S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV) reported its results for the third quarter. Fiserv provides information management and electronic commerce systems for the financial services industry.

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Fiserv Earnings Cheat Sheet for the Third Quarter

Results: Net income for the business services company fell to $127 million (89 cents per share) vs. $132 million (87 cents per share) a year earlier. This is a decline of 3.8% from the year earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 3.7% to $1.06 billion from the year earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: FISV reported adjusted net income of $1.16 per share. By that measure, the company beat the mean estimate of $1.14 per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $1.06 billion.

Quoting Management: “Revenue, earnings and sales results in the quarter were in line with our expectations and the stage is set for a strong finish to the year,” said Jeffery Yabuki, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fiserv. “Continuing traction with our new solutions should provide increased momentum entering 2012.”

Key Stats:

The company has now seen net income fall in each of the last four quarters. In the second quarter, net income fell 29.1% while the figure fell 7.4% in the first quarter and 1.7% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.

Revenue has risen the past four quarters. Revenue increased 4.2% to $1.06 billion in the second quarter. The figure rose 4% in the first quarter from the year earlier and climbed 1.5% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year from the year-ago quarter.

The company has now beaten estimates the last two quarters. In the second quarter, it topped expectations with net income of $1.13 versus a mean estimate of net income of $1.08 per share.

Looking Forward: Expectations for the fourth quarter have not changed from $1.25. Over the past three months, the average estimate for the fiscal year has climbed from $4.52 per to share to $4.53.

Competitors to Watch: Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), Online Resources Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCC), DST Systems, Inc. (NYSE:DST), Mastercard (NYSE:MA), Discover Financial (NYSE:DFS), American Express (NYSE:AXP), Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:JKHY), Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS), Fundtech Ltd. (NASDAQ:FNDT), S1 Corporation (NASDAQ:SONE), ACI Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ:ACIW), and Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU).

Investing Insights: Here’s Why Chipotle’s Stock Keeps Winning.

(Source: Xignite Financials)

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