- Mastercard (NYSE:MA) gains 1.0% and Visa (NYSE:V) rises 0.6% in premarket trading after Jefferies analyst Trevor Williams raises the two credit card network stocks to Buy from Hold.
- A "rare stretch of underperformance sets up V & MA well for '21 as focus shifts to post-COVID earnings power and the accompanying upward revision cycle," Williams writes.
- Sees significant upside to Street cross-border revenue estimates in FY22 and FY23 as consensus implies international travel won't recover to 2019 levels until 2024.
- Williams expects international travel to pass 2019 in 2023, which will drive stocks in 2021 "as a more normalized earnings stream in '22 and '23 becomes discounted by the market."
- AlphaTech Equities takes a more bearish view of Visa due to "multiple threats of disintermediation."
- See how Visa and Mastercard compare in Quant factor grades: