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Call sheet · Q2'26

Fidelity National Information Services (FIS)

Q2'26 earnings call · held August 4, 2026 · compared with the Q1'26 call · management-credibility review
8/12
Disclosure score
2 high, 3 medium, 1 low flags
Financial quality
Bottom line
The sleeper story isn't the capital markets guide cut everyone will write about tomorrow, it's that the capital markets ACV growth metric management bragged about last quarter (45%) simply vanished this quarter the moment the business missed, while last quarter's flagship AI/digital-currency initiative got reduced to a single sentence on Anthropic. The obvious headline, FY FCF guide raised $100M to $2.2B while margins beat, is real but is substantially a function of tax timing and one-time cost cuts rather than core acceleration, since EBITDA growth actually decelerated to 7.4% from 9.4%. The binding constraint right now isn't demand, it's capital markets sales execution and conversion capacity, management itself admits 'we had a pretty large miss in the first half in terms of call it ACV sales' and 'we are not banking on' lending recovery for 2026 or 2027. The most revealing line of the call: 'What has not changed is the underlying business fundamentals', said right after confessing the miss. My view changes if next quarter's call restores a disclosed capital markets ACV growth number, puts a dollar figure and date on the strategic alternatives review, or reinstates a specific Anthropic/agentic revenue timeline instead of the vague 'progressing' language used this quarter.

The 30-second version

  • The capital markets ACV number quietly vanished, and that's the real story
  • Headline optics: FCF raised, margins beat; reality: capital markets guide cut for the second straight quarter
  • Project Keystone, the centerpiece of last quarter's Anthropic/digital-currency narrative, gets one sentence this quarter

What changed this quarter

MetricQ1'26Q2'26Change
Total pro forma revenue growth+6.5% y/y+5.3% y/y-120bps deceleration
Adjusted EPS growth+12.4% y/y, $1.36+8.8% y/y-360bps deceleration
Adjusted EBITDA growth+9.4% y/y+7.4% y/y-200bps deceleration
EBITDA margin expansion+87bps+113bps, ahead of 75-110bps outlookBeat own guide by ~25bps
Free cash flow (quarterly)$474M, +111% y/y$525M, >3x y/yAccelerating, but driven by tax timing and cost cuts
FY FCF guide$2.1B$2.2B midpoint, $2.15-2.25B rangeRaised $100M
FY revenue growth guide5.1-5.7%4.5-5%Cut 60-70bps
FY capital markets revenue guide5.5-6.5%3-3.5%225bps cut, second consecutive reduction
Capital markets quarterly revenue growth+2.9%+3.2%, 'at the low end of our outlook'Marginal uptick but still bottom of range
Capital markets professional services growth-1%-17%Sharp deterioration

Accountability tracked

8 new promises made4 narrative shifts flagged9 prior promises scored
Inside the full report
The complete write-up covers the full promise ledger with kept/missed calls, disclosure-quality scoring, the metrics-vanished check, verification items, and the questions to ask next quarter.
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Scores, kept-promise rates, and flags on this site reflect the author's opinion, applying a stated methodology to statements management made on public earnings calls. Informational and educational purposes only - not investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any security. Sources believed reliable but not guaranteed; the author may hold positions in the securities discussed.

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