News

Mastercard Incorporated MA recently undertook a series of partnerships aiming to further boost its footprint in the UAE. The first move entails strengthening MA’s ties with one of the largest alliances of independent hotel brands globally, Global Hotel Alliance (“GHA”). GHA represents a group of 40 brands with over 800 hotels in 100 countries.

The partners have entered into a multimarket deal to unveil a co-branded card that promises to offer personalized travel benefits and lucrative rewards to affluent cardholders of the UAE. The collaboration will cater to the unique needs of the targeted cardholders and provide them with a wide range of accommodation options, thereby upgrading their travel experience.

With luxury travel being on the rise in the MENA region, the latest move of Mastercard seems to be a time-opportune one. Per Mastercard’s Affluent Travel Report, 34% of affluent travelers in the MENA region use loyalty schemes and membership cards, with more than half seeking more meaningful experiences over shopping and souvenirs.

The second tie-up consists of an alliance between Mastercard and NOW Money, a leading digital payroll and banking platform for migrant workers. As a result, a Mastercard payment card will be issued to NOW Money customers. The card comes with several benefits, such as worldwide usability, which will enable customers to access their funds seamlessly while shopping online, making in-store purchases or withdrawing cash from ATMs. Advanced security measures of Mastercard, including EMV chip technology and comprehensive fraud detection systems, will be infused within the card to offer peace of mind to NOW Money customers conducting transactions.

The ulterior motive of Mastercard behind its collaboration with NOW Money remains to make its secure and seamless payment solutions, and extensive merchant network available to unbanked individuals of the UAE and welcome them under the ambit of a booming digital economy.

The third partnership was formed between Mastercard and the premier facilitator of digital commerce in the Middle East and Africa region, Network International. With the utilization of MA’s global digital payment expertise, Network will offer an array of commercial payment solutions tailored to merchants and general businesses across the UAE.

The Corporate Executive Card is designed to offer businesses of all sizes a comprehensive suite of benefits and advanced expense management controls. The Incontrol Digital Business Payments virtual card, suitable for both domestic and international transactions, will introduce the first-ever net-zero foreign transaction fees in the UAE. The Mastercard Wholesale Program Digital Travel Payments aims to assist travel industry clients in securing and automating B2B travel payment transactions.

The new card offerings, enhanced with attractive benefits and technology advancements, are expected to attract new customers as well as encourage the existing ones to increase their card spending to avail the benefits. Increased usage of the card, which carries the Mastercard brand, may boost the net revenues of the tech giant from its payment network by charging fees to customers based on the gross dollar volume of the cards. Payment network net revenues improved 7% year over year in the first quarter.

Shares of Mastercard have gained 11.7% in the past year compared with the industry’s 8.5% growth.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

MA currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks in the Business Services space are Duolingo, Inc. DUOL, Parsons Corporation PSN and Trane Technologies plc TT. While Duolingo sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Parsons and Trane Technologies carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The bottom line of Duolingo outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 115.22%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DUOL’s 2024 earnings is pegged at $1.74 per share, which indicates a nearly five-fold increase from the 2023 reported figure. The consensus mark for revenues implies growth of 37.8% from the 2023 figure. The consensus mark for DUOL’s earnings has moved 0.6% north in the past 60 days.

Parsons’ earnings outpaced estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 16.50%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PSN’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 21.8% from the 2023 reported figure. The consensus mark for revenues implies growth of 17% from the 2023 figure. The consensus mark for PSN’s earnings has moved 0.3% north in the past 30 days.

The bottom line of Trane Technologies outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 7.54%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TT’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 15.9% from the 2023 reported figure. The same for revenues implies growth of 8.5% from the 2023 number. The consensus mark for TT’s earnings has moved 0.2% north in the past 30 days.

Shares of Duolingo, Parsons and Trane Technologies have gained 24.2%, 62.7% and 73.5%, respectively, in the past year.

Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"

From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.

It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.

This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.

Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Mastercard Incorporated (MA) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Trane Technologies plc (TT) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Parsons Corporation (PSN) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Duolingo, Inc. (DUOL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.