Mastercard (MA) reported better-than-expected second-quarter results on Thursday, buoyed by double-digit growth in cross-border volume and healthy spending.
The payments giant posted adjusted earnings of $5.04 a share for the June quarter, up from $4.15 a year earlier and topping the FactSet-polled consensus of $4.77. Revenue increased 14% to $9.28 billion, exceeding the Street's view for $9.08 billion.
The stock gained 1.2% in Thursday trade, leaving it marginally lower year-to-date.
Cross-border volume advanced 12% on a local currency basis year over year, reflecting continued growth in both travel and non-travel related cross-border spending, Chief Financial Officer Sachin Mehra said during an earnings call, according to a FactSet transcript.
Cross-border travel was down sequentially, but the company saw "improved growth" in the second quarter due to "lower impacts from the developments in the Middle East and timing of holidays," according to Mehra. "Now, as we look at the first four weeks of July, our metrics remain relatively stable and strong," the CFO added.
Gross dollar volume, which reflects the value of all transactions processed on Mastercard's platform, grew 8% in local currency terms to $2.881 trillion. Latin America recorded a double-digit annual gain in GDV, while the US posted a 5.5% increase.
For 2026, Mastercard now expects non-GAAP revenue to increase by the low teens, it said in an earnings presentation. It previously expected the metric to come in at the high end of low-double-digits-to-low-teens. In 2025, the company reported adjusted revenue of $32.8 billion, representing annual growth of 16%.
"Overall, the underlying fundamentals of consumer and business, business spending and travel remain healthy," Mehra said on the call. "As we look at the second half of the year, our base case continues to assume spending remains healthy."
The company projects that the impact from the Middle East conflict for the rest of the year will remain at "similar levels" to the end of the second quarter, according to Mehra.
The US and Iran resumed hostilities against this month, just weeks after signing a memorandum of understanding to end the war that began at the end of February.
Price: $569.46, Change: $+6.14, Percent Change: +1.09%



