Shift4 Payments

Shift4 keeps making a lot more money. Revenue over the past year grew about 25%, and the company is still signing up big venues, hotels, restaurants, and stadiums every single month. That steady stream of new merchants means more cards tapped, more payments moved, and more fees collected quarter after quarter.

What used to be a U.S. restaurant and hotel company is now a worldwide platform running in more than 75 countries. The Global Blue deal added tax-free shopping for luxury brands across Europe and Asia, and Shift4's all-in-one product is targeted to be live in fifteen countries by the end of this year. That is a huge new pool of customers it could not reach before.

Growing this fast is expensive. Shift4 keeps only about 2.6 cents of profit out of every dollar it brings in, because acquisitions, interest payments, and integration costs eat up the rest. Until those costs come down, very little of that impressive revenue actually reaches the bottom line.

This stock moves more than the market does. Its beta of 1.41 means it tends to swing roughly 40% harder in both directions, so good news lifts it fast and bad news hits it hard. Add in an economy where travel and dining out can slow down quickly, and you get a stock that requires patience.