A fintech stock that's a holding of the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) is on the verge of a major breakout, and hardly anyone is talking about it. This is especially interesting given that the company name is shared by one of the most storied and biggest financial firms in history. We're talking about Fidelity National Information Services – FIS.
The stock is not related to Fidelity Investments, but we should be paying attention to it, nonetheless. First, some background: FIS has been around for more than 50 years. In that time, it has gone through several acquisitions and name changes.
According to their website: "The company was founded in 1968 as SystematicsTM, which was later acquired by ALLTEL Information Services, and then bought by title insurance giant Fidelity National Financial® in 2003, who renamed it Fidelity Information Services (FIS)." FIS has a market cap of $42 billion and ranks number 216 within the S & P 500. Within the XLF, it's No.
36 of 71. FIS is unique since it's also a member of the iShares Russell Midcap ETF (IWR). And, depending on where we look, it's sometimes classified a technology company.
Thus, the term "fintech" adequately describes FIS. Knowing this, it's no wonder FIS has performed a lot differently than the XLF over the past two years. From the October 2022 market low, XLF is up around 40%.
FIS is barely positive, meanwhile, with a gain just shy of 3%. Recently, though, FIS has shown signs of life. In fact, it's performed much better than the financial sector since October 2023.
From Oct. 28, 2023, FIS is up 66% compared with a 38% gain for XLF. The potential breakout The strong move since last fall has pulled FIS all the way back to where it was trading in late 2022 and early 2023.
As is clear, this has produced a very large potential inverse head & shoulders pattern. Over the past few months, the pattern's would-be right shoulder has taken shape. FIS has tried a few times to breakout from this big formation, but its efforts haven't been rewarded yet.
Given the false starts and underperformance the last few years, FIS isn't on the radar for many investors. But if/when the stock can breakout through the $80 zone, that could change. Specifically, with a very clear air-pocket of light resistance directly above current levels, momentum could follow said breakout.
Long-term trend shift Here's a weekly chart that goes back to 2020 and displays the 13-, 26- and 40-week moving averages. While it's clear FIS is noticeably below its peak, it's just as important to see how those moving averages have behaved over the past four years. As FIS began to falter in mid-2021, its long-term moving averages started to curl over, too.
From summer 2021 through early fall 2023, each line was trending lower, and the stock failed to get back above the lines on various failed rally attempts. That didn't change until late 2023. Since then, it's been an entirely different story.
Each moving average has been trending higher, and FIS has traded above the averages more often than not. At the very least, seeing this condition persist will tell us that the trend remains up. And if that's the case, then the breakout potential discussed above will have a chance to play out.
DISCLOSURES: None. All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL, their parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THE ABOVE CONTENT IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY .
THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL'S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES.
BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. Click here for the full disclaimer..
