The most recent trading session ended with MasterCard (MA) standing at $485.52, reflecting a -0.87% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.23% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.91%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.1%.
Heading into today, shares of the processor of debit and credit card payments had lost 10.43% over the past month, lagging the Business Services sector's loss of 10.29% and outpacing the S&P 500's loss of 12.13% in that time.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of MasterCard in its upcoming earnings disclosure. On that day, MasterCard is projected to report earnings of $3.57 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 7.85%. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $7.12 billion, indicating a 12.18% upward movement from the same quarter last year.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $15.87 per share and a revenue of $31.56 billion, representing changes of +8.7% and +12.06%, respectively, from the prior year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for MasterCard. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.2% downward. MasterCard presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that MasterCard has a Forward P/E ratio of 30.86 right now. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 12.99 for its industry.
Investors should also note that MA has a PEG ratio of 2.14 right now. 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. MA's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.28 as of yesterday's close.
The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 86, finds itself in the top 35% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained 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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