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Topic: Growth Stocks

ACI WORLDWIDE $18.83 – Nasdaq symbol ACIW

ACI WORLDWIDE $18.83 (Nasdaq symbol ACIW; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (402-390-7600; www.aciworldwide.com; Shares outstanding: 118.3 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; No dividends paid) makes software for processing transactions involving credit cards, debit cards, automated teller machines, point-of-sale terminals and interbank payments. Its products also help cut fraud.

In the three months ended September 30, 2015, ACI’s revenue fell 4.3% to $238.7 million from $249.6 million a year earlier. Earnings declined 6.1%, to $14.8 million, or $0.13 a share, from $15.7 million, or $0.14. The higher U.S. dollar cut revenue and earnings at the company’s international operations.

ACI is benefiting from the shift to chip-and-PIN debit and credit cards. That migration is the result of a liability shift for the EMV (EuroPay, MaterCard and VISA) payment networks, which came into effect in October 2015.

Specifically, merchants will now be held responsible for fraudulent transactions if they don’t upgrade their point-of-sale terminals to accept chip-and-PIN cards. Liability used to rest with financial institutions that issue credit or debit cards.

Fraud is the main reason for the EMV migration. Despite the efforts of global law-enforcement agencies, card fraud continues to rise, with annual costs at an estimated $10 billion in the U.S. alone.

The shift toward increasingly complex payments is a plus for ACI, but the stock trades at a high 23.5 times the company’s forecast 2016 earnings of $0.80 a share.

ACI Worldwide is a hold.

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