# Worldline (WLN.PA)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/WLN.PA

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:45:17.443Z. Financial observations: FY2013–FY2025.

Listing currency: EUR. Reporting currency: EUR.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: EUR 11.32 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 1 revenue decline in the last 10 years (informational)

- more than 2 net loss years

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 1

- Years with a net loss: 4

- Operating margin variation: 1.20×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 0.15×

- FY2017: 0.16×

- FY2018: 0.17×

- FY2019: 0.14×

- FY2020: 0.13×

- FY2021: 0.12×

- FY2022: 0.12×

- FY2023: -0.19×

- FY2024: 0.02×

- FY2025: 0.03×

### moat: fail

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- Recent gross margin fell 8.2pp below the typical margin (limit 4pp)

- ROIC, median of available years: 20.2%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: 5.6%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 8.2 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 49.3%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 41.1%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 6.2%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 2.3%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: >100%

- FY2017: >100%

- FY2018: 35.4%

- FY2019: 29.8%

- FY2020: 12.9%

- FY2021: 10.5%

- FY2022: 27.5%

- FY2023: -42.6%

- FY2024: 5.6%

- FY2025: 5.9%

### economics: fail

- owner earnings cash conversion below threshold

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- working capital as a share of revenue rose more than 10pp and ends positive

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: EUR -5.8B

- Net income, five-year total: EUR -6.7B

- Return on incremental invested capital: -1.7%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: 6.2 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: 42.4 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 46.8%

Chart: Owner earnings · five years; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: EUR -608M

- FY2022: EUR 403M

- FY2023: EUR -638M

- FY2024: EUR -75M

- FY2025: EUR -4.8B

### management: fail

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2016 to 2025 (9 years)

- potential debt-funded buybacks (informational)

- buybacks unrelated to price (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 1984.6% vs 5.6%

- Per-share earnings: 31.58 to -115.66 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- five-year and ten-year diluted share growth both above threshold

- acquired goodwill and intangibles (proxy) exceeds half of ten-year net income with low and deteriorating ROIC

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: 7.8%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 5.1%

- Market cap gain: EUR -803M

- Cumulative retained earnings: EUR -2.8B

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: 7.8%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 5.1%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value change: EUR -147.24

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: EUR 31.58

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: EUR -115.66

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): -0.40

- Average buyback yield: 5.6%

- Buyback history: 4 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: Yes

- Acquisition spending: EUR 27B

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: EUR -5.9B

- ROIC, first three-year median: >100%

- ROIC, last three-year median: 5.6%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: EUR 43.56

- FY2017: EUR 31.58

- FY2018: EUR 28.14

- FY2019: EUR 66.57

- FY2020: EUR 30.01

- FY2021: EUR -107.28

- FY2022: EUR 40.90

- FY2023: EUR -115.66

- FY2024: EUR -41.94

- FY2025: EUR -737.03

### accounting: pass

- latest-year receivables to sales index (DSRI) exceeds 1.465

- Sloan accruals: -42.4%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 1.71×

- Restructuring years, last five: 0

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 2.6%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Accounting red flags: 1

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 1.75×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -3.4%

- FY2017: -6.8%

- FY2018: -3.4%

- FY2019: -1.7%

- FY2020: -1.8%

- FY2021: -8.5%

- FY2022: -3.4%

- FY2023: -7.4%

- FY2024: -4.6%

- FY2025: -42.4%

## Holders

## Price story

Down 98% since Oct 2021 · "Worldline cuts revenue growth forecast as bank contract delays slow recovery" (finance.yahoo.com, Jul 2026) · sales -13%

Story as of 2026-10-16T10:00:13.384Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

- 2025-10-21: Worldline narrows profit forecast, signals more deals to come ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/worldline-narrows-profit-forecast-signals-160121097.html))

- 2026-07-30: Worldline cuts revenue growth forecast as bank contract delays slow recovery ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/worldline-cuts-revenue-growth-forecast-160203186.html))

### Sales · FY2024–2025

sales -13%; source https://filings.xbrl.org/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33/2025-12-31/ESEF/FR/0/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33-2025-12-31AR/reports/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33-2025-12-31AR.xhtml; observed 2026-03-10.

- FY2016: EUR 1.3B 

- FY2017: EUR 1.6B 

- FY2018: EUR 1.7B 

- FY2019: EUR 2.4B 

- FY2020: EUR 2.5B 

- FY2021: EUR 3.7B 

- FY2022: EUR 4.4B 

- FY2023: EUR 4.6B 

- FY2024: EUR 4.6B 

- FY2025: EUR 4.0B 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 41.1%; source https://filings.xbrl.org/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33/2025-12-31/ESEF/FR/0/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33-2025-12-31AR/reports/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33-2025-12-31AR.xhtml; observed 2026-03-10.

