MasterCard (MA) closed the latest trading day at $548.51, indicating a +0.07% change from the previous session's end. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.38%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.03%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.87%.
Shares of the processor of debit and credit card payments witnessed a loss of 4.66% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Business Services sector with its loss of 4.52% and outperforming the S&P 500's loss of 5.59%.
The upcoming earnings release of MasterCard will be of great interest to investors. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $3.57, marking a 7.85% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $7.12 billion, up 12.18% from the year-ago period.
MA's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $15.88 per share and revenue of $31.56 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +8.77% and +12.06%, respectively.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for MasterCard. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.15% lower. Currently, MasterCard is carrying a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
From a valuation perspective, MasterCard is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 34.51. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 14.72 for its industry.
We can also see that MA currently has a PEG ratio of 2.4. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Financial Transaction Services stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.43 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 80, which puts it in the top 33% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Mastercard Incorporated (MA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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