Jack Henry & Associates Needs to Show Clearer Upside to Growth Targets, Morgan Stanley Says

11:56 AM EST, 11/05/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Jack Henry & Associates (JKHY) is seeing faster growth at its Payments and Complementary segments but needs to show clearer upside to its medium-term growth targets as well as stronger margin and free cash flow expansion, Morgan Stanley said in a note Thursday. The company reported fiscal Q1 earnings late Tuesday of $2.28 per diluted share and revenue of $701.5 million, both up from a year earlier and above FactSet analyst consensus estimates. Core revenue acceleration remains the key driver of the stock's performance, with nine Core wins and 63% trifecta attach supporting the outlook for faster growth, Morgan Stanley said. Growth in the Complementary segment seems poised to accelerate in fiscal H2, based on easier comparable sales and tailwinds related to cybersecurity and fraud prevention, the investment firm said. Public cloud could become a "more meaningful" upside driver as financial regulators take more seriously the potential cybersecurity benefits of moving workloads to public cloud providers amid rising cyber threats, according to the note. Morgan Stanley maintained an equal-weight rating on the stock, and raised the price target to $168 from $158. Price: 180.16, Change: +1.00, Percent Change: +0.56