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what it is
Priority sells payment software to merchants, bill pay tools to companies, and embedded banking rails to software platforms.
how it gets paid
Last year Priority Technology made $953M in revenue. SMB via independent sales organizations was the main engine at $267M, or 28% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 8.3% last year. $247.1M matters because it lines up with full-year revenue of $953M and shows Priority is still growing despite carrying $998M of long-term debt.
what just happened
Priority's latest quarter showed revenue of $247.1M, up 8.8% vs. prior year, while reported EPS came in at $0.34.
At a glance
C+ balance sheet — struggling to keep the lights on
20/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
10.7x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
9.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
-$0.31 fy2024 eps est
xvary composite: 17/100 — weak
What they do
Priority sells payment software to merchants, bill pay tools to companies, and embedded banking rails to software platforms.
Priority sits in the messy middle of money movement. API → software connection → your checkout, invoice flow, and back-office systems keep talking without breaking, which is why customers stay put. That plumbing produced $953M of 2025 revenue, and once your payments are wired into daily operations, switching means risking your cash register.
How they make money
$953M
annual revenue · their business grew +8.3% last year
SMB via independent sales organizations
$267M
SMB via direct sales
$162M
SMB via ISV channels
$143M
Business-to-Business
$219M
Enterprise Payments
$162M
The products that matter
payments processing and banking
Connected Commerce Platform
$895.7M · 94% of revenue
This is the business. It produced $895.7M last year, so if this segment slows, almost the entire income statement feels it.
core engine
acquired merchant services
Dealer Merchant Services
$57.3M · +18% growth
At $57.3M, it is still small, but the 18% growth rate shows why management is using deals to add volume in a tough market.
bolt-on growth
Key numbers
$998M
long-term debt
Debt → money owed → so what: the balance sheet matters almost as much as the product here.
$953M
annual revenue
This is not a tiny experiment. Priority already has scale, with 2025 revenue up 8.3% vs. prior year.
21.8%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit before interest and taxes → so what: the core business throws off real earnings power before debt costs show up.
9.0%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit earned on money invested → so what: decent, but not high enough to make you forget the leverage.
Financial health
C+
strength
- balance sheet grade C+ — weak — may struggle to fund operations
- risk rank 5 — safer than 5% of stocks
- price stability 5 / 100
- long-term debt $998M (71% of capital)
C+ — balance sheet grade and long-term debt are flagged. this stock carries more risk than average.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for PRTH right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
beat estimates
Priority's latest quarter showed revenue of $247.1M, up 8.8% vs. prior year, while reported EPS came in at $0.34.
The headline is simple. Revenue kept growing, and the core business still showed a 21.8% operating margin in the figures underlying this snapshot. There is noise across sources on quarterly EPS, but the business trend is growth, not collapse.
$247.1M
revenue
$0.34
eps
21.8%
operating margin
the number that mattered
$247.1M matters because it lines up with full-year revenue of $953M and shows Priority is still growing despite carrying $998M of long-term debt.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is high leverage inside a low-margin, competitive payments model.
med
Debt becomes the whole story
Long-term debt is $998M, or 71% of capital, against a market cap of roughly $408M. That is a big balance-sheet shadow for a company with a C+ balance sheet grade grade.
If growth slows, debt service can eat into flexibility fast. The market will care less about the 10.7x multiple and more about staying power.
med
There is no moat to protect pricing
PRTH generated $953M of revenue, but 94% came from the core Connected Commerce Platform in a crowded payments market. Bigger players can compete on features, pricing, or sales reach.
When there is no moat, execution has to stay sharp every quarter. If the core platform slips, the acquisition piece is too small to save the story.
med
Guidance and buybacks can pull in opposite directions
Management is guiding to $1.01B–$1.04B of revenue for 2026 while also authorizing a $40M buyback. Both can work together only if cash generation stays healthy.
If operating performance misses the low end of the guide, buybacks will look less like confidence and more like balance-sheet bravado.
$998M of long-term debt against $953M of annual revenue means the downside is not theoretical. This balance sheet magnifies every operating miss.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
guidance
2026 revenue guide has to hold
Management guided to $1.01B–$1.04B. The low end is roughly 6% growth from $953M. If they miss that, the low-multiple argument gets much harder to defend.
balance sheet
Debt reduction versus financial engineering
PRTH has $998M of long-term debt and a new $40M buyback. You want to see whether management prioritizes flexibility or tries to force a rerating.
segment mix
Core platform still does almost all the lifting
Connected Commerce Platform is 94% of revenue at $895.7M. That concentration keeps the story simple: the core business has to keep growing.
sentiment
Rising short interest is a live signal
Short interest increased in February 2026. That tells you skepticism is still building even after the recent earnings beat.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
20 / 100
In human-speak, analysts do not think this business produces smooth, easy-to-forecast quarters.
risk rank
5
This sits near the risky end of the scale. You are not buying PRTH for stability.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for PRTH is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$6
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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