Gauging ACIW-NationsBenefits Deal: Investment Opportunity or Hype?

ACI Worldwide ACIW announced a partnership with NationsBenefits, a healthcare fintech and supplemental benefits company, to enhance health and retail benefits for millions of consumers.

The partnership will integrate ACI Worldwide's payment processing solutions with NationsBenefits' Benefits Mastercard Prepaid Card, enabling seamless transactions for eligible health plan members at participating retailers. This initiative is expected to increase retailer connectivity, broaden payment options, and ensure enhanced consumer security and compliance.

This collaboration underscores both companies' commitment to leveraging technology to improve consumer access to health-related products and services, reflecting a significant step forward in integrating healthcare benefits with advanced payment solutions.

NationsBenefits Deal to Boost ACIW’s Footprint

The partnership of ACI Worldwide, which is a global leader in payments technology, with NationsBenefits marks a strategic entry into the rapidly expanding healthcare payments ecosystem, positioning ACIW to capitalize on the high-growth supplemental benefits space. This collaboration broadens ACIW’s merchant footprint beyond traditional retail and places the company at the intersection of healthcare fintech and next-generation payment solutions.

ACI Worldwide, Inc. Price and Consensus

 

ACI Worldwide, Inc. price-consensus-chart | ACI Worldwide, Inc. Quote

Collaborating with a prominent player in the healthcare fintech space may enhance ACIW's competitive position, differentiating its offerings in the payment technology landscape. This partnership may catalyze long-term value creation and operational leverage across ACIW’s broader digital payments portfolio.

ACI Worldwide Outperforms Sector & Industry in a Year

ACIW shares have soared 55.1% over the trailing 12 months, significantly outperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s 1.4% return and the Zacks Computer - Software industry’s decline of 5.5%.

ACI Worldwide also outperformed other industry players such as Cadence Design Systems CDNS, PTC PTC and Adobe ADBE over the same timeframe.

Over the past year, shares of Cadence Design Systems, PTC and Adobe have declined 18.4%, 20.9%, and 27.7%, respectively.

The rise in the share price is driven by its standout 2024 performance, with revenues up 10% year over year and net income surging 67%. Strong growth across core segments, early contract wins and a bullish 2025 outlook reinforce investor confidence.

Early Contract Wins Set Stage for Robust 2025

ACI Worldwide's focus on completing contract renewals and new contract signings early in the year has been successful, allowing the company to shift its focus to reducing seasonal revenue fluctuations and ensuring new customer wins. This proactive approach has not only improved revenue visibility but also helped accelerate the pace of progress toward 2025.

ACIW also signed several significant contracts in 2024. In February 2025, it secured its largest-ever new logo and a major competitive takeaway win in the Asia Pacific region. This landmark deal, along with others, enabled the banking segment to secure net revenue contracts exceeding $50 million, which will directly contribute to first-quarter 2025 revenues. These early wins have firmly positioned the company for a strong start to the year.

Additionally, the earlier timing of the contract signing is expected to boost revenue contribution in the first half of 2025. ACIW anticipates recognizing 45% of its full-year revenues in the first half of 2025, whereas it recorded 43% in the first half of 2024.

ACIW Provides Optimistic 2025 View

ACI Worldwide’s strong bookings growth in 2024 has laid a solid foundation for the company to capitalize on growth opportunities. Management’s active progress on the 2025 pipeline deals reinforces its confidence in the full-year outlook.

For 2025, the company expects total revenues of $1.685-$1.715 billion, indicating 7-9% year-over-year growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 revenues is pegged at $1.7 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 6.77%.

ACIW expects adjusted EBITDA of $480-$495 million, implying an increase of 3-6% over the 2024 performance.

The consensus mark for 2025 earnings is pegged at $2.80 per share, up 2.6% over the past 30 days, suggesting a year-over-year rise of 6.06%.

ACIW’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, delivering an average earnings surprise of 161.34%.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Zacks Rank

ACI Worldwide currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research