MasterCard Tops Q1 Views to Send Shares Higher, Analyst Praises 'Across-the-Board Outperformance'

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MA reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $2.76, up from $1.74 in the year-ago period and above the consensus estimates of $2.19. Net revenue came in at $5.2 billion, up 24% YoY and beating the consensus projection of $4.92 billion.

The operating margin stood at 57.1% in the period, compared to 52.9% in the same period last year, while analysts were looking for 53.6%. MA reported cross-border volume growth of 53%, well above the estimated growth of 40.8%.

The company reported $28.96 billion in processed transactions, up 22% YoY and above the expected $28.79 billion. Mastercard said the Russia-Ukraine war had an impact of $30 million on revenue.

“We’re seeing strong traction in consumer and small business payments, Mastercard Installments, and our work across the digital-asset space,” the company said.

“Even in the context of this challenging geopolitical environment, we’re off to a strong start in 2022 with robust revenue and earnings growth as cross-border volumes grew 53% versus a year ago on a local currency basis.”

J.P. Morgan analyst Tien-Tsin Huang reiterated an Overweight rating and a price target of $400.00 per share. He took note of the “slightly” lowered full-year guidance.

“U.S. and global volumes remained stable in April after healthy growth in Q1, while cross-border travel saw a strong acceleration similar to Visa results after the Omicron overhang dissipated in February,” Huang said.

For Evercore ISI analyst David Togut, results were an “across-the-board outperformance” as they came in ahead of his expectations.

By Senad Karaahmetovic