UPPER SAUCON TWP., Pa. – Shift4 CEO Taylor Lauber is being blunt in his assessment of how this year is going for company stockholders.
“2026 has thus far been a painful year for shareholders,” Lauber wrote in a letter sent to those shareholders that accompanied Shift4’s 2026 third-quarter earnings report.
“Our share price is down roughly 40% since the beginning of the year, and skepticism remains high for both our company and the sector more broadly,” Lauber continued. “As a group, employees and our founder own over 40% of the company. We share your pain and sincerely appreciate the confidence our long-term shareholders have in the business.”
Shares tumbled again by more than 16% after the release of the earnings report, in which the company announced downward revisions for its future financial guidance.
Still, Lauber, in his remarks Thursday morning, chose to focus mainly on what he called the Lehigh County payment processing company’s “wins”: Gross Revenue rose 12.1% year-over-year to $1.32 billion, Gross Revenue Less Network Fees was $648 million and Gross Profit was $434 million, up 10% and 6%, respectively.
“We did and will continue to deliver durable growth,” Lauber said.
But, even though revenue went up, it fell short of Wall Street expectations. And the company, acknowledging “headwinds” like continued travel disruptions in Europe, inflation and currency fluctuations, is rethinking its predictions for the road ahead.
Shift4 is lowering its fourth-quarter guidance for Gross Revenue Less Network Fees to a range of $625 – $640 million, down from $661 to $711 million.
Also, guidance for Adjusted EBITA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, and Amortization) is being lowered to $285 – $300 million, down from $327 – $352 million.
For the full year, Volume guidance is being lowered to $240 – $250 billion, Gross Revenue Less Network Fees is now predicted at $2.45 – $2.46 billion and full-year adjusted EBITDA is predicted at $1.11 – $1.13 billion.
“For those keeping score, this guidance is roughly 4% lower on Gross Revenues Less Network Fees and 6% lower on Adjusted EBITDA than our original full year 2026 guidance,” Lauber wrote in his letter.
The company also is lowering its full-year guidance for Adjusted EPS (earnings per share) from a range of $5.15 – $5.35 to $5.05 – $5.15.
Lauber acknowledged that shareholder returns are a piece of the puzzle that is “clearly not working as it should be.” The company repurchased about 4.2 million Class A shares for $190 million during the third quarter.
Lauber also noted, since Shift4 went public in 2020, the company has grown it revenues by 35% annually and improved EBITDA margins by 55%.
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