- FY2016: 56.6% 

- FY2017: 60.5% 

- FY2018: 59.6% 

- FY2019: 40.5% 

- FY2020: 35.7% 

- FY2021: 36.2% 

- FY2022: 43.9% 

- FY2023: 54.8% 

- FY2024: 56.5% 

- FY2025: 41.1% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in software infrastructure; annual sales are EUR 4 billion.

- Source: https://filings.xbrl.org/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33/2025-12-31/ESEF/FR/0/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33-2025-12-31AR/reports/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33-2025-12-31AR.xhtml (filed 2026-03-10); FY2025: revenue 4029900000; grossProfit 1657900000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); WLN.PA: Worldline SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides payment and transaction services in Europe and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Merchant Services and Financial Services. It offers merchant solutions, including in-store, online, omnichannel, cross-border payments, and payments for platforms; and merchant products, such as in-store and online payment gateways, merchant acquiring, tap on mobile, scan and pay, payment terminals, and account-to-account payments. The company also provides financial institutions solutions comprising issuing, acquiring, account payments, open and digital banking, ATM management, authentication and security, and digital currency. It serves retail and marketplaces, digital goods and services, self-service, petrol and energy, financial institutions, travel and hospitality, mobility, public sector, and manufacturing industries. The company was formerly known as Atos Worldline SAS and changed its name to Worldline SA in April 2014. Worldline SA was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Puteaux, France.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 41.1% to 56.5% during 2023–25; it earns 20.2% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-10); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 54.8%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-10); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 56.5%.

- Source: https://filings.xbrl.org/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33/2025-12-31/ESEF/FR/0/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33-2025-12-31AR/reports/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33-2025-12-31AR.xhtml (filed 2026-03-10); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 41.1%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-10); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,19.845657178525165],[2017,23.57985915492958],[2018,0.3536046274061362],[2019,0.2977315268740529],[2020,0.129119705143956],[2021,0.10540241334856293],[2022,0.27499582870359657],[2023,-0.4258100489436838],[2024,0.05615274949083503],[2025,0.05859780690698261]]; median 0.20205776692377628. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 2 of 10 years; bought back EUR 20.5 million of shares.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-10); FY2016: growth capex 5435606.5635564625; upkeep 79864393.43644354; owner earnings 125035606.56355646. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.04347246926653254.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-10); FY2017: growth capex 2300000; upkeep 104700000; owner earnings 105500000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.021800947867298578.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-10); FY2018: growth capex 0; upkeep 105500000; owner earnings 110800000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-10); FY2019: growth capex 0; upkeep 113900000; owner earnings 375760000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-10); FY2020: growth capex 0; upkeep 155300000; owner earnings 206680000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-10); FY2022: growth capex 0; upkeep 324900000; owner earnings 402680000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-10); Dividend observations: [[2016,0],[2017,0],[2018,0],[2019,11800000],[2020,2089100000],[2021,0],[2022,0],[2023,0],[2024,0],[2025,0]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://filings.xbrl.org/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33/2025-12-31/ESEF/FR/0/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33-2025-12-31AR/reports/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33-2025-12-31AR.xhtml (filed 2026-03-10); FY2025: cash repurchases 20500000 EUR.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 10% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); WLN.PA SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 9.994 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price is less than 0.1 times annual sales; cash earnings are negative.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-10); Closing price 11.318 EUR; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2025 annual sales per share 576.0044595000214; price multiple 0.019649153428124767. FY2025 cash earnings/share -692.9376956391235. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (EUR per share)

