Mastercard earnings report

MasterCard Incorporated's annual earnings report is due on January 28, 2021. Considering the first three quarters reports, this guide will forecast the company's annual earnings report.

The Earnings per share declined in the first three quarters, with an EPS of 1.8 in the first quarter, 1.3 in the second quarter, and 1.6 in the third quarter. The credit card service provider managed net revenue of $3.8 billion in the third quarter, a decrease of 14% since the first quarter. The decrease was because of Covid-19 as the crossborder volume declined by 36% on a local currency basis. One the flipside, decreases were partially offset by some growth factors in all three quarters such as the Dollar growth of 1%, equating to $1.6 trillion, switched transactions growth of 5%, 2% increase due to acquisitions, and data services solutions.

Based on the pattern of the previous quarters, the expected EPS for the fourth quarter is 1.5, with a high of 1.7 and a low of 1.4. For the annual forecast, the expected EPS is 6.3 with a high of 6.4 and a low of 6.0. The quarterly revenue is expected to be $4.02 billion, higher than the third quarter but down by 9% from the previous year.

According to the company's data, during the third quarter of 2020, MasterCard repurchased approximately 6.5 million shares at a cost of $2.1 billion and paid $402 million in dividends. This is greater than the $401 million paid in the second quarter but less than the first-quarter payments of $403 million. The returns for the fourth quarter are expected to be more of the same, between $401 and $402 million.

MasterCard stock price since Jan 2020 source: Macro Trends

Since the last report of MasterCard in September 2020, the stock price is down by 0.98%. The price has been fluctuating between $280 and $350, with a low of $288 on October 28. Currently, MasterCard (NYSE: MA) closed the most recent trading day at $329.10 yesterday, after it dropped initially to 200-DMA at $317 area. In the past month, MasterCard gained 1.73% when the business sector lost 0.83%. For the future, Wall Street will be eyeing the report due on January 28. Recent data suggest a positive outcome for the company. The Zacks Analysts suggest a wait-and-watch approach for the share and give a hold signal leaning towards the bullish zone. It is also worth mentioning that Mastercard currently has a PEG ratio of 2.46. This popular metric system is similar to the P/E ratio. The difference between the two systems is that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings.

Technical Analysis

Considering the fact that Visa and MasterCard are pretty much dominating the market, as they keep growing rapidly and efficiently. From a technical perspective, Mastercard stock price could find Support between 320 and 330. At the meantime, the RSI is below 50 on the daily chart indicating the stock is entering oversold territory. Moreover, there is a positive regression trend with October seeing the only dip. However, recent selling occurred at higher than average daily volumes.

EUR/USD remains weak near 1.1800

EUR/USD remains on the back foot on Thursday, trading close to the 1.1800 support ahead of the opening bell in Asia. The pair’s pullback comes amid further gains in the Greenback, while investors keep assessing the ECB’s decision to leave its policy rates unchanged

GBP/USD falls to new lows near 1.3530

GBP/USD extends Wednesday’s pullback on Thursday, easing lower towards two week lows around the 1.3530 area. Ongoing strength in the Greenback and the dovish hold from the BoE at its earlier meeting are keeping demand for the British Pound on the defensive for now.

Gold fails to sustain gains above $5,000 for third consecutive day

Gold is back under pressure on Thursday, slipping back towards the $4,800 region per troy ounce. A firmer US Dollar is weighing on the yellow metal, even as the broader mood remains risk off. That said, falling US Treasury yields across the curve are helping to cushion the downside and, for now at least, are limiting the depth of the pullback.