-- Mastercard's (MA) first-quarter results outpaced Wall Street's estimates, though the payments giant said that the Middle East conflict was impacting spending on cross-border travel.
Adjusted earnings rose to $4.60 a share for the three months through March from $3.73 a year earlier, topping the FactSet-polled consensus of $4.41. Revenue climbed 16% to $8.40 billion, ahead of the Street's view for $8.26 billion.
Cross-border volume increased 13%, marking a slowdown from a 14% jump in the fourth quarter, according to an investor presentation.
While travel and non-travel spending gained in the first quarter, the company experienced "some impact on cross-border travel" from the Iran war in March, Chief Financial Officer Sachin Mehra said during an earnings call, according to a FactSet transcript.
Cross-border volume for the month of April through Tuesday grew 9% year-over-year, making a further deceleration compared with the first quarter's tally.
"We are operating in a period of heightened uncertainty, magnified by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East," Mehra told analysts. "Since the outbreak of the conflict at the end of February, we have seen restrictions on travel and a reduction in the world's energy supply."
The stock fell 3.7% in Thursday trade, and is down 11% year to date.
Gross dollar volume jumped 7.3% in local currency terms to $2.703 trillion in the first quarter.
For the second quarter, Mastercard expects annual revenue growth at the low end of low double digits, on an adjusted basis, according to the slide deck. The Street is looking for $9.11 billion in sales.
"We assume the conflict ends in (the second quarter) and the related headwinds will be largest in (the second quarter), and then progressively recover as we move through the second half of the year," Mehra told analysts.
Mastercard maintained its non-GAAP 2026 revenue growth outlook that assumes the company finishing the year at the high end of low double digits, the presentation showed. The market view is for revenue of $37 billion.
Visa (V) lifted its full-year growth outlook on Tuesday and logged better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results.
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