FISV vs JKHY: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?
Last updated October 2026
Short answer
FISV is the larger of the two ($25.29B market cap): the incumbent the market prices for continued execution (5.94x forward earnings). JKHY is the smaller challenger ($11.40B), actually pricier on forward earnings (20.57x): more room to run, but more to prove. The real question is which set of drivers you believe, and whether owning one (or both) leaves you over-concentrated.
FISV vs JKHY: the tie-breaker metrics
Same yardstick, side by side (as of October 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.
| Metric | FISV | JKHY | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $25.29B | $11.40B | Size. The larger name is the incumbent; the smaller has more room to grow and more to prove. |
| Forward P/E | 5.94 | 20.57 | Valuation on next year's expected earnings, the same yardstick for both. Lower is cheaper for that growth; higher means the market is paying up. |
| Trailing P/E | 9.13 | 23.29 | Valuation on the last 12 months. A big drop from trailing to forward means the market expects earnings to jump, so more growth is already in the price. |
| Price vs 52-week range | 4% of range | 57% of range | Where today's price sits between the 52-week low and high. Near the high is momentum with less margin of safety; near the low is out of favor or a discount, depending on why. |
Reading it: FISV is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.
Before you buy: how FISV and JKHY affect your concentration
The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. FISV and JKHY share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.
This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined FISV and JKHY exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
What does Fiserv (FISV) do?
Fiserv is one of the largest payments and financial-technology companies in the world. It operates broadly in two areas: merchant solutions, where it processes card and digital payments for millions of businesses and runs the Clover point-of-sale and small-business platform, and financial solutions, where it provides core account processing, card issuing, digital banking, and related technology to banks and credit unions. Most of its revenue is recurring and transaction-based, tied to the volume of payments and accounts it processes, which gives the business a steady, infrastructure-like quality. Fiserv changed its listing to the Nasdaq and reinstated its original ticker symbol FISV (from FI) in November 2025.
What does Jack Henry & Associates (JKHY) do?
Jack Henry & Associates, based in Monett, Missouri and founded in 1976, is the largest technology provider focused on community and regional banks and credit unions in the US. Its Core segment runs the ledger systems those institutions depend on (SilverLake, CIF 20/20 and Core Director for banks, Symitar for credit unions), increasingly hosted in the Jack Henry private cloud or on public cloud. Payments covers card processing, bill pay, ACH, real-time payments and its PayCenter hub. Complementary products include the Banno digital banking platform, fraud and risk tools, and lending software. Most revenue is recurring, billed per account or per transaction under multi-year contracts, which is why its revenue rarely swings much from one year to the next.
FISV vs JKHY: how do they differ?
Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.
- FISV drivers: Recurring, transaction-based revenue; Clover platform growth.
- JKHY drivers: Taking core share from the big two; Cloud migration of the installed base.
Which fits which kind of investor
A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The main risk is that Fiserv's growth is modest, so slowing organic revenue growth, margin pressure, or weaker free cash flow can disappoint investors, as the roughly 60% share decline over the past year and the 2026 guidance cut showed. For JKHY, the most visible risk is a growth slowdown.
FISV or JKHY: which should you pick?
Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick FISV if you believe its drivers more; JKHY if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the FISV and JKHY guides.
FISV vs JKHY: the full fundamentals
FISV. Fiserv is still solidly profitable, and at about 6 times forward earnings the market is pricing in a long, uncertain recovery rather than a return to its old growth rate. The questions that decide the multiple are whether organic growth stabilizes, how quickly Clover reaccelerates, and whether the lowered 2026 outlook holds, with the November 3 report as the next checkpoint. Figures are as of October 16, 2026 and change daily.
JKHY. At ~$162.55 on October 23, 2026, Jack Henry trades at ~23x its fiscal 2026 EPS of ~$6.98 and ~22x the midpoint of fiscal 2027 GAAP EPS guidance (~$7.33 to ~$7.38). That is below its own five-year average, which often sat near 30x, and reflects a 2026 de-rating of financial software stocks on AI-disruption fears. With ~$539 million of free cash flow, the free cash flow yield is roughly ~4.7%. Fiserv and FIS trade at lower multiples, but both have faced slower growth and management turnover; Jack Henry's premium reflects its share gains and clean balance sheet.
Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): FISV shows revenue (ttm) ~$19.5 billion across the last four reported quarters; 2025 revenue ~$19.8 billion, revenue (q2 2026) ~$4.96 billion; Q3 consensus ~$4.87 billion, net income ~$2.8 billion over the last four quarters, down from ~$3.5 billion in 2025; Q2 2026 ~$627 million, adjusted eps (q2 2026) $1.84 vs ~$1.91 consensus (miss); Q1 2026 $1.79 vs ~$1.57 (beat); JKHY shows revenue (fy2026, gaap) ~$2.54 billion, net income (fy2026) ~$503 million, diluted eps (fy2026) ~$6.98, market cap ~$11.4 billion.
The bottom line: FISV vs JKHY
FISV and JKHY are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined FISV and JKHY exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.
Wondering how FISV or JKHY fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in Fiserv with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how FISV fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is the difference between FISV and JKHY?
+
Fiserv is one of the largest payments and financial-technology companies in the world. Jack Henry & Associates, based in Monett, Missouri and founded in 1976, is the largest technology provider focused on community and regional banks and credit unions in the US. They show up together because they share investment themes, but they are different businesses, so the better fit depends on which thesis you are expressing.
Is FISV or JKHY the better stock?
+
Neither is universally better. FISV is the larger incumbent; JKHY is the smaller challenger and looks pricier on forward earnings. Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Compare what each does, the tie-breaker metrics above, and the risks, then decide which fits your thesis and what you already own.
Which is cheaper, FISV or JKHY?
+
On forward P/E (as of October 2026), FISV trades at 5.94x and JKHY at 20.57x, so FISV is the cheaper of the two on next year's expected earnings. A lower multiple is not automatically the better buy: a richer valuation can be justified by faster growth, and a lower one can reflect real risk. Weigh the multiple against how fast each business is compounding.
Should you own both FISV and JKHY?
+
Because they share themes, owning both concentrates you in that theme. That can be intentional (a focused bet) or accidental (less diversification than it looks). Walnut can show your combined exposure across both, and whether adding either over-concentrates you, before you buy.
What are the risks of FISV vs JKHY?
+
FISV: The main risk is that Fiserv's growth is modest, so slowing organic revenue growth, margin pressure, or weaker free cash flow can disappoint investors, as the roughly 60% share decline over the past year and the 2026 guidance cut showed. Execution risk around internal initiatives like Project Elevate is a real concern; if efficiency and growth improvements lag, sentiment can stay pressured. Competition is intense across both merchant acquiring and bank technology, from large processors and fast-growing fintechs alike, which can pressure pricing and share. Payment volumes are tied to consumer and business spending, so an economic slowdown would weigh on results. The bank-technology business depends on long sales cycles and the health of its financial-institution clients. Fiserv also carries debt from past acquisitions, so interest costs and integration matter. Regulatory changes in payments, interchange, and data handling add uncertainty. Litigation tied to the reset is another watch item, as some plaintiffs point to it in their claims. None of these threaten the franchise's core, but together they explain why a scaled leader can still see its stock struggle when growth and execution come into question. JKHY: The most visible risk is a growth slowdown. Fiscal 2027 guidance of ~6% to 7% revenue growth is below fiscal 2026, and the fourth quarter showed costs rising faster than revenue: R&D was up ~17% and SG&A ~19%, while operating income fell ~12%. If that continues, the margin expansion story weakens. Second, the client base is consolidating. Community banks and credit unions merge every year, and when an acquirer runs a different core, Jack Henry loses the account and receives only a one-time deconversion fee (guided to just ~$23 million in fiscal 2027). A wave of bank mergers under a looser regulatory climate would hurt. Third, competition: Fiserv and FIS are cutting prices to defend share, and newer cloud-native cores such as Thought Machine and Temenos target the same buyers, while Q2 and Alkami compete hard in digital banking. Fourth, AI: investors worry that AI coding and agent tools lower the barrier to building banking software, compressing pricing across the sector. Finally, Jack Henry handles sensitive financial data for thousands of institutions, so a major outage or cyber breach would carry regulatory and reputational costs. At ~22x forward earnings, the shares already assume steady execution.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. This page is descriptive and not a recommendation to buy or sell FISV or JKHY; figures are approximate and dated (as of October 2026). Verify current data before investing.