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Side-by-side financial comparison of Shift4 Payments, Inc. (FOUR) and MSCI Inc. (MSCI). Click either name above to swap in a different company.

Shift4 Payments, Inc. is the larger business by last-quarter revenue ($1.2B vs $822.5M, roughly 1.4× MSCI Inc.). MSCI Inc. runs the higher net margin — 34.6% vs 3.4%, a 31.2% gap on every dollar of revenue. On growth, Shift4 Payments, Inc. posted the faster year-over-year revenue change (34.0% vs 10.6%). MSCI Inc. produced more free cash flow last quarter ($488.7M vs $222.5M). Over the past eight quarters, Shift4 Payments, Inc.'s revenue compounded faster (29.6% CAGR vs 10.0%).

Shift4 Payments, Inc. is an American payment processing company based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company, founded in 1999 by the then 16-year-old Jared Isaacman, processes payments for over 200,000 businesses in the retail, hospitality, leisure, and restaurant industries. Shift4 specializes in commerce technology such as mobile payment software and hardware. The company was publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2020.

MSCI Inc. is an American finance company headquartered in New York City. MSCI is a global provider of equity, fixed income, real estate indices, multi-asset portfolio analysis tools, ESG and climate finance products. It operates the MSCI World, MSCI Emerging Markets, and MSCI All Country World (ACWI) indices, among others.

FOUR vs MSCI — Head-to-Head

Bigger by revenue
FOUR
FOUR
1.4× larger
FOUR
$1.2B
$822.5M
MSCI
Growing faster (revenue YoY)
FOUR
FOUR
+23.4% gap
FOUR
34.0%
10.6%
MSCI
Higher net margin
MSCI
MSCI
31.2% more per $
MSCI
34.6%
3.4%
FOUR
More free cash flow
MSCI
MSCI
$266.2M more FCF
MSCI
$488.7M
$222.5M
FOUR
Faster 2-yr revenue CAGR
FOUR
FOUR
Annualised
FOUR
29.6%
10.0%
MSCI

Income Statement — Q4 FY2025 vs Q4 FY2025

Metric
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Revenue
$1.2B
$822.5M
Net Profit
$40.2M
$284.7M
Gross Margin
Operating Margin
10.8%
56.4%
Net Margin
3.4%
34.6%
Revenue YoY
34.0%
10.6%
Net Profit YoY
-65.3%
-6.8%
EPS (diluted)
$3.81

Green = leading value per metric. Periods may differ when fiscal calendars don't align.

8-Quarter Revenue & Profit Trend

Side-by-side quarterly history. Quarters aligned by calendar period so offset fiscal years line up.

Revenue
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$1.2B
$822.5M
Q3 25
$1.2B
$793.4M
Q2 25
$966.2M
$772.7M
Q1 25
$848.3M
$745.8M
Q4 24
$887.0M
$743.5M
Q3 24
$909.2M
$724.7M
Q2 24
$827.0M
$707.9M
Q1 24
$707.4M
$680.0M
Net Profit
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$40.2M
$284.7M
Q3 25
$28.1M
$325.4M
Q2 25
$34.0M
$303.6M
Q1 25
$16.7M
$288.6M
Q4 24
$116.0M
$305.5M
Q3 24
$53.8M
$280.9M
Q2 24
$39.2M
$266.8M
Q1 24
$20.6M
$256.0M
Operating Margin
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
10.8%
56.4%
Q3 25
9.7%
56.4%
Q2 25
8.6%
55.0%
Q1 25
3.0%
50.6%
Q4 24
9.7%
54.5%
Q3 24
8.8%
55.4%
Q2 24
7.2%
54.0%
Q1 24
3.0%
49.9%
Net Margin
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
3.4%
34.6%
Q3 25
2.4%
41.0%
Q2 25
3.5%
39.3%
Q1 25
2.0%
38.7%
Q4 24
13.1%
41.1%
Q3 24
5.9%
38.8%
Q2 24
4.7%
37.7%
Q1 24
2.9%
37.6%
EPS (diluted)
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$3.81
Q3 25
$4.25
Q2 25
$3.92
Q1 25
$3.71
Q4 24
$3.89
Q3 24
$3.57
Q2 24
$3.37
Q1 24
$3.22

Balance Sheet & Financial Strength

Snapshot of each company's liquidity, leverage and book value from the latest quarter.

