
Interview. Shift4 CEO Taylor Lauber and CFO Christopher Cruz on Capital Allocation, Competition, and Global Blue Strategy.
From The Synopsis by Drew Cohen
March 18, 2026 · 1h 6m · Episode 144
About this episode
Drew Cohen interviews Shift4 CEO Taylor Lauber and CFO Christopher Cruz about capital allocation, competition, and their acquisition of Global Blue.
In this fantastic interview we spoke with the CEO of Shift4, Taylor Lauber, and CFO, Christopher Cruz. We covered everything from what sets Shift4 apart from competition to capital allocation and their latest acquistion of Global Blue. You can find our Shift4 Research report here. AlphaSense has a repository of over 200k expert call transcripts that are similar to this conversation. Sign-up for access here . *~*~*~*~* Get access to all of Speedwell Research's in-depth Research Reports here. If you need help getting Speedwell added as an approved research vendor for your investment firm, please reach out to info@speedwellresearch.com -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Show Notes (0:00) — Shift4 Business Overview (1:14) — Where Shift4 Fits in the Payment Value Chain (3:17) — How Shift4 Differentiates Itself (7:12) — Competitive Dynamics (8:46) — Toast vs Shift4 (14:26) — ROIC and Capital Allocation (24:46) — The Role of Gateway and Global Blue (36:34) — Global Blue Competitive Dynamics (44:06) — Organic Growth vs M&A (59:39) — 2027 Free Cash Flow Target Still on the Table? (1:04:22) — Can Shift4 be Recreated? -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Become a Speedwell Member here to gain access to *all* of…
People in this episode
Host: Drew Cohen
Guests: Taylor Lauber, Christopher Cruz
Topics covered
- capital allocation
- competition
- payment processing
- business strategy
- mergers and acquisitions
- financial performance
Keywords
- Shift4
- Global Blue
- capital allocation
- competition
- Toast
- mergers and acquisitions
- financial strategy
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Shift4, Global Blue, AlphaSense, Speedwell Research, Toast
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