Global Payments Gains Premarket As Activist Investor Elliott Reportedly Built Stake

Global Payments (GPN) stock rose 7% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the Financial Times reported that activist investor Elliott Investment Management is building a stake in the company.

While the report did not specify the size of the stake or the activist investor’s demands, investors will be keen to learn more about what the hedge fund has planned for the payments processing firm.

Global Payments stock has come under pressure this year, ever since it agreed to buy Worldpay from private equity firm GTCR and rival Fidelity National Information Services in April for $24.2 billion. However, investors questioned the timing of the deal as it was announced amid heightened trade tensions stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

While several Wall Street analysts noted that the deal will help boost its core business of payments processing, they said that risks remain regarding execution. JP Morgan analysts had noted that the deal will consume a significant amount of management energy at a time when competitors are investing heavily in product innovation.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about Global Payments was still in the ‘neutral’ territory, while retail chatter was ‘low.’

After unveiling the deal, Global Payments reduced its capital returns target for 2025-2027 from $7.5 billion to $7 billion, reversing course on its promise to prioritize share buybacks and dividends.

The stock’s Tuesday closing price of $77.61 gave the company a market valuation of about $19 billion. Global Payments stock has fallen 31% this year.

The top management of the firm had also acknowledged the concerns surrounding the deal, as it occurred during a period when companies were refraining from making large acquisitions. “Certainly it’s not lost on us that the timing, perhaps from a market standpoint, wasn’t ideal,” CEO Cameron Bready said in May.

However, he added, “There’s not a scenario that I contemplate where we’re not better off by doing this transaction than we were obviously continuing forward with our standalone plan.”

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