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(Sharecast News) - Mastercard reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter results on Thursday, underlining resilience in global consumer and business spending and continued expansion of its high-margin services arm.
Net revenue at the card issuing and payment processing behemoth rose 17% year-on-year to $8.6bn, or 15% on a currency-neutral basis, comfortably above Wall Street estimates of $8.53bn.
Adjusted net income climbed 10% to $4bn, translating into adjusted earnings per share of $4.38, also ahead of analysts' consensus forecast of $4.31.
Reported net income increased 20% to $3.9bn, or $4.34 per share.
"Mastercard delivered another strong quarter, with net revenue growth of 17% year-over-year, driven by healthy consumer and business spending and continued robust performance of our differentiated services," said chief executive Michael Miebach.
"This quarter, these value-added services and solutions delivered net revenue growth of 25% year-over-year."
The company's total gross dollar volume rose 9% to $2.7trn on a local currency basis, with cross-border volume up 15% and switched transactions increasing by 10%.
Payment network revenue grew 12%, while value-added services and solutions - which include cybersecurity, data analytics and digital authentication tools - expanded by 25% and now account for more than a third of total revenue.
Operating income jumped 26% to $5.1bn, lifting the operating margin to 58.8%, up more than four percentage points from a year earlier.
Expenses rose 5% on a reported basis, reflecting higher general and administrative costs and recent acquisitions.
The effective tax rate rose to 21.5% following the implementation of the OECD's global minimum tax rules in Singapore and other jurisdictions.
Mastercard maintained its full-year forecast for revenue growth at the "high end of mid-teens" percentages.
The firm's performance capped a robust earnings season for major card networks, with Visa and American Express also posting strong results earlier this week amid evidence that consumer spending remains steady despite economic uncertainty and lingering inflation.
At 1033 EDT (1433 GMT), shares in Mastercard Incorporated were up 0.77% in New York at $558.85.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.