tapebrief
FIS · Q4 2025

FIS · Q1 2026 Earnings

Bullish

Fidelity National Information Services

Reported May 8, 2026

30-second summary

Q1 revenue of $3.295B beat the $3.27–$3.29B prior guide, adjusted EPS of $1.36 cleared the $1.26–$1.30 guide by $0.06–0.10, and adjusted EBITDA of $1.304B beat the $1.275–$1.290B range by $14–29M — a clean print across all three. Management reaffirmed every line of the FY2026 frame ($13.77–$13.85B revenue, $6.22–$6.32 EPS, $5.80–$5.86B EBITDA, $2.05–$2.15B FCF) and continues to flag share repurchases and tuck-in M&A as paused until gross leverage reaches 2.8x. The Anthropic partnership and Project Keystone got most of the strategic airtime; neither contributes 2026 revenue.

Headline numbers

EPS

Q1 FY2026

$1.36

Revenue

Q1 FY2026

$3.29B

+30.0% YoY

Gross margin

Q1 FY2026

33.6%

Free cash flow

Q1 FY2026

$0.47B

Operating margin

Q1 FY2026

12.8%

Key financials

Q1 FY2026
MetricQ1 FY2026YoYQ4 FY2025QoQ
Revenue$3.29B+30.0%$2.81B+17.2%
EPS$1.36—$1.68-19.0%
Gross margin33.6%—38.2%-460bps
Operating margin12.8%—18.8%-600bps
Free cash flow$0.47B———

Guidance

Guidance is issued for the full year only, refreshed each quarter. Prior and new below are the same FY updated this quarter.

Actuals vs prior guidance

MetricPeriodPrior guideActualΔResult
RevenueQ1 FY2026$3,270 - $3,290 million$3,295 million+$5-25 million above guideBeat
Adjusted EPSQ1 FY2026$1.26 - $1.30$1.36+$0.06-0.10 above guideBeat
Adjusted EBITDAQ1 FY2026$1,275 - $1,290 million$1,304 million+$14-29 million above guideBeat
Pro Forma Revenue GrowthQ1 FY20265.5-6.2%6.5%+0.3-1.0 percentage points above guideBeat

Reaffirmed unchanged this quarter: Revenue ($13,770 - $13,850 million), Adjusted EPS ($6.22 - $6.32), Adjusted EBITDA ($5,800 - $5,860 million), Adjusted Revenue Growth (30-31%), Adjusted EBITDA Growth (34-35%), Adjusted EPS Growth (8-10%), Free Cash Flow ($2,050 - $2,150 million (growth of 27-33%)), Pro Forma Revenue Growth (5.1-5.7%)

Segment performance

Q1 FY2026
SegmentQ1 FY2026YoY
Banking Solutions$2.374B+45.0%
Capital Market Solutions$0.823B+5.0%

Other KPIs

Q1 FY2026
SegmentQ1 FY2026
Adjusted EBITDA$1.304B
Adjusted EBITDA Margin39.6%
Pro Forma Revenue Growth6.5%
Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA Growth9.4%
Banking Solutions Adjusted EBITDA Margin43.7%
Capital Market Solutions Adjusted EBITDA Margin51.6%
Recurring Revenue$2.715B
Operating Cash Flow$713M

Management tone

Q2 FY2025 anchor (cautious, margin questions) → Q3 FY2025 (assertive inflection) → Q4 FY2025 (generational moment) → Q1 FY2026 (build-out execution).

The AI narrative completed the journey from defensive moat to specific commercial structure. From Q&A: agents built with Anthropic are owned end-to-end by FIS, distribution is controlled by FIS, Anthropic is paid like a cloud provider on token usage. The shift from "FIS has the data" to "here is the contract structure and the IP boundary" is a meaningful concreteness gain — though management was also explicit that no AI revenue is in 2026 guidance and the meaningful contribution is a 2027 event. That gap between strategic visibility and revenue contribution is now Tapebrief's central watch item on the AI thesis.

