Shift4 vs Jack Henry & Associates

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KIRA’s take AI analyst

I put Shift4 and Jack Henry & Associates side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:

Shift4 is the larger business, with $4.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.5B for Jack Henry & Associates, about 1.6 times as much.
Shift4 grew revenue faster (25.5%, against 7.1%).
Jack Henry & Associates kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (25.0% operating margin, against 8.4%).
Jack Henry & Associates turned more of its sales into free cash flow (27.3% FCF margin, against 14.9%).
Jack Henry & Associates earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (23.8%, against 6.5%).

Who comes out ahead

Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.

Shift4

FOUR

3/10

Revenue growth5-year growthShare count change

Jack Henry & Associates

JKHY

7/10

Operating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-scoreNet debt / EBITDA

Side by side

Best in the row

Latest fiscal year	FOUR FY25	JKHY FY26
Size
Market cap	$48.1M	$11.7B
Revenue	$4.2B	$2.5B
Free cash flow	$624M	$695M
Net income	$119M	$503M
Growth
Revenue growth	25.5%	7.1%
5-year growth	40.4%	7.7%
Share count change	−20.1%	−1.4%
Profitability
Gross margin	—	43.7%
Operating margin	8.4%	25.0%
Net margin	2.9%	19.8%
FCF margin	14.9%	27.3%
Return on capital	6.5%	23.8%
Return on equity	10.6%	24.0%
Balance sheet
Net debt	$3.6B	$27.9M
Net debt / EBITDA	4.6x	0.0x
Dividends and buybacks	$453M	$619M
Valuation & quality
P/E	—	—
Piotroski F-score	6	7

Ten years

Revenue

FY17

FOUR —

JKHY $1.4B

FY18

FOUR $561M

JKHY $1.5B

FY19

FOUR $731M

JKHY $1.6B

FY20

FOUR $767M

JKHY $1.7B

FY21

FOUR $1.4B

JKHY $1.8B

FY22

FOUR $2.0B

JKHY $1.9B

FY23

FOUR $2.6B

JKHY $2.1B

FY24

FOUR $3.3B

JKHY $2.2B

FY25

FOUR $4.2B

JKHY $2.4B

FY26

FOUR —

JKHY $2.5B

FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

FOUR JKHY

Operating margin

FY17

FOUR —

JKHY 23.9%

FY18

FOUR −2.3%

JKHY 23.3%

FY19

FOUR −0.6%

JKHY 22.4%

FY20

FOUR −7.5%

JKHY 22.4%

FY21

FOUR −3.6%

JKHY 22.7%

FY22

FOUR 4.8%

JKHY 24.4%

FY23

FOUR 4.5%

JKHY 23.1%

FY24

FOUR 7.4%

JKHY 22.1%

FY25

FOUR 8.4%

JKHY 23.9%

FY26

FOUR —

JKHY 25.0%

FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

FOUR JKHY

Free cash flow

FY17

FOUR —

JKHY $315M

FY18

FOUR $23.9M

JKHY $372M

FY19

FOUR −$0.2M

JKHY $378M

FY20

FOUR −$0.8M

JKHY $457M

FY21

FOUR −$5.2M

JKHY $439M

FY22

FOUR $267M

JKHY $470M

FY23

FOUR $332M

JKHY $342M

FY24

FOUR $493M

JKHY $510M

FY25

FOUR $624M

JKHY $588M

FY26

FOUR —

JKHY $695M

FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

FOUR JKHY

Return on capital

FY17

FOUR —

JKHY 23.5%

FY18

FOUR —

JKHY 30.7%

FY19

FOUR —

JKHY 20.7%

FY20

FOUR −6.6%

JKHY 22.2%

FY21

FOUR −4.6%

JKHY 23.1%

FY22

FOUR 7.7%

JKHY 25.9%

FY23

FOUR 6.2%

JKHY 22.4%

FY24

FOUR 8.1%

JKHY 20.1%

FY25

FOUR 6.5%

JKHY 22.7%

FY26

FOUR —

JKHY 23.8%

FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

FOUR JKHY

Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.