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MasterCard (MA) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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MasterCard (MA - Free Report) closed at $384.38 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.7% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.04%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.58%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 2.52%.

Heading into today, shares of the processor of debit and credit card payments had gained 14.21% over the past month, outpacing the Business Services sector's gain of 2.06% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.15% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from MA as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.57, down 14.21% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $3.97 billion, down 1% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $8 per share and revenue of $18.08 billion. These totals would mark changes of +24.42% and +18.17%, respectively, from last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for MA. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. 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. 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 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.37% lower. MA currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, MA is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 47.72. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 24.87.

Investors should also note that MA has a PEG ratio of 2.62 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. MA's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.06 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 203, which puts it in the bottom 21% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks 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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