GPN vs FOUR Stock Comparison

Global Payments and Shift4 Payments Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GPN Global Payments Inc
$81.87 -5.4% 1M -6.3% 1Y
Market cap
$21.98B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$10.23B
Div. yield
0.01%
Payment Processing Technology
6 wins
FOUR Shift4 Payments, Inc.
$36.97 -3.9% 1M -51.5% 1Y
Market cap
$3.00B
P/E
68.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.78B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Global Payments leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Global Payments 6, Shift4 Payments 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGPNFOURLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $21.98B $3.00B GPN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -23.5x 68.5x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 6.4x 6.7x GPN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +32.5% +32.4% GPN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -9.1% 0.9% FOUR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 2.3% 4.9% FOUR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 4.8x 4.5x FOUR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -6.3% -51.5% GPN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -10.7%/yr -12.5%/yr GPN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.6% 66.3% GPN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 65/100 FOUR

Percentile Scorecard

GPNFOUR

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisGPNFOUR
Valuation 75 #26 of 99 88 #13 of 99
Growth 26 #70 of 94 70 #29 of 94
Profitability 64 #33 of 90 67 #30 of 90
Financial Health 23 #81 of 105 18 #86 of 105
Shareholder Returns 62 #24 of 61 83 #11 of 61
Overall 50 65
  • GPN ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • FOUR ranked among 109 companies in Fintech

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodGPNFOURSPY
1 month -5.4%-3.9% -0.8%
3 months -2.6%-26.0% +3.5%
6 months +19.8%-17.8% +7.0%
Year to date +5.8%-41.3% +12.2%
1 year -6.3%-51.5% +13.0%
3 years -20.3%-15.2% +86.3%
3 years, per year -7.3%-5.4% +23.1%
5 years -43.2%-48.6% +68.6%
5 years, per year -10.7%-12.5% +11.0%
10 years +11.1%— +258.0%
10 years, per year +1.1%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureGPNFOURSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.6%66.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 37.1%70.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.021.43 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.15-0.78 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -58.8%-71.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.7%-51.8% -1.8%
52-week high $94.85$76.76 $779.14
52-week low $62.47$35.57 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleGPNFOUR
P/E now vs peer median -23.7xmedian 20.6x 66.9xmedian 20.6x
P/S now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 2.3x 1.2xmedian 2.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.6xmedian 15.4x 10.6xmedian 15.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.5xmedian 16.4x 13.3xmedian 16.4x
P/B now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 1.9x 3.3xmedian 1.9x
PEG now vs peer median 0.51median 1.05 -1.96median 1.05

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsGPNFOUR
Revenue $10.23B $4.78B
Gross profit $6.54B $1.72B
Operating income $1.27B $387.50M
Net income -$873.78M $122.40M
Free cash flow $822.72M $433.00M
EPS (diluted) $-3.46 $0.55
Cash & equivalents $5.41B $356.00M
Total debt $23.56B $4.51B
Shares (diluted) 270.12M 79.64M
Enterprise value -$227.11M -$302.93M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricGPNFOUR
P/E -23.7x 66.9x
P/FCF 26.5x 13.3x
P/Operating cash flow 13.1x 9.7x
P/S 2.1x 1.2x
P/B 0.9x 3.3x
P/Tangible book 5.0x -4.9x
EV/EBITDA 10.6x 10.6x
EV/EBIT 31.5x 25.6x
EV/Revenue 3.9x 2.1x
EV/FCF 48.5x 22.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.1x 16.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.51 -1.96

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGPNFOUR
Revenue growth (1Y) 32.5% 32.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.3% 28.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 14.8% 55.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.7% 42.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) -33.4% 41.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -4.4% 45.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -158.6% -55.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -44.6% -4.9%
EPS growth (1Y) -158.9% -77.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -46.2% -34.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -46.4% 16.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -9.1% 16.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -66.6% 8.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -19.7% 13.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGPNFOUR
Gross margin 63.9% 35.9%
EBITDA margin 36.8% 19.5%
Operating margin 12.4% 8.1%
Pretax margin 5.5% 3.2%
Net margin -9.1% 0.9%
FCF margin 8.0% 9.1%
Operating cash flow margin 16.2% 12.4%
Return on equity -3.5% 7.0%
Return on assets -1.3% 1.4%
Return on invested capital 2.3% 4.9%
Return on capital employed 2.5% 5.5%
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -1.9x 4.8x
Stock comp / revenue 1.3% 1.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGPNFOUR
Debt / assets 37.1% 51.9%
Debt / equity 1.0x 2.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 4.8x 4.5x
Debt / FCF 28.6x 10.4x
Liabilities / assets 62.6% 80.1%
Equity / assets 37.4% 19.9%
Interest coverage 1.5x 1.5x
Current ratio 0.8x 1.2x
Quick ratio 0.7x 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 0.60 1.14

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGPNFOUR
Dividend yield 1.2% –
Net buyback yield 7.2% 10.9%
Shareholder yield 8.4% 10.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) -28.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 30.6% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -1.7% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusGPNFOUR
Forward P/E 6.4xFY2026 6.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.82FY2026 $5.50FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.9%FY2026 +6.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +18.0% +8.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $12.66BFY2026 $2.44BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +35.9%FY2026 +23.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.4% +6.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGPNFOUR
Held by institutions 100.0% 44.4%
Institutions holding 792 358
Change in shares held, QoQ +7.4% -2.3%
Institutions buying 374 187
Institutions selling 307 142
Buyers to sellers 1.22 1.32

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

GPNFOUR
GPN 1.00 0.58
FOUR 0.58 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GPN and FOUR?

Global Payments (GPN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Global Payments (GPN) $21.98B, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) $3.00B.

Which company is growing faster?

Global Payments (GPN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Global Payments (GPN) +32.5%, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) +32.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Shift4 Payments (FOUR) has the highest net margin (Global Payments (GPN) -9.1%, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) 0.9%). On return on invested capital, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) leads (Global Payments (GPN) 2.3%, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) 4.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Global Payments (GPN) returned the most: Global Payments (GPN) -6.3%, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) -51.5%. Over five years, Global Payments (GPN) compounded fastest (Global Payments (GPN) -10.7%/yr, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) -12.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Global Payments (GPN) 0.01%, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) 0.00%. Shift4 Payments (FOUR) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Global Payments (GPN) has been the steadiest (Global Payments (GPN) 40.6%, Shift4 Payments (FOUR) 66.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do GPN and FOUR move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.58, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, GPN and FOUR?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Global Payments (GPN) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.