Deluxe
Deluxe's revenue rose 0.5% to $2.1 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 10.9%, up from 9.1% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $175 million, up 75.3%. It paid out $55 million in dividends and buybacks, 31% of free cash flow. The diluted share count rose 1.8%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
What Deluxe does
Deluxe describes itself as a payments and data company that serves small and medium-sized businesses, financial institutions and large consumer brands, mainly in North America. It was founded 110 years ago and still earns more than half of its revenue from printed products.
It reports four segments. Print is the largest, at 53.3% of 2025 revenue, and covers printed checks, business forms and other business products, and promotional items. Merchant Services, at 18.7%, offers in-store, online and mobile payment tools. Data Solutions, at 14.4%, provides data analytics and marketing services. B2B Payments, at 13.6%, covers treasury management, accounts payable payments and related fraud and security services.
It has pulled back from some businesses. In 2023 it sold its web hosting and logo design businesses and agreed to leave payroll and human resources services, with customers moved to other providers by 2024. It says this lets it focus on its growth businesses.
Its biggest risks, as it describes them
- A long-term growth plan that may not work.
- Falling use of checks and business forms that it may not offset with profitable growth.
- Intense competition and the need to keep up with changing technology.
- Struggling to win and keep customers at a reasonable cost.
- Relying on its brand, which could be hurt.
Income statement
From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share fell 10.0% a year and net income 10.8% a year, while buybacks cut the share count by 7%.
Returns on capital
Balance sheet
Five years at a glance
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 41 | 40 | 72 | 34 | 37 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 1,711 | 1,673 | 1,620 | 1,530 | 1,458 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | 1,670 | 1,632 | 1,548 | 1,496 | 1,421 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 5.7x | 4.8x | 4.7x | 4.2x | 3.8x |
| Debt to equity | 3.0x | 2.8x | 2.7x | 2.5x | 2.1x |
| Interest coverage | 2.6x | 1.8x | 1.3x | 1.6x | 1.9x |
| Current ratio | 0.9x | 0.9x | 0.9x | 1.0x | 1.0x |
| Quick ratio | 0.9x | 0.9x | 0.9x | 0.9x | 1.0x |
Cash flow
Projections
Project Deluxe's revenue, net income and earnings per share five years ahead in a bull, a base and a bear case with your own figures, and see the share prices your P/E estimates give them, or value it with a discounted cash flow model. Every projected figure is yours: it is not a forecast of ours.
Insider trades
Over the 12 months between November 7, 2025 and November 6, 2026, 1 insider bought $3,752 of Deluxe shares on the open market, and none sold any.
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 10, 2025 | William C ZintSVP, Chief Financial Officer | Bought plan | 175 | $21.44 | $3,752 | Form 4 |
Indicators
Four widely used measures, worked out from the company's filings. The cutoffs are the ones their authors or users go by, not a verdict of ours.