Metric
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Cash + ST InvestmentsLiquidity on hand
$964.0M
$515.3M
Total DebtLower is stronger
$4.5B
$6.2B
Stockholders' EquityBook value
$1.4B
$-2.7B
Total Assets
$8.7B
$5.7B
Debt / EquityLower = less leverage
3.15×

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Cash + ST Investments
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$964.0M
$515.3M
Q3 25
$1.5B
$400.1M
Q2 25
$3.0B
$347.3M
Q1 25
$1.2B
$360.7M
Q4 24
$1.2B
$409.4M
Q3 24
$1.4B
$501.0M
Q2 24
$205.0M
$451.4M
Q1 24
$522.9M
$519.3M
Total Debt
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$4.5B
$6.2B
Q3 25
$4.7B
$5.5B
Q2 25
$3.7B
$4.5B
Q1 25
$2.8B
$4.5B
Q4 24
$2.8B
$4.5B
Q3 24
$4.5B
Q2 24
$4.5B
Q1 24
$4.5B
Stockholders' Equity
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$1.4B
$-2.7B
Q3 25
$1.7B
$-1.9B
Q2 25
$1.6B
$-886.2M
Q1 25
$805.2M
$-958.6M
Q4 24
$806.6M
$-940.0M
Q3 24
$811.8M
$-751.0M
Q2 24
$700.8M
$-734.5M
Q1 24
$674.5M
$-650.5M
Total Assets
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$8.7B
$5.7B
Q3 25
$9.0B
$5.4B
Q2 25
$7.0B
$5.4B
Q1 25
$5.0B
$5.3B
Q4 24
$5.0B
$5.4B
Q3 24
$5.0B
$5.4B
Q2 24
$3.5B
$5.5B
Q1 24
$3.4B
$5.5B
Debt / Equity
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
3.15×
Q3 25
2.83×
Q2 25
2.34×
Q1 25
3.53×
Q4 24
3.52×
Q3 24
Q2 24
Q1 24

Cash Flow & Capital Efficiency

How much cash each business actually produces after reinvestment. Cash flow is harder to manipulate than net income.

Metric
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Operating Cash FlowLast quarter
$223.7M
$501.1M
Free Cash FlowOCF − Capex
$222.5M
$488.7M
FCF MarginFCF / Revenue
18.7%
59.4%
Capex IntensityCapex / Revenue
0.1%
1.5%
Cash ConversionOCF / Net Profit
5.56×
1.76×
TTM Free Cash FlowTrailing 4 quarters
$624.0M
$1.5B

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Operating Cash Flow
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$223.7M
$501.1M
Q3 25
$171.8M
$449.4M
Q2 25
$141.9M
$336.1M
Q1 25
$96.6M
$301.7M
Q4 24
$145.4M
$430.6M
Q3 24
$182.1M
$421.6M
Q2 24
$116.1M
$349.2M
Q1 24
$56.7M
$300.1M
Free Cash Flow
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
$222.5M
$488.7M
Q3 25
$165.4M
$445.5M
Q2 25
$141.0M
$324.7M
Q1 25
$95.1M
$290.2M
Q4 24
$143.8M
$416.4M
Q3 24
$180.1M
$415.0M
Q2 24
$113.9M
$340.6M
Q1 24
$55.4M
$295.9M
FCF Margin
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
18.7%
59.4%
Q3 25
14.1%
56.2%
Q2 25
14.6%
42.0%
Q1 25
11.2%
38.9%
Q4 24
16.2%
56.0%
Q3 24
19.8%
57.3%
Q2 24
13.8%
48.1%
Q1 24
7.8%
43.5%
Capex Intensity
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
0.1%
1.5%
Q3 25
0.5%
0.5%
Q2 25
0.1%
1.5%
Q1 25
0.2%
1.5%
Q4 24
0.2%
1.9%
Q3 24
0.2%
0.9%
Q2 24
0.3%
1.2%
Q1 24
0.2%
0.6%
Cash Conversion
FOUR
FOUR
MSCI
MSCI
Q4 25
5.56×
1.76×
Q3 25
6.11×
1.38×
Q2 25
4.17×
1.11×
Q1 25
5.78×
1.05×
Q4 24
1.25×
1.41×
Q3 24
3.38×
1.50×
Q2 24
2.96×
1.31×
Q1 24
2.75×
1.17×

Financial Flow Comparison

Revenue → gross profit → operating profit → net profit for each company.

Revenue Breakdown by Segment

FOUR
FOUR

Payments Based Revenue$788.8M66%
Other$255.0M21%
Subscription And Other Revenues$144.8M12%

MSCI
MSCI

Recurring Subscriptions$246.4M30%
Asset Based Fees$211.7M26%
Analytics Segment$182.3M22%
Sustainability And Climate Segment$90.3M11%
Other$70.9M9%
Non Recurring$21.1M3%

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