Global Payments (GPN) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $19.49B
• Dividend Yield: 1.25%
• Average Volume (3M): 4.18M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 13.3
• Beta (1Y): 1.18
• Revenue Growth: -11.30%
• EPS Growth: 34.28%
• Country: US
• Employees: 27,000
• Sector: Industrials
• Sector Strength: 72
• Industry: Specialty Business Services
• EPS (TTM): 3.18
• Shares Outstanding: 279,901,340
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 3,659,827
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 4,182,017
• PEG Ratio: -2.41
• Price to Book (P/B): 0.81
• Price to Sales (P/S): 2.41
• P/FCF Ratio: 9.10
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.52
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 3.58
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 5.16
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 9.03
• 1Y Price Target: $100.72
• Price Target Upside: 44.63% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Hold
• Number of Analyst Covering: 22
• EPS Forecast (FY): 13.88
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $12.53B

• Rating: 62 Neutral
• Price Target: $75.00 ▲(7.70% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 03/13/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 03/13/26

The score reflects solid profitability and cash generation plus positive 2026 guidance (growth, margin expansion, and strong free-cash-flow conversion). These are partly offset by weak technicals (trading below major moving averages), recent revenue decline in 2025, and a higher leverage profile that raises execution and financial risk during Worldpay integration.

Positive Factors

Strong free cash flow conversion

Consistently strong free cash flow conversion is a durable strength: converting earnings to cash (>100% in 2025, guided >90%) supports sustained deleveraging, the $7.5B capital return plan, large share buybacks and ongoing technology investment without depending on volatile equity markets.

Scale and merchant market position

Massive scale and global transaction footprint create durable network effects and distribution breadth. Serving millions of merchants and trillions in volume supports pricing leverage, cross-border product rollouts and sticky platform economics that underpin recurring revenue and competitive resilience over multi-year horizons.

Product innovation and Genius/AI adoption

Rapid adoption of differentiated products (Genius, POS growth) and AI-driven features (faster development, higher approval and dispute win rates) strengthen competitive moats. These capabilities increase merchant retention, allow higher-value services and support sustainable margin expansion and cross-sell over the medium term.

Negative Factors

Elevated leverage and interest burden

Materially higher leverage reduces financial flexibility and raises refinancing and covenant risk. Elevated net interest expense and a large debt stock constrain the pace of organic investment or bolt-on M&A and make successful cash generation and deleveraging essential to preserve the investment-grade profile over the next 18–24 months.

Recent sharp revenue decline

A pronounced top-line contraction materially weakens operating leverage and makes margin targets harder to sustain. Persistent revenue shortfalls increase reliance on cross-sell and synergies for growth, heightening execution sensitivity and reducing visibility into multi-year earnings and cash-flow sustainability.

Integration and synergy execution risk

Large, front-loaded synergy targets and cross-sell expectations create structural execution risk: delays or lower realization would compress margins, slow deleveraging and reduce free cash flow. Combined with competitive SMB pricing pressure, failure to execute would impair the long-term earnings and balance-sheet repair plan.

Global Payments Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Global Payments Inc. provides payment technology and software solutions for card, electronic, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through three segments: Merchant Solutions, Issuer Solutions, and Business and Consumer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization services, settlement and funding services, customer support and help-desk functions, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security services, consolidated billing and statements, and on-line reporting services. This segment also provides an array of enterprise software solutions that streamline business operations of its customers in various vertical markets; and value-added services, such as point-of-sale solutions, and analytic and engagement tools, as well as payroll and human capital management services. The Issuer Solutions segment offers solutions that enable financial institutions and retailers to manage their card portfolios through a platform; and commercial payments and ePayables solutions for businesses and governments. The Business and Consumer Solutions segment provides general-purpose reloadable prepaid debit and payroll cards, demand deposit accounts, and other financial service solutions to the underbanked and other consumers, and businesses under the Netspend brand. It markets its products and services through direct sales force, trade associations, agent and enterprise software providers, referral arrangements with value-added resellers, and independent sales organizations. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

How the Company Makes Money

Global Payments makes money primarily by facilitating electronic payment transactions and providing software and value-added services that support commerce. Its core revenue stream comes from merchant acquiring and payment processing: when a merchant accepts a card or other electronic payment, Global Payments (directly or via partner banks) provides acquiring, authorization routing, processing, settlement, and related services. For these services it earns fees that are generally tied to transaction volume (e.g., a percentage of the payment amount and/or a per-transaction fee), along with certain fixed or recurring account-related fees. The company also generates revenue from software and integrated commerce offerings, including point-of-sale and vertical/industry-specific business software that bundles payments with operational tools; these products can produce recurring revenues (such as software subscriptions and support/maintenance) in addition to payment-related fees. Additional earnings can come from value-added services such as fraud prevention, security/tokenization, chargeback and dispute tools, analytics, and other commerce enablement services that are sold as add-ons or embedded in broader offerings. A meaningful factor in the model is distribution through partnerships—particularly with financial institutions and other channel partners—where Global Payments enables merchant acceptance for the partner’s customers and shares economics or pays referral/marketing-related fees; the company’s earnings in these arrangements depend on the commercial terms and the payment volume generated through those channels.