| Indicator | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piotroski F-score | 4 of 9 | 7 of 9 | 7 of 9 |
| Rule of 40 | 2.4% | 1.5% | 8.8% |
| Altman Z'' | 1.00 | 1.28 | 1.51 |
| Accruals ratio | −5.6% | −4.8% | −6.6% |
The nine F-score tests
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Fail | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Current ratio rose | Fail | Pass | Pass |
| Share count didn't rise | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Gross margin rose | Fail | Pass | Fail |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Fail | Fail | Pass |
| F-score | 4 of 9 | 7 of 9 | 7 of 9 |
Compare
Put Deluxe side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deluxe | FY25 | 0.5% | 10.9% | 8.2% | 7.6% | 3.8x | 7 | |
| Brady | FY26 | 9.8% | 15.9% | 11.6% | 18.1% | −0.6x | 7 | Compare |
| Franklin Electric | FY25 | 5.4% | 12.6% | 9.1% | 16.0% | 0.2x | 6 | Compare |
| Trinity Industries | FY25 | −29.9% | 30.1% | 14.6% | — | — | — | Compare |
| EXL | FY25 | 13.6% | 15.0% | 14.3% | 28.4% | −0.1x | 8 | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 1,849 | 1,966 | 1,998 | 2,009 | 1,791 | 2,022 | 2,238 | 2,192 | 2,122 | 2,133 |
| Revenue growth | 4.3% | 6.3% | 1.6% | 0.5% | −10.8% | 12.9% | 10.7% | −2.0% | −3.2% | 0.5% |
| Gross profit | 1,181 | 1,223 | 1,206 | 1,196 | 1,060 | 1,138 | 1,206 | 1,163 | 1,126 | 1,131 |
| Research and development | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating income | 367 | 329 | 231 | −188 | 41 | 142 | 169 | 161 | 192 | 232 |
| Net income | 229 | 230 | 150 | −224 | 5 | 63 | 65 | 26 | 53 | 82 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 4.65 | 4.72 | 3.16 | −5.20 | 0.11 | 1.45 | 1.50 | 0.59 | 1.18 | 1.80 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 49 | 48 | 47 | 43 | 42 | 43 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 319 | 338 | 339 | 287 | 218 | 211 | 192 | 198 | 194 | 271 |
| Capital expenditure | 47 | 47 | 62 | 67 | — | — | — | 101 | 94 | 95 |
| Free cash flow | 273 | 291 | 277 | 220 | — | — | — | 98 | 100 | 175 |
| Dividends paid | 59 | 58 | 57 | 52 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 53 | 54 | 55 |
| Share buybacks | 55 | 65 | 200 | 118 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Acquisitions | 240 | 139 | 192 | 8 | 0 | 958 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stock-based compensation | 12 | 15 | 13 | 20 | 22 | 30 | 24 | 20 | 20 | 25 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 77 | 59 | 60 | 74 | 123 | 41 | 40 | 72 | 34 | 37 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 760 | 707 | 910 | 884 | 841 | 1,711 | 1,673 | 1,620 | 1,530 | 1,458 |
| Total assets | 2,184 | 2,209 | 2,305 | 1,943 | 1,842 | 3,074 | 3,076 | 3,081 | 2,831 | 2,864 |
| Total liabilities | 1,303 | 1,194 | 1,390 | 1,396 | 1,329 | 2,500 | 2,472 | 2,476 | 2,210 | 2,183 |
| Shareholders' equity | 881 | 1,015 | 915 | 571 | 513 | 575 | 604 | 605 | 621 | 681 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 63.9% | 62.2% | 60.4% | 59.5% | 59.2% | 56.3% | 53.9% | 53.0% | 53.1% | 53.0% |
| Operating margin | 19.8% | 16.8% | 11.6% | −9.4% | 2.3% | 7.0% | 7.6% | 7.3% | 9.1% | 10.9% |
| Net margin | 12.4% | 11.7% | 7.5% | −11.1% | 0.3% | 3.1% | 2.9% | 1.2% | 2.5% | 3.9% |
| Free cash flow margin | 14.8% | 14.8% | 13.9% | 11.0% | — | — | — | 4.5% | 4.7% | 8.2% |
| Rule of 40 (growth + FCF margin) | 19.1% | 21.1% | 15.5% | 11.5% | — | — | — | 2.4% | 1.5% | 8.8% |
| Return on capital | 17.2% | 15.0% | 9.5% | −9.5% | 1.6% | 5.5% | 5.9% | 4.8% | 6.2% | 7.6% |
| Return on equity | 28.2% | 24.3% | 15.5% | −30.1% | 1.0% | 11.5% | 11.1% | 4.3% | 8.6% | 12.6% |
| Return on assets | 11.4% | 10.5% | 6.6% | −10.5% | 0.3% | 2.5% | 2.1% | 0.8% | 1.8% | 2.9% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 1.5x | 1.4x | 2.4x | — | 4.7x | 5.7x | 4.8x | 4.7x | 4.2x | 3.8x |