The Thesis (TIS) synergy framing was specified this quarter: "minimal in Q1 (~$1M), $30–40M targeted for 2026 mostly in H2, $125M long-term" on cost synergies; on revenue synergies, $45M targeted by 2028 against a $125M long-term goal. Synergies are real but back-half-loaded, and the 2026 guide does not depend on them. The first synergy use case disclosed (First Bank of Puerto Rico, commercial credit card line increase leveraging combined Thesis + core data) is the most specific cross-sell datapoint to date, but explicitly characterized as a leading indicator for 2027–2028 revenue rather than a 2026 contributor.

The capital-allocation posture hardened materially. The language is "temporarily paused share repurchases and tuck-in M&A to accelerate deleveraging." The lack of a stated quarter when buybacks resume makes 2.8x leverage the gating event investors need to track.

The competitive defense against PISMO/Visa was quantified: ">35% of credit issuing contracts renewed through 2029." That extends the credible "no displacement risk" window out to 2029.

Q&A highlights

Dan Delev · Mizuho

What makes the Anthropic partnership unique and why did they choose FIS? How does FIS prevent Anthropic from using this arrangement to disintermediate FIS long-term? When will revenue from this engagement materialize in the outlook?

Anthropic partnership is unique because Anthropic deployed forward engineers embedded with FIS teams to co-build agents. FIS owns all agents and IP, controls distribution, and Anthropic is paid on token usage like a cloud provider. Anthropic cannot disintermediate because they need FIS's regulatory expertise and infrastructure. Agents expected in market in H2 2026 with no revenue in 2026 guidance; meaningful revenue expected in 2027.

Agents expected to launch in back half of 2026No revenue contemplated in 2026 guidanceRevenue expected to materialize in 2027FIS owns all agent IP and distribution

Tianjin Huang · JP Morgan

What feedback from the client conference indicates about competitive positioning, demand for FIS platforms, and current banking budget environment? Are budgets fully funded or is there paralysis from AI pilots?

Banking fundamentals are very strong with healthy liquidity, capital, and fading regulatory concerns. Technology budgets are strong and banks are spending on digital, payments, money movement, and digital currency. Demand is focused on three FIS platforms and use cases. Banks cannot afford AI costs themselves below very large tier, creating opportunity for FIS AI solutions. No evidence of budget paralysis; demand is robust.

Money movement hub ACV tripled year-over-yearDigital ACV up 25%Lending ACV up 63%Recurring ACV growth of 24% year-over-year

Ramsey LSL · Cantor Fitzgerald

What is causing capital markets recurring revenue pressure from macro volatility and lending? Is this on securities finance or corporate/commercial side? On PISMO competitive threat from Visa, what are you seeing?

Pressure is specifically in loan syndication driven by macro-related slowdown in debt issuances. Management took conservative outlook on lending impact through remainder of year. However, lending ACV is very strong at +60% in Q1 and Q4, indicating product strength not market issue. PISMO is a ledgering tool not full core; Wells Fargo has no impact on FIS. FIS is largest U.S. credit card processor with 35%+ of credit issuing contracts renewed through 2029.

Capital markets lending ACV up 60% in Q1 and Q4Debt issuances down due to macro volatilityCapital markets recurring revenue expected to be mid-single-digit growth in Q2FIS has greater than 35% of credit issuing contracts renewed through 2029

Will Nance · Goldman Sachs

What is the outlook for Project Keystone? How do tokenized deposits address banking industry concerns about systemic risk from competing stablecoins? What is the value prop versus stablecoins?

Project Keystone starts with tokenized deposits as first use case, which is an actual use case banks care about versus uncertain stablecoin demand. Five banks announced with significant additional demand after announcement. Banks want FIS to provide platform and infrastructure, not compete with them on stablecoins. Lyric digital asset platform is tried and tested outside U.S. and tested inside U.S. This is enablement play where innovation runs through FIS.

Five U.S. banks in Project Keystone networkSignificant demand after announcement of Project KeystoneTokenized deposits is first use case for banksLyric platform tested and tried outside U.S., tested inside U.S.

Darren Peller · Wolf Research

Update on Thesis synergies and cross-sell potential between debit and credit card processing and core capabilities? What synergies are embedded in outlook?

