platforms enable real-time processing of credit, debit, ACH, bill payments, faster payments and money transfers, as well as integrated fraud prevention services. Headquartered in Naples, Florida, ACI serves clients across banking, payments and commerce sectors worldwide.

ACI’s modular suite of applications can be deployed on-premise, in the cloud or in hybrid environments to meet diverse operational needs.