Fiserv downgraded to Market Perform at William Blair after ‘shocking’ Q3 miss

William Blair downgraded Fiserv (FI) to Market Perform from Outperform, telling investors the firm can no longer recommend the stock given a “shocking” Q3 revenue and EPS miss and abrupt management transition. Relatively new CEO Mike Lyons is now in a difficult position to figure out what went wrong and the firm has “low conviction” in the underpinnings of Fiserv’s merchant competitive position, adding that it has “little visibility into how accurate our assumptions are” with Fiserv having been over-earning in both of its core businesses for at least two years.