Fiserv — Financial Results
Revenue Grew 4%, But Profitability Slipped As Costs Rose Faster
| Metric | 2025 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Revenue | $21.2B | $20.5B | +4% |
| Operating Income | $5.8B | $5.9B | -1% |
| Operating Margin | 27.5% | 28.7% | -120 bps |
| Net Income (Fiserv shareholders) | $3.5B | $3.1B | +11% |
Revenue grew solidly, but expenses grew faster — up 5% versus revenue's 4% — squeezing the operating margin (profit as a percentage of revenue) by 1.2 percentage points. The margin pressure came mainly from higher payments to distribution partners, increased data processing costs, and early spending on a new internal transformation program. Net income still rose 11%, partly because 2024 was weighed down by a large one-time write-down.
Clover and Small Business Are the Growth Engine
The Clover point-of-sale and business management platform drove 5% of revenue growth in the Merchant segment. Small Business was the standout contributor, benefiting from rising transaction volumes and an expanding suite of value-added services attached to existing merchant relationships. The Merchant segment is now a $10.1 billion business, making it slightly larger than the Financial segment for the first time.
Eight Acquisitions in 2025 Extended Clover's Global Reach
Fiserv completed eight acquisitions in 2025 for a combined $856 million (net of cash acquired). The most strategically notable is CCV Group, a European POS provider that accelerates Clover's rollout across Europe, and TD Merchant Canada, which brought a multi-year processing agreement with TD Bank alongside merchant volumes. Other deals added capabilities in embedded finance, credit decisioning, and pay-by-bank solutions. Separately, Fiserv bought out minority partners in two existing joint ventures for $442 million combined.
Debt Load Increased Significantly, Pushing Interest Costs Up 25%
| Metric | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Total Long-Term Debt | $27.8B | $23.7B |
| Net Interest Expense | $1.5B | $1.2B |
| Operating Cash Flow | $6.1B | $6.6B |
Fiserv raised roughly $5.75 billion in new senior notes across 2024 and 2025 to fund share buybacks, acquisitions, and refinancing. This pushed net interest expense up $298 million, or 25%, in a single year. Operating cash flow dipped 9% to $6.1 billion, partly reflecting higher cash interest payments. The company carries $37.7 billion in goodwill (the premium paid above book value for past acquisitions), and while it passed its impairment tests, eight reporting units representing $18.5 billion of that goodwill have less than a 15% cushion between their estimated fair value and their carrying value — a figure worth watching if business performance softens.
Share Buybacks Lifted Earnings Per Share Despite Flat Profits
Fiserv repurchased 32.2 million shares for $5.6 billion in 2025, reducing its share count by roughly 6%. This is why diluted earnings per share (profit divided by shares outstanding) jumped from $5.38 to $6.34 — a 18% increase — even though underlying operating profit barely moved. The company had ~45.9 million shares remaining under its repurchase authorization at year-end.
S&P Moved Credit Outlook to Negative in November 2025
In November 2025, Standard & Poor's revised Fiserv's credit outlook (a forward-looking signal about potential rating changes) from stable to negative, while maintaining its BBB rating. Moody's kept a stable outlook. A negative outlook does not mean a downgrade is certain, but it signals S&P's concern — likely related to rising debt levels. If either agency cuts the rating below investment grade, interest rates on certain senior notes could rise by up to 2 percentage points, adding meaningfully to already elevated interest costs.