How much a stock's price changes over time is important for most investors, since price performance can both impact your investment portfolio and help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.

Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Fiserv (FI Quick QuoteFI - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to FI for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Fiserv's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Fiserv's main business drivers.

Founded in 1984, Fiserv Inc. is headquartered in Brookfield, WI. The company provides financial services technology solutions to over 12,000 clients worldwide in the banking, insurance, healthcare and investment industries. Fiserv serves banks, credit unions, leasing and finance companies, investment management firms, billers, retailers, and merchants. The company has grown its business through developing highly specialized products and services and enhancing them, increasing capabilities through innovation, expanding client base, and acquiring complementary businesses. Core focus areas of Fiserv’s business are portfolio management, client relationship value enhancement, operational effectiveness, capital discipline and innovation. Revenues increased 7.6% year over year to $19.09 billion in 2023. Processing & services revenues, primarily generated from account-and-transaction based fees under contracts (three to five-year terms), represented 82% of revenues in 2023. The company has four reportable segments – Merchant Acceptance (Acceptance) segment, the Financial Technology (Fintech)segment and the Payments and Network (Payments) segment.

The businesses in their Acceptance segment offer diverse commerce solutions, serving global merchants. They facilitate secure payment acceptance online or in-person, covering credit, debit, stored-value, and loyalty payments via physical POS or mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

The Fintech segment offers global financial institutions technology solutions for core operations. This includes deposit and loan account processing, ledger management, and more. They also provide digital banking, risk management, consulting, and services for various financial transactions. Some Fintech businesses aid corporate clients in financial process management. These offerings often integrate with services from other segments.

The Payments segment serves various sectors globally, offering digital payment processing, card services, network solutions, security products, and non-card digital payment software. Clients span industries, including merchants, financial institutions, and distribution partners across segments.

Bottom Line

While anyone can invest, building a lucrative investment portfolio takes research, patience, and a little bit of risk. If you had invested in Fiserv ten years ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.

According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in October 2014 would be worth $5,670.55, or a 467.06% gain, as of October 3, 2024. Investors should keep in mind that this return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.

The S&P 500 rose 193.37% and the price of gold increased 114.34% over the same time frame in comparison.

Analysts are anticipating more upside for FI.

Fiserv's growth is primarily driven by Clover’s strong performance. Management is rightfully optimistic about Clover’s performance, given the notable rise in revenues across the preceding quarters. The company is not shy of making acquisitions to expand its product portfolio and enhance its performance. Its business model has amalgamated recurring revenues and high incremental margins. Investors may be drawn to Fiserv due to its consistent share repurchase program. Therefore, it is not surprising that shares of Fiserv have gained 61.5% in the past year. Meanwhile, Fiserv is part of a highly competitive market, which impacts long-term client relationships. While acquisitions benefit the company's performance, it welcomes integration risks. Decreasing liquidity and currency rate fluctuations are other headwinds.

Over the past four weeks, shares have rallied 5.09%, and there have been 2 higher earnings estimate revisions in the past two months for fiscal 2024 compared to none lower. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.