Global Payments Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Underlying profitability and free cash flow are solid, with a recovery from the weak 2022 profit year. Offsetting this, revenue declined sharply in 2025 and leverage has risen (debt-to-equity near ~1.0), increasing financial risk and reducing flexibility.

Income Statement

Profitability is a clear strength, with consistently high gross margins and solid EBITDA margins across the period, and net margin rebounding strongly after a very weak 2022. However, growth has become a meaningful headwind: revenue was down sharply in 2025 versus 2024 after modest growth in 2023–2024. Overall, earnings power looks good, but the negative top-line trajectory and some margin volatility reduce the score.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet is supported by a sizable equity base, but leverage has risen notably over time. Debt-to-equity moved from a low level in 2020 to near 1.0 by 2025, which increases financial risk and reduces flexibility. Returns on equity are positive and improving versus 2022, but remain moderate for the level of leverage.

Cash Flow

Cash generation is a positive: free cash flow remains strong and has generally tracked net income reasonably well (free cash flow to net income stays around the mid-to-high range). That said, cash flow momentum softened in 2025 with a decline in free cash flow, and the conversion of operating cash flow relative to revenue has been inconsistent year-to-year. Overall, the business produces meaningful cash, but recent trends are slightly less favorable.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	7.71B	10.11B	9.65B	8.98B	8.52B
Gross Profit	5.59B	6.35B	5.93B	5.20B	4.75B
EBITDA	3.45B	4.52B	3.74B	2.43B	3.23B
Net Income	1.40B	1.57B	986.23M	111.49M	965.46M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	53.34B	46.89B	50.57B	44.81B	45.28B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	8.34B	2.54B	2.09B	2.00B	1.98B
Total Debt	21.81B	16.82B	17.38B	14.29B	12.08B
Total Liabilities	29.56B	23.87B	26.78B	22.27B	19.41B
Stockholders Equity	22.89B	22.28B	23.00B	22.30B	25.63B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	2.04B	2.86B	1.59B	1.63B	2.29B
Operating Cash Flow	2.66B	3.53B	2.25B	2.24B	2.78B
Investing Cash Flow	-185.46M	-173.89M	-4.36B	-675.54M	-2.29B
Financing Cash Flow	3.69B	-2.77B	2.14B	-1.38B	-405.37M

Global Payments Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Negative
• Last Price: 69.64
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Negative
• 200DMA: Negative
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For GPN, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 69.64 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 75.39, below the 50-day MA of 74.34, and below the 200-day MA of 79.33, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -1.34 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 40.88 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 26.01 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for GPN.

Global Payments Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
CASS	80 Outperform	$561.25M	15.59	14.61%	2.98%	-4.96%	39.42%
ACTG	67 Neutral	$486.24M	16.61	4.02%	―	71.28%	-89.20%
MMS	67 Neutral	$3.77B	12.60	21.76%	1.38%	2.36%	11.30%
LZ	66 Neutral	$1.08B	115.09	8.17%	―	7.17%	-5.86%
ABM	64 Neutral	$2.19B	17.89	8.80%	2.20%	4.62%	102.72%
Sector *	63 Neutral	$10.79B	15.43	7.44%	2.01%	2.89%	-14.66%
GPN	62 Neutral	$19.49B	13.26	6.20%	1.25%	-11.30%	34.28%

Global Payments Corporate Events

Global Payments Completes $1 Billion Senior Notes Offering

On March 12, 2026, Global Payments completed a $1 billion public debt offering split between $500 million of 4.550% senior notes due 2028 and $500 million of 5.400% senior notes due 2033, issued as unsecured and unsubordinated obligations under an existing indenture framework. The company plans to use the proceeds to retire its 4.800% notes maturing in April 2026 and to pay down borrowings under its five‑year revolving credit facility due 2030, a move that refinances near‑term debt, extends its maturity profile and reinforces its capital structure flexibility while incorporating standard redemption, change‑of‑control and covenant protections for noteholders.

The notes pay interest semi‑annually each March 15 and September 15 starting September 15, 2026, and both series may be redeemed early at defined make‑whole or par prices, with automatic acceleration of payment in certain default or insolvency events. The indenture also restricts the company’s ability to incur future secured debt on key assets without equally securing these notes, though the company currently reports no properties classified as principal property, limiting the immediate operational impact of this covenant.

The most recent analyst rating on (GPN) stock is a Hold with a $79.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Global Payments stock, see the GPN Stock Forecast page.

Global Payments Announces $1 Billion Senior Notes Offering

On March 5, 2026, Global Payments Inc. entered into an underwriting agreement with Barclays Capital Inc., BofA Securities, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC to issue $500 million of 4.550% senior notes due 2028 and $500 million of 5.400% senior notes due 2033 in a public offering. The $1 billion notes issuance, registered under an existing shelf registration filed in November 2025, is expected to close on March 12, 2026, and will provide the company with additional long-term funding, reinforcing its capital structure and financial flexibility.