Thesis integration going well with customers. Actively in conversations on credit card and core synergies. First launch with First Bank of Puerto Rico shows commercial credit card line increase use case leveraging combined Thesis and core data. Expecting revenue synergies to materialize in 2027-2028 given long sales cycles with large banks. Cost synergies target $125M long-term; 2026 target of $30-40M mostly in H2; minimal cost synergies realized in Q1. Revenue synergies target $125M by 2028; minimal 2026 impact.

Cost synergy target: $125M long-term2026 cost synergy target: $30-40M (mostly H2)Q1 cost synergies: minimal (~$1M)Revenue synergy target: $125M by 2028

Answers to last quarter's watch list

TIS pro forma Banking growth rate and sub-segment disclosure — Q1 delivered pro forma revenue growth of 6.5%, above the 5.5–6.2% guided range. Management did not separately disaggregate legacy FIS Banking growth from TIS contribution in the press release. Pro forma Banking grew 7.7% (with banking +10% and payments +5.9% per James). Status: Resolved positively (on the pro forma beat); Continue monitoring (on the TIS-specific sub-segment transparency)
Capital Markets EBITDA margin sustainability above 50% — Q1 printed 51.6%, with 162bps of YoY margin expansion.
Resolved positively
Q1 2026 pro forma revenue delivery within 5.5–6.2% growth band — Delivered 6.5%, above the high end. The inflection narrative has its first 2026 datapoint and it's a beat.
Resolved positively
Adjusted FCF Q1 delivery against the $2.05–$2.15B FY path — Q1 FCF of $474M delivered 23% of the FY guide against a typical 13–14% Q1 share, meaningfully de-risking the FY range despite the $200M credit-issuer integration cash costs ahead.
Resolved positively
Quantified AI revenue or contract disclosure — Management was explicit in Q&A: no AI revenue is in 2026 guidance, meaningful revenue is a 2027 event, and the Anthropic deal structure was disclosed but contract dollars were not. The contract architecture (FIS owns IP and distribution, Anthropic paid on token usage, agents launch H2 2026) is the most concrete disclosure yet, but the revenue quantification gap Tapebrief has flagged for three quarters has not closed.
Continue monitoring

What to watch into next quarter

Q2 FY2026 pro forma revenue growth against the 4.9–5.5% Q2 guide and 5.1–5.7% FY range — Q1 printed 6.5%; management has already guided Q2 pro forma to 4.9–5.5%, with the low end below the FY range midpoint (~5.4%). That step-down is driven by Capital Markets (3–4% in Q2 vs FY 5.5–6.5%) on the loan-syndication softness. Watch whether Q2 lands at the high end or whether the deceleration forces a back-half reacceleration the AI/Keystone roadmap cannot yet support.

Gross leverage progress and any restart signal on buybacks — Capital returns are explicitly paused until 2.8x. Watch whether Q2 commentary attaches a quarter or a leverage milestone (3.0x? 2.9x?) to the resumption of repurchases.

Thesis synergy realization in H2 — Management committed $30–40M of cost synergies in 2026, mostly H2, with ~$1M in Q1. Q2 should show meaningful run-rate synergy contribution if the H2 weighting is real. Formal synergy reporting begins in Q2 per James.

Adjusted FCF cadence against the back-half-loaded $1.58–$1.68B Q2–Q4 implied path — Watch Q2 FCF against the implied average; management already flagged confidence in Q2 cash flow strength.

AI/Keystone revenue contract disclosure — Three quarters of qualitative AI framing, no contract dollars yet, and management explicitly says nothing in 2026. Watch for the first dollar pipeline, contract value, or 2027 quantification.

Sources

  1. FIS Q1 2026 press release (SEC EDGAR exhibit 99.1): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1136893/000113689326000038/q12026ex991.htm
  2. FIS Q1 2026 earnings call prepared remarks and Q&A (analyst exchanges with Mizuho, JP Morgan, Cantor Fitzgerald, Goldman Sachs, Wolfe Research, Oppenheimer)
  3. FIS Q4 2025 press release (prior-quarter guidance baseline): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1136893/000113689326000009/q42025ex991.htm

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