What happened
Shares of Jack Henry & Associates (JKHY -0.46%) have plunged today, down by 12% as of 12:30 p.m. EDT, after the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. Disappointing sales and guidance overshadowed better-than-expected profits.
So what
Revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter came in at $410.5 million, which missed the consensus estimate of $412.6 million in sales. That resulted in earnings per share of $0.80, ahead of the $0.78 per share in profits that analysts were modeling for. The fintech company ended the quarter with $213.3 million in cash.
Image source: Getty Images.
"Despite the challenges associated with conducting business in the midst of a global pandemic, our sales teams persevered and set a monthly sales record in June and a quarterly sales record in our fiscal fourth quarter," CEO David Foss said in a statement. "At the same time, our operations teams continued to deliver new solutions and outstanding customer service for our clients."
Now what
The COVID-19 pandemic hurt card processing transaction volumes early in the quarter, and some of the headwinds around installations and transactions are expected to persist into the new fiscal year.
Jack Henry's guidance for fiscal 2021 also disappointed investors. For the coming fiscal year, the company is forecasting revenue of $1.75 billion to $1.77 billion, shy of Wall Street's expectation of $1.79 billion. Adjusted revenue should grow 5.5% to 6.5%. Earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $3.70 to $3.75, below the consensus estimate of $4.06 per share.
