Mastercard shrugs off economic jitters as consumers continue to splurge

Mastercard Inc MA-N on Thursday beat estimates for quarterly profit as travel demand held up against a turbulent economy, and bet on resilient consumer spending through the year.

Rising interest rates and stubborn inflation have had little impact on wealthier consumers who continue to spend on travel and entertainment, boosting transaction volumes at payments processors.

“Consumer spending has remained remarkably resilient, and that despite continued economic uncertainty,” said CEO Michael Miebach on a call with analysts, adding that while there are signs of inflation cooling, the banking sector has come under pressure.

Pent-up demand from consumers also helped Mastercard, driving a 35 per cent surge in cross-border volumes – a gauge of travel demand that tracks spending on cards beyond the country of its issue.

“Cross-border recovery trends remain constructive, and international volume growth is strong,” analysts at KBW wrote in a note.

Gross dollar volumes, a metric that represents the total dollar value of all transactions processed, rose 15 per cent on a local currency basis to $2.1-trillion.

The results cap a mixed quarter for the biggest U.S. card firms, as worries of a looming recession and decades-high inflation remain.

Earlier this week, Visa beat profit estimates, while American Express missed estimates last week, on bigger provisions.

Mastercard said it expects second-quarter revenue in high-end of low double-digits, roughly in line with Street expectations.

“We see guidance as leaving enough flexibility to manage uncertain macro effectively,” said Wolfe Research analyst Darrin Peller.

On an adjusted basis, Mastercard earned $2.80 in the quarter, beating estimates of $2.72 per share, according to Refinitiv data.

Net revenue rose 11 per cent to $5.7-billion, topping expectations of $5.64-billion.