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MasterCard (MA) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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MasterCard (MA - Free Report) closed at $360.73 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.52% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.97%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.96%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.23%.

Coming into today, shares of the processor of debit and credit card payments had gained 4.44% in the past month. In that same time, the Business Services sector lost 18.39%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.78%.

MasterCard will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 27, 2022. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.18, up 32.93% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.13 billion, up 24.47% from the year-ago period.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for MasterCard. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.49% lower. MasterCard currently has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Digging into valuation, MasterCard currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 35.21. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 16.73.

Also, we should mention that MA has a PEG ratio of 1.69. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. MA's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.12 as of yesterday's close.

The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 188, which puts it in the bottom 27% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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