Shift4 Payments NYSE: FOUR reported first-quarter 2026 results that management said were in line with prior guidance, as growth in payments and international markets helped offset travel disruption tied to the conflict in the Middle East.
CEO Taylor Lauber said the company’s results were defined by “durable and resilient growth” in a difficult environment, progress in international expansion and continued competitive strength across what Shift4 calls the “experience economy,” including restaurants, hotels, sports and entertainment, and retail.
Lauber said Shift4 generated 32% year-over-year growth in gross revenue, 49% growth in gross revenue less network fees, 39% growth in adjusted EBITDA and 26% growth in adjusted free cash flow. Adjusting for acquisitions, organic gross revenue less network fees rose 11%, despite what he described as a roughly 400-basis-point drag from intentionally deprecated legacy revenue streams.
CFO Christopher Cruz said first-quarter gross revenue less network fees totaled $549 million, adjusted EBITDA was $234 million and adjusted free cash flow was $88 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 43%, while non-GAAP earnings per share were $0.97. Volumes increased 24% year over year to $56 billion, with blended spreads of 61 basis points.
Payments Growth and Same-Store Sales Trends
Management said payments-based revenue less network fees rose 25% in the quarter. Lauber said Americas-based payments revenue less network fees increased 15%, while worldwide payments-based revenue less network fees grew 51%.
Lauber said the company has been candid since the third quarter of last year about softer trends among restaurant small and medium-sized businesses in the Americas. However, Cruz said same-store sales trends in restaurants and lodging were slightly better than expected during the quarter, with largely stable consumer trends in the Americas through April and weather affecting restaurants only early in the period.
Despite the improvement, Lauber said the company’s full-year outlook remains “fairly neutral” and does not assume a dramatic recovery in the back half of the year. Shift4 reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance, including 26% to 31% growth in gross revenue less network fees.
Middle East Conflict Weighs on Travel-Related Revenue
Both Lauber and Cruz addressed the impact of the Middle East conflict, particularly on the tax-free shopping business acquired through Global Blue. Lauber said the conflict has affected inbound travel to Europe and several Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
Cruz said the tax-free shopping category grew 4% on a pro forma year-over-year basis. He estimated the conflict created a $4 million to $6 million headwind to gross revenue less network fees in the quarter, largely tied to consumers from the GCC and parts of East Asia traveling into Europe.
In response to an analyst question, Cruz said the company analyzes the impact by examining travel corridors and airline passenger seat capacity. He said GCC-to-Europe and Southeast Asia/East Asia-to-Europe corridors represent a little more than 20% of European volumes in the tax-free shopping business. Cruz said reduced passenger seat capacity was a strong predictor of sales pressure in those corridors.
For the second quarter, Shift4 guided to gross revenue less network fees of $615 million, including an estimated $20 million impact from Middle East-related travel disruption. The company also guided to adjusted EBITDA of $278 million, adjusted free cash flow of $10 million and gross revenue of $1.17 billion.
International Expansion and Global Blue Integration
Lauber said Shift4’s international expansion remains on track and is scaling on the timeline the company previously described. He highlighted the company’s Shift4 One product, which combines payments, dynamic currency conversion and tax-free shopping in a single device.
According to Lauber, Shift4 One is currently available in seven countries and is expected to be in 15 countries by the end of the year. Early customers in the quarter included Breitling, Farmacia Barcelona and Swatch. Lauber said more than 70,000 SMB merchants in the Global Blue install base are prospective customers for the product.
Shift4 also signed several enterprise luxury retailers for its tax-free shopping offering during the quarter, including Stella McCartney, Massimo Dutti and 55 Croisette. Lauber said the Global Blue integration remains on track and has provided local infrastructure, talent and networks in markets where Shift4 previously had little or no footprint.
Vertical Wins Across Restaurants, Hotels and Sports
Lauber said Shift4 continues to focus on powering the “experience economy,” which he described as “anywhere you shop, dine, stay, or play.” He said the company sees limited strong competition across many of its targeted verticals.
In restaurants, Lauber said active merchant counts for the company’s SkyTab point-of-sale product grew more than 40% year over year. He also said Shift4 is rebranding SkyTab to Shift4 Dine, citing the broader strength of the Shift4 brand.
In hotels, Lauber said the company signed a five-year renewal with Choice Hotels and added Lotte New York Palace Hotel, as well as hotels in Greece and Canada. In sports and entertainment, he said Shift4 powered payments at the “big game” at Levi’s Stadium in February and will power ticket sales in Los Angeles in 2028. The company also signed Inter Miami, Chicago Fire, the Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs during the quarter.
Lauber said Shift4 is enabling dynamic currency conversion across its U.S. merchant base ahead of the World Cup, with a focus on stadiums hosting matches and hotels where fans are expected to stay.
Capital Allocation, Sales Strategy and AI
Cruz said Shift4 repurchased 5.5 million shares during the first quarter, bringing cumulative execution under its $1 billion authorization to $600 million. He said the company ended the quarter with its non-GAAP share count flat year over year. Pro forma net leverage was 3.7 times, and Cruz said the company does not intend to exceed 3.75 times on a sustained basis.
In response to analyst questions, Lauber said Shift4 has roughly 300 full-time salespeople in the U.S. and more than 700 total sales resources globally. He said the company continues to use third-party distribution, including value-added resellers, independent software vendors and other partners, while building direct sales capacity internationally.
Lauber also discussed the company’s use of artificial intelligence, saying Shift4 is using AI to speed product delivery and improve workflows across non-technology functions such as human resources, legal, marketing and support. He said AI is helping the company scale more efficiently in new markets, though he added that Shift4 does not believe it has fully defined its AI roadmap.
Lauber closed by emphasizing the company’s diversification and discipline, saying Shift4 is not dependent on “one market, one vertical, or one macro tailwind.”
About Shift4 Payments NYSE: FOUR
Shift4 Payments is a U.S.-based provider of integrated payment processing and technology solutions, serving merchants across the hospitality, retail, e-commerce, gaming and lodging industries. The company's platform enables businesses to accept in-store, online and mobile payments through a combination of point-of-sale hardware, payment gateway services and back-office software. By centralizing transaction processing and reporting, Shift4 aims to simplify payments, enhance security and streamline operations for its merchant customers.
The company's core offerings include encrypted point-of-sale terminals, cloud-based payment gateways, and developer-friendly APIs for online and mobile checkouts.
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