Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $42.88, but opened at $48.88. Shift4 Payments shares last traded at $48.1260, with a volume of 629,748 shares.

Shift4 Payments News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Shift4 Payments this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target on Shift4 Payments to $52 from $50, while maintaining a market perform rating, implying modest upside from current levels. Benzinga report on Keefe, Bruyette & Woods price target increase
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research reiterated its buy rating and kept a much higher $70 price target, signaling confidence in Shift4’s longer-term growth prospects. Benzinga report on BTIG reaffirmation
• Positive Sentiment: Shift4 reported revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, topping estimates of $1.09 billion and rising 49% year over year, showing strong sales momentum. MarketBeat earnings report and transcript
• Positive Sentiment: The company also lifted FY 2026 EPS guidance to $5.50-$5.70, above Wall Street’s $5.39 estimate, suggesting management sees continued earnings strength ahead. MarketBeat earnings report and transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also digesting the Q1 earnings call and transcript, which highlighted robust growth but some headwinds, keeping sentiment mixed. Seeking Alpha Q1 2026 earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Despite revenue strength, Shift4 missed earnings per share estimates at $0.97 versus $0.99 expected, and EPS declined from $1.07 a year ago, which appears to be pressuring the stock. Zacks report on earnings miss

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on FOUR. Stephens cut shares of Shift4 Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, April 17th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Shift4 Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Capital One Financial set a $50.00 price target on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $71.00 price target on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.00.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.56, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $45.82 and its 200-day moving average is $58.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.90.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 2.63% and a return on equity of 42.00%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 49.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.500-5.700 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Shift4 Payments

In related news, major shareholder Jared Isaacman purchased 159,244 shares of Shift4 Payments stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $44.15 per share, for a total transaction of $7,030,622.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,321,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,331,289.05. This represents a 13.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased a total of 385,757 shares of company stock valued at $17,666,153 in the last ninety days. 25.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Marex Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 3,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 5.6% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 100.0% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Glenmede Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 5.1% in the third quarter. Glenmede Investment Management LP now owns 4,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Shift4 Payments Company Profile

Shift4 Payments is a U.S.-based provider of integrated payment processing and technology solutions, serving merchants across the hospitality, retail, e-commerce, gaming and lodging industries. The company’s platform enables businesses to accept in-store, online and mobile payments through a combination of point-of-sale hardware, payment gateway services and back-office software. By centralizing transaction processing and reporting, Shift4 aims to simplify payments, enhance security and streamline operations for its merchant customers.

The company’s core offerings include encrypted point-of-sale terminals, cloud-based payment gateways, and developer-friendly APIs for online and mobile checkouts.