FOUR
Shift4 Payments, Inc.
FOUR's outlook is improving, though it still trails on the overall score.
MU
Micron Technology, Inc.
MU has the edge over FOUR overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger fundamentals.
FOUR Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Weak |
FOUR's revenue, profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, but its balance sheet is weak.
MU Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
MU's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently strong.
FOUR PE Valuation
FOUR has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
MU PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 4.6x | $798 | — |
| Cheap | 10x | $777 | -2.7% |
| Current | 11x | $798 | — |
| Fair | 22x | $1,646 | +106% |
| Expensive | 32x | $2,404 | +201% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
MU's PE is in its cheap range at 11x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 4.6x next year's earnings.
FOUR Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for FOUR, with profitability holding steady. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
MU Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Broad | |
| Moderate |
MU has the edge over FOUR on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
FOUR Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $7.29 | +331% |
| Q3 2024 | $1.69 | +5% |
| Q2 2024 | $1.64 | +3.1% |
| Q1 2024 | $1.48 | +14% |
| Q4 2023 | $1.36 | +37% |
| Q3 2023 | $1.61 | +360% |
| Q2 2023 | $1.59 | +$1.94 |
| Q1 2023 | $1.30 | +$1.73 |
| Q4 2022 | $0.99 | +$1.91 |
MU has the stronger earnings trend. Trailing diluted EPS is up 5% for FOUR versus MU up 879%.
MU Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $174.95 | +135% |
| Q3 2026 | $74.33 | +879% |
| Q2 2026 | $44.17 | +693% |
| Q1 2026 | $21.18 | +405% |
| Q4 2025 | $10.52 | +201% |
| Q3 2025 | $7.59 | +984% |
| Q2 2025 | $5.57 | +$6.99 |
| Q1 2025 | $4.19 | +$7.64 |
| Q4 2024 | $3.49 | +$9.77 |
MU's earnings per share have climbed steadily: $74.33 over the past year, about 10 times what it earned the year before, and higher year over year for 10 quarters in a row.
FOUR Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.3B | +12% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.3B | +34% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.1B | +32% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.2B | +34% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.2B | +29% |
| Q2 2025 | $966.2M | +17% |
| Q1 2025 | $848.3M | +20% |
| Q4 2024 | $887M | +26% |
FOUR's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since early 2021: $1.3B last quarter, up 12% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 9.9% | +0.1 points |
| Q2 2026 | 7.3% | -1.3 points |
| Q1 2026 | 4.5% | +1.5 points |
| Q4 2025 | 11% | +1.1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 9.7% | +0.9 points |
| Q2 2025 | 8.6% | +1.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 3% | 0 points |
| Q4 2024 | 9.7% | +5.8 points |
FOUR's operating margin was 9.9% last quarter, about level with the same quarter a year ago, near the top of its range since 2019.
MU Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $54.2B | +379% |
| Q2 2026 | $41.5B | +346% |
| Q1 2026 | $23.9B | +196% |
| Q4 2025 | $13.6B | +57% |
| Q3 2025 | $11.3B | +46% |
| Q2 2025 | $9.3B | +37% |
| Q1 2025 | $8.1B | +38% |
| Q4 2024 | $8.7B | +84% |
MU has the edge over FOUR on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 81% | +48 points |
| Q2 2026 | 80% | +57 points |
| Q1 2026 | 68% | +46 points |
| Q4 2025 | 45% | +20 points |
| Q3 2025 | 32% | +13 points |
| Q2 2025 | 23% | +13 points |
| Q1 2025 | 22% | +19 points |
| Q4 2024 | 25% | +49 points |
MU has the edge over FOUR on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
FOUR Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $216M | -21% |
| Q2 2026 | $57M | -39% |
| Q1 2026 | $128M | +186% |
| Q4 2025 | $222.5M | +55% |
| Q3 2025 | $272.5M | +3.4% |
| Q2 2025 | $93M | +24% |
| Q1 2025 | $44.8M | -50% |
| Q4 2024 | $143.8M | +97% |
FOUR generated $624M in free cash flow over the past year, up 13% from the year before.
