Mastercard Inc. (MA)

Has owned for ~10 years. Excellent business that will continue to own. 

Trading at a high 32x forward PE, but shares are near 52-week highs. Is growing around 15% in earnings despite a challenging macro. Cross-border travel continues to beat expectations. Consumers are also seeing higher wages to fuel their spending.

Increased demand for credit cards and online shopping will continue. Partnership with NFLX focuses on live events. None of these partnerships will generate a ton of revenue, but it's ingenious how they're gaining access to the consumer. Yield is 0.5%.

They delivered a good quarter a few weeks ago. Long-term secular growth lies ahead.

Likes it still. Long-term, secular growth in digital payments. Cyclical growth due to cross-border travel and e-commerce. About 15% earnings growth rate. Technicals continue to look good. May benefit from DOJ action against Visa.

Retail sales are hitting new highs, despite worries about consumer turning over. Interest rates moving lower is a benefit to the consumer and, therefore, to a name like MA.

Good company. Fairly substantial move. Often in an up market, stocks that have performed well keep that momentum going. Bit expensive. Wait for a few % pullback for an entry point. In the right space, and making good use of technology.

(Note the short timeframe.) MA and Visa make up the best unregulated duopoly in the world. MA has less debit exposure, which is where Visa got dinged. Still a reasonable valuation.

Prefers Mastercard for its higher growth rate over the last 5 years. Visa sees more regulatory challenges in the US and UK, and are more exposed to debit cards which is seeing regulation pushback on those fees. MA is more exposed to European markets where the cash-to-card conversion is still going, offering growth. Both companies enjoy great margins and are layering on extra services. A slowing consumer may slow growth rates from 12% to 8-10% in revenues, a slight, but not major headwind.

In the middle to lower part of the range. Trying to break out of a downtrend. So far, so good. Have to watch and see what happens.

He owns AXP, higher ranked on RSI. Bit of disruption in the space, as the Capital One & Discover deal had an impact on capital flows.

Little spike in the stock after they reported. Travel is slowing a bit after being robust after Covid. Volumes are picking up around the world. Benefits from cash to card conversion; whether consumer to consumer, consumer to business, or B2B. Offers analytics. Yield is 0.6%.

Can grow in at least the low double digits over the medium-long term, with earnings growing in the mid-teens. Steady grower. Valuation not extreme, good entry point.

He owns both. Visa is more about dividend growth, but Mastercard is the preferred card in Europe. It's a dead heat. MA was ahead of its peers in tech by introducing fraud-prevention measures, but both consider themselves fintech companies. Bother could be under pressure if consumers spend less, but so earnings have been strong.

Toll road, along with Visa. A choice for a consumer stock that benefits from inflation, deflation, and everything in between. Best place to be for high margins, secular growth, global reach. Yield is 0.6%.

Along with Visa, has never been cheaper on an absolute basis, especially relative to the rest of the market. Quality, profile, ubiquitous growth opportunities. We are going through headwinds, so you have to believe that we'll come  out the other side in a more positive place. We'll look back at this time and see what a great opportunity it was.

He's held this for a decade, hopes to for a decade more, but it's still a good opportunity today.

She's chosen Visa. It's larger. Transaction volume is almost twice that of MA. MA may have more international presence, but Visa is growing that as well.

Chart analysis indicating strength - good time to buy. Good for long term investor. Historic chart very strong. Excellent business with strong tech stack. Very resilient stock. 

An excellent CEO. He sold it to take profits, but wants to buy back, but the share prices hasn't fallen. Likes it.