- 2016-11: EUR 253.16 per share

- 2016-12: EUR 276.72 per share

- 2017-01: EUR 258.07 per share

- 2017-02: EUR 281.63 per share

- 2017-03: EUR 301.72 per share

- 2017-04: EUR 314.59 per share

- 2017-05: EUR 323.27 per share

- 2017-06: EUR 309.99 per share

- 2017-07: EUR 354.42 per share

- 2017-08: EUR 349.25 per share

- 2017-09: EUR 370.54 per share

- 2017-10: EUR 433.93 per share

- 2017-11: EUR 427.58 per share

- 2017-12: EUR 420.24 per share

- 2018-01: EUR 470.77 per share

- 2018-02: EUR 432.74 per share

- 2018-03: EUR 426.34 per share

- 2018-04: EUR 431.71 per share

- 2018-05: EUR 510.04 per share

- 2018-06: EUR 501.36 per share

- 2018-07: EUR 526.98 per share

- 2018-08: EUR 541.45 per share

- 2018-09: EUR 569.86 per share

- 2018-10: EUR 480.48 per share

- 2018-11: EUR 487.10 per share

- 2018-12: EUR 436.05 per share

- 2019-01: EUR 483.79 per share

- 2019-02: EUR 509.62 per share

- 2019-03: EUR 545.58 per share

- 2019-04: EUR 580.20 per share

- 2019-05: EUR 556.95 per share

- 2019-06: EUR 661.31 per share

- 2019-07: EUR 669.58 per share

- 2019-08: EUR 648.91 per share

- 2019-09: EUR 598.28 per share

- 2019-10: EUR 562.63 per share

- 2019-11: EUR 607.06 per share

- 2019-12: EUR 652.53 per share

- 2020-01: EUR 658.73 per share

- 2020-02: EUR 711.42 per share

- 2020-03: EUR 554.88 per share

- 2020-04: EUR 640.44 per share

- 2020-05: EUR 693.55 per share

- 2020-06: EUR 796.47 per share

- 2020-07: EUR 751.41 per share

- 2020-08: EUR 795.85 per share

- 2020-09: EUR 724.55 per share

- 2020-10: EUR 657.59 per share

- 2020-11: EUR 800.81 per share

- 2020-12: EUR 817.34 per share

- 2021-01: EUR 723.93 per share

- 2021-02: EUR 762.57 per share

- 2021-03: EUR 738.19 per share

- 2021-04: EUR 843.48 per share

- 2021-05: EUR 808.86 per share

- 2021-06: EUR 815.68 per share

- 2021-07: EUR 815.37 per share

- 2021-08: EUR 777.76 per share

- 2021-09: EUR 682.08 per share

- 2021-10: EUR 520.57 per share

- 2021-11: EUR 479.29 per share

- 2021-12: EUR 506.42 per share

- 2022-01: EUR 441.06 per share

- 2022-02: EUR 474.33 per share

- 2022-03: EUR 408.00 per share

- 2022-04: EUR 391.10 per share

- 2022-05: EUR 392.76 per share

- 2022-06: EUR 365.58 per share

- 2022-07: EUR 444.32 per share

- 2022-08: EUR 442.15 per share

- 2022-09: EUR 420.35 per share

- 2022-10: EUR 457.96 per share

- 2022-11: EUR 464.47 per share

- 2022-12: EUR 377.46 per share

- 2023-01: EUR 429.23 per share

- 2023-02: EUR 408.36 per share

- 2023-03: EUR 404.12 per share

- 2023-04: EUR 406.91 per share

- 2023-05: EUR 375.60 per share

- 2023-06: EUR 346.15 per share

- 2023-07: EUR 372.30 per share

- 2023-08: EUR 310.82 per share

- 2023-09: EUR 275.37 per share

- 2023-10: EUR 123.79 per share

- 2023-11: EUR 147.09 per share

- 2023-12: EUR 161.92 per share

- 2024-01: EUR 130.35 per share

- 2024-02: EUR 109.79 per share

- 2024-03: EUR 118.62 per share

- 2024-04: EUR 101.30 per share

- 2024-05: EUR 126.58 per share

- 2024-06: EUR 104.57 per share

- 2024-07: EUR 108.50 per share

- 2024-08: EUR 85.60 per share

- 2024-09: EUR 67.56 per share

- 2024-10: EUR 66.34 per share

- 2024-11: EUR 68.73 per share

- 2024-12: EUR 87.60 per share

- 2025-01: EUR 88.04 per share

- 2025-02: EUR 64.06 per share

- 2025-03: EUR 58.46 per share

- 2025-04: EUR 50.32 per share

- 2025-05: EUR 54.04 per share

- 2025-06: EUR 37.04 per share

- 2025-07: EUR 33.11 per share

- 2025-08: EUR 29.35 per share

- 2025-09: EUR 28.42 per share

- 2025-10: EUR 24.29 per share

- 2025-11: EUR 15.81 per share

- 2025-12: EUR 16.14 per share

- 2026-01: EUR 14.75 per share

- 2026-02: EUR 16.17 per share

- 2026-03: EUR 10.26 per share

- 2026-04: EUR 10.00 per share

- 2026-05: EUR 14.35 per share

- 2026-06: EUR 10.28 per share

- 2026-07: EUR 12.19 per share

- 2026-08: EUR 13.70 per share

- 2026-09: EUR 11.07 per share

- 2026-10: EUR 10.78 per share

## Annual estimated value (EUR per share)

- FY2017: low EUR 442.56 per share, central EUR 490.16 per share, high EUR 553.52 per share

- FY2018: low EUR 389.21 per share, central EUR 435.97 per share, high EUR 498.22 per share

- FY2019: low EUR 475.41 per share, central EUR 527.59 per share, high EUR 597.05 per share

- FY2020: low EUR 650.23 per share, central EUR 707.33 per share, high EUR 783.33 per share

- FY2021: low EUR 542.80 per share, central EUR 596.74 per share, high EUR 668.56 per share

- FY2022: low EUR 769.81 per share, central EUR 845.26 per share, high EUR 945.71 per share

- FY2023: low EUR 834.68 per share, central EUR 917.20 per share, high EUR 1,027.05 per share

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

[Original ESEF filing](https://filings.xbrl.org/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33/2025-12-31/ESEF/FR/0/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33-2025-12-31AR/reports/549300CJMQNCA0U4TS33-2025-12-31AR.xhtml); period 2025-12-31, filed 2026-03-10.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.