MU Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $32.9B | +45543% |
| Q2 2026 | $17.6B | +951% |
| Q1 2026 | $5.5B | +$5.6B |
| Q4 2025 | $3B | +7853% |
| Q3 2025 | $72M | -75% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.7B | +322% |
| Q1 2025 | -$113M | +$52M |
| Q4 2024 | $38M | +$433M |
MU has the edge over FOUR on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
FOUR Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -5.1% | -4M shares |
| 1 year | -16% | -14.3M shares |
| 3 years | -11% | -9.5M shares |
| 5 years | -7.4% | -6M shares |
FOUR has the edge over MU on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $190M |
| Q2 2026 | $26M |
| Q1 2026 | $295M |
| Q4 2025 | $304.8M |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | $85.3M |
| Q1 2025 | $62.9M |
| Q4 2024 | $110M |
FOUR spent $816M buying back its own shares over the past year, about three times what it spent the year before.
MU Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.2% | -2M shares |
| 1 year | +1.6% | +18M shares |
| 3 years | +4.6% | +50M shares |
| 5 years | +0.2% | +2M shares |
| Available history | +1.2% | +14M shares |
MU has 1.1B diluted shares, up 1.6% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | $350M |
| Q4 2025 | $300M |
| Q3 2024 | $300M |
| Q2 2024 | — |
| Q1 2024 | — |
| Q4 2023 | — |
MU has spent almost nothing on buybacks in the past year.
FOUR Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 4.5x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 4.6x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 4.7x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 4.5x | High |
| Q3 2025 | 4.6x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 2.0x | Moderate |
| Q1 2025 | 5.5x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 5.6x | High |
FOUR's net debt is about 4.5 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), about the same as a year ago.
MU Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.3x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -0.3x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.6x | Very low |
MU has the edge over FOUR on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
FOUR Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 46.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 33.7 | Neutral |
FOUR's weekly RSI is 46 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 34 (neutral).
MU Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 47.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 26.9 | Neutral |
MU's weekly RSI is 47 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 27 (neutral).
FOUR PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | FOUR | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 28x | — |
FOUR has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
MU PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | MU | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 11x | 28x | 61% below |
| PE % | 18 | 35 | 17 pts below |
MU is trading at 11x earnings, a 61% discount to the Technology sector's median of 28x.
FOUR Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $39.8 | 4.3% above |
| 20 week MA | $44.0 | 5.7% below |
| 50 week MA | $48.5 | 14% below |
| 100 week MA | $69.7 | 40% below |
| 200 week MA | $70.3 | 41% below |
FOUR has bounced recently, but its long-term trend is still down: it's above its 8-week average, but 41% below its 200-week average.
MU Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $914.5 | 13% below |
| 20 week MA | $931.0 | 14% below |
| 50 week MA | $685.9 | 16% above |
| 100 week MA | $405.4 | 97% above |
| 200 week MA | $246.0 | 225% above |
MU has the edge over FOUR on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
FOUR Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $33.5 | $71.8 | +114% |
| 2021 | $71.8 | $59.2 | -18% |
| 2022 | $59.2 | $54.1 | -8.6% |
| 2023 | $54.1 | $74.3 | +38% |
| 2024 | $74.3 | $104.7 | +41% |
| 2025 | $104.7 | $65.2 | -38% |
| 2026 YTD | $65.2 | $41.5 | -36% |
FOUR has finished lower in three of the last six years. It's down 36% so far in 2026.
MU Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $54.0 | $70.6 | +31% |
| 2021 | $70.6 | $94.4 | +34% |
| 2022 | $94.4 | $50.2 | -47% |
| 2023 | $50.2 | $85.3 | +70% |
| 2024 | $85.3 | $88.6 | +3.9% |
| 2025 | $88.6 | $284.8 | +221% |
| 2026 YTD | $284.8 | $798.4 | +180% |
MU has the edge over FOUR on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.