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Discover Financial (DFS) Expands Reach in Singapore With NETS

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Discover Financial Services (DFS - Free Report) recently announced a strategic partnership with the Network for Electronic Transfers (“NETS") in a bid to expand its footprint in Singapore. This collaboration aims to enhance payment experience for DFS’ cardholders in Singapore, by providing flexibility to use their cards at Point-of-Sale across the country.

This move bodes well for DFS as it will be leveraging NETS’s huge network of 130,000 plus acceptance points. DFS’s cardholders can access Point of Sale in segments like retail, convenience stores, supermarkets and, food and beverage. The Discover Global Network consists of Discover, Network Alliance and Diners Club International cards.

This is a time opportune move as DFS is looking to expand rapidly in the Asia-Pacific region. The Asia-Pacific region alone contributed to 34% spend growth in 2023. This collaboration will impart substantial benefits to DFS in the form of increased market penetration and improved brand visibility in Singapore. By expanding its card network to reach more merchants through NETS, DFS is enhancing its offerings and paving the ground for improved customer satisfaction and increased card usage.

This move is expected to benefit DFS’s Payment Services segment, whose pre tax income improved 74.5% year over year in the first quarter of 2024. Improved transaction volumes may boost Payment Services volume in the future. Moreover, a move like this is expected to expand DFS’s market share and aid in catering to the evolving needs of customers. Discover Financial has also partnered with payment companies in China and Australia to expand its reach.

Price Performance

Discover Financial’s shares have gained 0.9% in the past three months against the 2.5% decline of the industry.

Zacks Investment Research
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Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Discover Financial currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Finance space are The Allstate Corporation (ALL - Free Report) , Brown & Brown, Inc. (BRO - Free Report) and NMI Holdings, Inc. (NMIH - Free Report) . While Allstate sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Brown & Brown and NMI carry a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy) each at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The bottom line of Allstate outpaced the consensus estimate in three of the last four quarters and missed the mark once, the average surprise being 41.88%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALL’s 2024 earnings is pegged at $15.13 per share, which indicates a nearly 16-fold increase from the prior-year figure.

The consensus mark for revenues implies an improvement of 9.4% from the year-ago levels. The consensus mark for Allstate’s earnings has moved 2% north in the past 30 days.  

Brown & Brown’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 11.90%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BRO’s 2024 earnings and revenues implies 28.5% and 9.1% growth from the year-earlier actuals, respectively. The consensus mark for Brown & Brown’s earnings has moved 4.3% north in the past 60 days.  

The bottom line of NMI outpaced the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 8.60%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NMIH’s 2024 earnings and revenues indicates a rise of 10.7% and 11.1%, respectively, from the prior-year reported figures. The consensus mark for NMI’s earnings has moved 1.4% north in the past 30 days.

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