The takeaway
Shift4 Payments Inc shows a pronounced seasonal pattern over 6 years of data — strongest in November (+14.9%) and softest in April (−5.3%).
Right now
In July, the stock has risen 67% of years, averaging +1.9% — essentially in line with the S&P 500.
The full picture
Shift4 Payments Inc's most dependable month has been November, higher in 5 of 6 years; April has been its least reliable, up just 20% of the time.
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win rate % | ||||||||||||
| Median return % | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | ||||||||||||
| 2023 | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | ||||||||||||
| 2020 | — | — | — | — | — |
Month by month
The stock's clearest edge over the S&P 500 lands in November (+12.6 pts); it has trailed the market most in October (−8.0 pts).
“vs S&P” is Shift4 Payments Inc’s average for a month minus the S&P 500’s average for that same month — isolating Shift4 Payments Inc’s own seasonal edge from broad market drift.
Reality check
Over the last 5 years, November has closed higher 80% of the time versus 83% across the last 6 years — the pattern is weakening.
Figures are the typical (median) November return and how often it rose — the last 5 years versus the last 6(the heatmap’s default window). This verdict stays anchored to that 6-year window even if you zoom the chart, so it never disagrees with the badges above.
In plain English
The seasonal story is really one month's story — November. It has closed higher in 5 of 6 Novembers, a concentration the rest of the calendar can't touch.
The strength looks broad-based rather than freakish: its average (+14.9%) and median (+16.9%) sit close together, so no single blow-out year is flattering the figure. That reliability comes with real swings, mind — even November ranges by 20.8% from year to year, so any single year can land far from the average. Better still, that strength is the stock's own and not just a buoyant market — November has outpaced the S&P 500 by +12.6 points on average. Few peers keep such company in November — the typical stock clears it just 62% of the time.
It doesn't stand entirely alone — March, June, and July have leaned firm as well, if less emphatically. At the other end of the calendar, April has been the soft spot — the weakest of 4 months that average a loss (−5.3%), and the edge isn't year-round — the stock has trailed the S&P 500 in October, April, and September. Its roughest month on record was a −25.8% June in 2022 — a reminder of how hard even a seasonal name can fall.
The pattern has softened of late, November's last five years slipping below its longer-run record.
For a stock this dependable in November, the sharper question is the rest of the year — outside its strong stretch, the calendar gives far less to lean on. With a short 6-year record and returns that swing hard year to year, the signal is best held loosely.
Short answers on the stock's best month (November), its worst (April), and whether it really trades seasonally.
Yes, to a pronounced degree. Since 2020 its best month (November, +14.9%) has run well ahead of its worst (April, −5.3%) — the heatmap above shows how steady that gap has been year to year.
November has been the strongest, averaging +14.9% and closing higher in 5 of 6 years since 2020.
It's the weakest, averaging −5.3% — historically a soft spot, though it still varies from year to year.
Explore
These names have the strongest July track records on record — a starting point for comparison.
Before you trade