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MasterCard (MA) Stock Moves -0.63%: What You Should Know

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In the latest market close, MasterCard (MA - Free Report) reached $469.17, with a -0.63% movement compared to the previous day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.95%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 1.09%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 0.84%.

Heading into today, shares of the processor of debit and credit card payments had lost 0.15% over the past month, outpacing the Business Services sector's loss of 0.45% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 1.78% in that time.

The upcoming earnings release of MasterCard will be of great interest to investors. The company's earnings report is expected on May 1, 2024. In that report, analysts expect MasterCard to post earnings of $3.22 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 15%. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $6.34 billion, indicating a 10.23% upward movement from the same quarter last year.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $14.35 per share and revenue of $28.12 billion. These totals would mark changes of +17.05% and +12.05%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for MasterCard should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. 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 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 shifted 0.09% downward. MasterCard is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Digging into valuation, MasterCard currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 32.9. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 14.85, which means MasterCard is trading at a premium to the group.

Meanwhile, MA's PEG ratio is currently 1.79. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. Financial Transaction Services stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.19 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 80, this industry ranks in the top 32% of all industries, numbering over 250.

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.

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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