Mastercard Tops Estimates as International Travel Spending Rises. Why the Stock Is Falling.

Mastercard
posted third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates as cross-border spending jumped on positive international travel trends.

Mastercard (ticker: MA) reported third-quarter earnings of $3.39 a share, topping Wall Street estimates of $3.21, according to FactSet. The payments company posted revenue of $6.53 billion, which was in line with analysts’ expectations.

“We delivered strong revenue and earnings growth again this quarter, reflecting the solid fundamentals of our business and the continued resilience in consumer spending,” Chief Executive Michael Miebach said in the earnings release.

Mastercard
continued to see strength in its travel segment as the trend of a postpandemic rebound in travel continues. Mastercard’s “cross-border” volumes increased 21% from the prior year.

Visa
(V), which reported fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday, also posted strong cross-border growth.

However, switched volume at Mastercard has shown signs of slowing, which was dragging on the stock. Switched volume, which refers to the total number and value of payment transactions processed through the Mastercard platform, was up 11% in the first three weeks of October, lower than the 14% in September and August, and 13% from July.

Shares of Mastercard were down 4% at 9:49 a.m. Thursday to $376.52. Coming into the session, the stock has gained 11% this year.

Write to Angela Palumbo at [email protected]

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