Shift4 vs Western Union
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The short version
- Shift4 is the larger business, with $4.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.1B for Western Union.
- Shift4 grew revenue faster (25.5%, against −3.8%).
- Western Union kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (18.7% operating margin, against 8.4%).
- Shift4 turned more of its sales into free cash flow (14.9% FCF margin, against 12.5%).
- Western Union earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (24.0%, against 6.5%).
| Latest fiscal year | FOUR · FY25 | WU · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $50.4M | $2.0B |
| Revenue | $4.2B | $4.1B |
| Free cash flow | $624M | $505M |
| Net income | $119M | $500M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 25.5% | −3.8% |
| 5-year growth | 40.4% | −3.5% |
| Share count change | −20.1% | −4.0% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 37.0% |
| Operating margin | 8.4% | 18.7% |
| Net margin | 2.9% | 12.3% |
| FCF margin | 14.9% | 12.5% |
| Return on capital | 6.5% | 24.0% |
| Return on equity | 10.6% | 51.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $3.6B | $1.6B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 4.6x | 1.8x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $453M | $544M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 5.2x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | — |
Revenue
FY16
FOUR —
WU $5.4B
FY17
FOUR —
WU $5.5B
FY18
FOUR $561M
WU $5.6B
FY19
FOUR $731M
WU $5.3B
FY20
FOUR $767M
WU $4.8B
FY21
FOUR $1.4B
WU $5.1B
FY22
FOUR $2.0B
WU $4.5B
FY23
FOUR $2.6B
WU $4.4B
FY24
FOUR $3.3B
WU $4.2B
FY25
FOUR $4.2B
WU $4.1B
FOUR
WU
Operating margin
FY16
FOUR —
WU 9.0%
FY17
FOUR —
WU 8.6%
FY18
FOUR −2.3%
WU 20.1%
FY19
FOUR −0.6%
WU 17.7%
FY20
FOUR −7.5%
WU 20.0%
FY21
FOUR −3.6%
WU 22.2%
FY22
FOUR 4.8%
WU 19.8%
FY23
FOUR 4.5%
WU 18.8%
FY24
FOUR 7.4%
WU 17.2%
FY25
FOUR 8.4%
WU 18.7%
FOUR
WU
Free cash flow
FY16
FOUR —
WU $973M
FY17
FOUR —
WU $673M
FY18
FOUR $23.9M
WU $685M
FY19
FOUR −$0.2M
WU $867M
FY20
FOUR −$0.8M
WU $841M
FY21
FOUR −$5.2M
WU $1.0B
FY22
FOUR $267M
WU $550M
FY23
FOUR $332M
WU $760M
FY24
FOUR $493M
WU $369M
FY25
FOUR $624M
WU $505M
FOUR
WU
Return on capital
FY16
FOUR —
WU 11.8%
FY17
FOUR —
WU 10.5%
FY18
FOUR —
WU 50.0%
FY19
FOUR —
WU 38.5%
FY20
FOUR −6.6%
WU 47.2%
FY21
FOUR −4.6%
WU 48.6%
FY22
FOUR 7.7%
WU 40.3%
FY23
FOUR 6.2%
WU 39.0%
FY24
FOUR 8.1%
WU 35.0%
FY25
FOUR 6.5%
WU 24.0%
FOUR
WU
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.