ACI Worldwide, Inc. (ACIW) is a payments-software company serving banks, merchants, and billers, not an exchange-traded fund. Its analyst coverage is concentrated but reasonably consistent. The central target here is calculated from four current, attributable price targets: $70 from Seaport Global (Jeff Cantwell, maintained Buy, January 14, 2026), $66 from DA Davidson (Peter Heckmann, Buy, most recently updated in 2026), and $60 each from Stephens (Charles Nabhan, Overweight) and Jefferies (Trevor Williams, Buy). Averaging these gives $64, which is the figure used throughout.
That range of $60 to $70 is not especially wide, but the distribution tells a story: the highest target ($70) was itself cut from $77, while the $60 targets reflect more conservative assumptions. DA Davidson has gradually raised its target from $60 toward $66, while Needham's Mayank Tandon carries a Hold with no published target. In aggregate, the stock carries a "Moderate Buy" to "Buy" consensus, but the spread between $60 and $70 shows analysts disagree on how much premium the market should pay for ACI Worldwide's recurring revenue and earnings power.
ACI Worldwide shares closed near $54.54 on October 20, 2026, giving the company a market value of roughly $5.3 billion. Reaching $64 would require an advance of approximately 17%, a substantial move that would take the stock above its 52-week high of $61.08 and into territory it has not traded at on this cycle. The stock trades around 23 to 24 times trailing earnings, with a lower forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of about 14 to 15 times, reflecting expected EPS (earnings per share) growth. TTM revenue is about $1.82 billion, with net income near $225 million and EPS of $2.19. The path to $64 would likely require continued double-digit earnings growth, sustained bookings momentum, and enough investor confidence to justify a modest re-rating of the multiple.
Several fundamentals underpin the bullish case. Management raised full-year 2025 revenue guidance to a range of $1.73 billion to $1.754 billion, and the company authorized a $500 million share repurchase program in late 2025. New annual recurring revenue bookings grew 71% in the first half of 2025, and ACI Worldwide reported a record backlog above $7 billion over 60 months, with roughly two-thirds of revenue recurring. Recent customer wins—including BPI Direct BanKo in the Philippines and LLP Exotic Auto Finance adopting ACI Speedpay—support the narrative that its cloud-native payments hub and real-time payments capabilities are gaining traction. Buybacks, which have reduced the share count, and a forward P/E below the market average give the analyst targets a plausible earnings basis.
The risks are equally real. Payments software is a competitive market, and heavier investment in the company's cloud-native platform can compress margins and free cash flow. Several analysts trimmed their targets in 2025 and early 2026—Seaport cut its target from $77 to $70—signaling reduced confidence in the valuation multiple rather than the underlying business. ACI Worldwide carries net debt of roughly $700 million, and its revenue is sensitive to macroeconomic conditions and interest-rate swings that affect transaction volumes. If earnings growth stalls, guidance disappoints, or the market simply refuses to pay a richer multiple, the stock could consolidate below its 52-week high and leave the $64 target out of reach. Short interest of roughly 6% of the float also indicates meaningful skepticism.
From a technical standpoint, the $61.08 area—the 52-week high set in late July 2026—is the defining resistance level; the $64 target sits above it, so the stock would need to break out to new highs, not merely recover. The 50-day moving average near $51.54 and the 200-day moving average near $46.80 provide nearby and intermediate support levels, and the $50 round number is a psychological floor. The 52-week low of $38.05, reached in late February 2026, marked the recent cycle bottom. With the relative strength index (RSI) around 58, the stock is not overbought, leaving room for momentum without the immediate exhaustion often seen at higher readings.
Analyst price targets generally reflect a research horizon of about 12 months, though individual firms apply different assumptions and the actual horizon is rarely stated explicitly. The next earnings report, expected in early November 2026, is the nearest catalyst, along with any updated revenue and earnings guidance. Investors should watch bookings and recurring-revenue trends, the pace of share repurchases, new customer announcements, and any further analyst target revisions. Macro factors—notably interest-rate decisions and overall payment-transaction volumes—also matter, since they influence both growth and the valuation multiple the market is willing to apply.
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The $64 central target for ACI Worldwide is a calculated average of four published analyst targets spanning $60 to $70, representing roughly 17% upside from the latest close near $54.54. The strongest supports are raised guidance, buybacks, accelerating bookings, and a record backlog; the principal obstacles are valuation sensitivity, competitive and margin pressures, and a required breakout above the $61.08 52-week high. Analyst disagreement—with targets clustered from $60 to $70 and one neutral Hold—underscores that reaching $64 is not a foregone conclusion but a plausible, earnings-dependent scenario. There is no guarantee the stock will reach this level, and investors should monitor upcoming earnings, guidance, and revisions rather than treat any target as a certainty.
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A.I.dvisor indicates that over the last year, ACIW has been loosely correlated with BOX. These tickers have moved in lockstep 55% of the time. This A.I.-generated data suggests there is some statistical probability that if ACIW jumps, then BOX could also see price increases.
| Ticker / NAME | Correlation To ACIW | 1D Price Change % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACIW | 100% | +4.33% | ||
| BOX - ACIW | 55% Loosely correlated | +1.93% | ||
| QTWO - ACIW | 55% Loosely correlated | +4.41% | ||
| HUBS - ACIW | 55% Loosely correlated | +6.92% | ||
| AVPT - ACIW | 54% Loosely correlated | +2.29% | ||
| MQ - ACIW | 54% Loosely correlated | +2.93% | ||
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| Ticker / NAME | Correlation To ACIW | 1D Price Change % |
|---|---|---|
| ACIW | 100% | +4.33% |
| Computer Communications industry (167 stocks) | 4% Poorly correlated | -1.45% |