Aug. 6, 2026
— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
Shares of Shift4, a Lehigh County-based payment processer, fell hard today after the company reported second-quarter earnings.
The shares (NYSE:FOUR) dropped $10.02, or 19%, to $43.36.
The numbers didn’t look bad but Shift4 Chief Executive Taylor Lauber noted that the war in Iran has affected results.
“The conflict continues to have a meaning negative impact on tax free shopping albeit with slightly more positive performance in Q2 than originally anticipated,” Lauber said in Shift4’s letter to shareholders. He also mentioned the company’s concern for people affected by the conflict. Shift4 has operations in the Middle East.
Lauber also nudged downward the midpoint of the company’s forecast for full-year gross revenue less network fees.
Shift4 processes payments for restaurants, hotels, arenas, professional teams and other organizations, and handles duty-free payments for travelers.
“We remain confident in the durability and long-term growth of the tax-free shopping business, and excited about the large opportunity in front of us to combine payments and tax-free shopping across luxury retail and the broader experience economy,” Lauber said in the company statement.
The company said gross revenue less network fees (paid to credit-card companies) in the second quarter was $624 million and adjusted net income was $132 million or $1.32 per share, exceeding Wall Street estimates.
Shift4 is based in Upper Saucon Township. It was founded by Jared Isaacman, now head of NASA, in the basement of his New Jersey home in 1999, when he was 16. Lauber succeeded him when Isaacman was appointed to lead the space agency. In addition to being a billionaire businessman, Isaacman is a pilot and has been on two SpaceX flights.
Shares in the company have traded as low as $34.56 and as high as $92.79 in the past 52 weeks. Isaacman and Lauber have said previously that the market does not always recognize the value of Shift4. Isaacman, while still CEO, suggested that “going private” could be an option.
Shares of rival Toast (NYSE:TOST) were little changed today.
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 