The underwriting agreement includes customary representations, warranties, indemnification provisions and termination rights typical for such capital markets transactions. By tapping the debt markets with staggered maturities, Global Payments is further diversifying its funding sources, which may support ongoing investment in its payments technology platform and broader strategic initiatives.

The most recent analyst rating on (GPN) stock is a Hold with a $88.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Global Payments stock, see the GPN Stock Forecast page.

Global Payments Highlights New Worldpay Financial Disclosures Filing

In January 2026, Global Payments Inc. completed the simultaneous acquisition of 100% of merchant acquirer Worldpay Holdco, LLC from Fidelity National Information Services and GTCR, while divesting its Issuer Solutions business to FIS, marking a significant reshaping of its portfolio toward merchant-focused payments. The company has now filed audited combined and consolidated financial statements for Worldpay as of and for the periods ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, along with unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information for Global Payments for 2025, providing investors with updated visibility into the financial profile of the enlarged, more merchant-centric business and its post-transaction capital structure.

The most recent analyst rating on (GPN) stock is a Hold with a $88.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Global Payments stock, see the GPN Stock Forecast page.

Global Payments Launches $550 Million Accelerated Share Buyback

On February 18, 2026, Global Payments Inc. entered into an accelerated share repurchase program to buy back $550 million of its common stock under its existing, board-approved repurchase authorization. The company expects to receive approximately 5,414,718 shares on February 20, 2026, with the final share count determined by the average daily volume-weighted average price over the repurchase period, less a discount and subject to adjustments.

The accelerated buyback is scheduled for final settlement no later than March 30, 2026, and is likely to reduce the company’s share count and potentially enhance earnings per share, signaling confidence in its valuation and long-term prospects. The move underscores Global Payments’ ongoing capital return strategy, which may support shareholder value and reinforce its positioning in the competitive payments technology sector.

The most recent analyst rating on (GPN) stock is a Hold with a $91.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Global Payments stock, see the GPN Stock Forecast page.

Global Payments Posts Strong Q4 Results, Raises 2026 Outlook

On February 18, 2026, Global Payments reported fourth-quarter 2025 GAAP revenue of $1.90 billion and adjusted net revenue of $2.32 billion, with adjusted EPS up 11% in constant currency, while full-year 2025 adjusted net revenue rose to $9.32 billion and adjusted EPS climbed 11% to $12.22. The company highlighted expanding operating margins, strong cash generation and merchant solutions growth, declared a quarterly dividend, and guided for 2026 adjusted EPS growth of 13%–15%.

During 2025, Global Payments completed the acquisition of Worldpay and the divestiture of its Issuer Solutions business, cementing its transformation into a pure‑play merchant solutions provider built around its new Genius platform. The board authorized $2.5 billion in share repurchases, including a $550 million accelerated buyback, and the company expects to return over $2 billion to shareholders in 2026, moves that underscore its confidence in long-term cash flow and shareholder value creation, while also strengthening its leadership team with a new chief accounting officer effective March 1, 2026.

The most recent analyst rating on (GPN) stock is a Buy with a $114.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Global Payments stock, see the GPN Stock Forecast page.

Global Payments announces senior executive leadership transitions

On January 9, 2026, Global Payments Inc. announced that Executive Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer David Sheffield plans to retire effective March 1, 2026, and will remain in his current role until then while the company appoints a successor; the company emphasized that his departure is not related to any disagreement over its operations or accounting policies. Also on January 9, 2026, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer David Green notified the company that he is resigning for good reason under his employment agreement and immediately ceased serving in his executive roles, though he will stay on briefly in a non-executive capacity to support the transition of responsibilities and key initiatives, with the company likewise stating that his departure does not stem from any dispute over its operations or practices.

The most recent analyst rating on (GPN) stock is a Hold with a $80.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Global Payments stock, see the GPN Stock Forecast page.

Global Payments Completes Transformative Worldpay Acquisition and Divestiture

On January 12, 2026, Global Payments completed its acquisition of Worldpay from FIS and GTCR and the divestiture of its Issuer Solutions business to FIS, reshaping the company into a pure-play commerce solutions provider focused on merchants ranging from small businesses to global enterprises. The transactions significantly expand Global Payments’ scale and reach, with the combined company now serving over 6 million merchant locations and processing $3.7 trillion in payment volume and roughly 94 billion transactions a year across more than 175 countries; the firm will go to market via three dedicated channels—Enterprise, SMB, and Integrated & Platforms—and expects the enlarged platform, enhanced distribution and integration synergies to strengthen free cash flow, support more than $1 billion in annual innovation investment and underpin plans to maintain investment-grade credit ratings while reducing adjusted net leverage to 3.0x within 18 to 24 months. In connection with the deal, GTCR now holds about 15.45% of Global Payments’ common stock as of December 31, 2025, under a shareholders agreement that imposes a staged lock-up on share sales, standstill limits on increasing its stake above current levels, and grants it information and preemptive rights, alongside a registration rights agreement that facilitates future liquidity for GTCR’s equity position.

The most recent analyst rating on (GPN) stock is a Hold with a $75.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Global Payments stock, see the GPN Stock Forecast page.