PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) stock has been a huge winner in 2020. The company has suffered only a modest negative impact from the novel coronavirus. And while the company has had to increase reserves for potential credit losses due to the virus, it's made up for that and more with a huge surge in payments activity. As a result, its shares are up an astounding 39% year-to-date. And for anyone that bought at the March lows, PayPal has soared 76% since the bottom.Source: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com That said, the good news is that Paypal stock could have further to go still. That's because PayPal is one of the best-positioned companies out there for dealing with the current economic environment. With the virus still a lingering threat, who wants to be handling grimy physical cash right now? Many transactions have moved online, and PayPal is there to facilitate them.In the span of a few months, we've seen years worth of economic activity move into the digital realm -- and PayPal is right at the heart of the action. That said, it gets even better. PayPal is seeing demand soar even while the credit card companies are witnessing declining volumes for a reason we'll discuss in a moment.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsOverall, PayPal is in the sweet spot, and its shareholders are reaping the benefits. Leading The Contactless Retail RevolutionPayPal should be a huge beneficiary of post-coronavirus "contactless" retail practices. While contactless retail may seem like a simple phrase, it encompasses a ton of territory. You have traditional e-commerce, curbside pickup, cashier-less checkout in stores, in-app payments and more. The good news is that many of these options put PayPal on equal footing with the credit card networks. Therefore, plastic's traditional monopoly on digital payments is breaking down. * 10 Stocks on a Bankruptcy Watch Contactless retail is hardly just a U.S. phenomenon either. In the United Kingdom -- for example -- thanks to the coronavirus, a major card company raised the limits on transaction sizes for many contactless payments. For British pound-based commerce, the limit increased from 30 pounds to 50 pounds per transaction. Following the increased limit, the average contactless transaction size has jumped nearly 50%, to 14 pounds each, and the contactless channel is earning tremendous market share, picking up nearly half of purchases within that price range.Of course, skeptics will say that this sort of uptake is happening primarily due to the crisis. And once it passes, people may return to their old ways. Some will, undoubtedly, but many won't. And once people become accustomed to the ease of contactless payments, many shoppers will stick with it forever -- thus increasing PayPal's share of the overall ecosystem. Astounding ResultsOverall, we can see this playing out in the company's most recent operating results. During April, PayPal gained 7.4 million new accounts and grew processed payments 18%. Given the sharp overall drop in economic activity, these are staggering figures. The total commerce pie shrank dramatically during April, yet PayPal managed to produce strong double-digit growth.This is in stark contrast to the major credit card companies. In fact, both Visa (NYSE:V) and Mastercard (NYSE:MA) suffered 20% or greater declines in transaction activity over the same period.This shows another advantage to PayPal, as it tends to be favored by younger and more online customers who have rising earnings power as they get older. Visa and Mastercard are undoubtedly great brands. However, some of their most profitable business is tied to established business customers who will be reining in spending for the foreseeable future.Up until this crisis, Visa and Mastercard were widely viewed as the most powerful and entrenched payments companies out there. However, as PayPal gains market share, its valuation will continue to catch up with the credit card titans. Paypal Stock VerdictSimply put, PayPal is an innovative market force that will continue to lead. The company was already producing fantastic results before the current pandemic started, and what's going on with the health crisis will be an unbelievable shot of adrenaline for the war on cash. Therefore, as long as people are being careful, PayPal will take more market share -- not only from cash, but also from credit cards.Yes, Paypal stock is rich. It is trading at 46 times forward earnings, and nearly 10 times revenues. Both of those are way up there, but it is deserving of its premium price. The company has grown its earnings at more than 30% a year compounded over the past five years, and analysts see 20% earnings per share (EPS) growth going forward. These are tremendous numbers in any environment, and especially so with the coronavirus-induced recession causing slowdowns for so many other leading companies.Even the credit card companies have been showing signs of weakness thanks to the economic situation. Yet, Visa and Mastercard routinely trade for more than 30x earnings, and were trading for as much as 20x sales prior to the March market crash.Collectively, PayPal doesn't look bad at all by comparison, so don't let its valuation scare you too much. The company's fundamentals fully support a bullish outlook right now.Eric Fry is an award-winning stock picker with numerous "10-bagger" calls -- in good markets AND bad. How? By finding potent global megatrends … before they take off. And when it comes to bear markets, you'll want to have his "blueprint" in hand before stocks go south. Eric does not own the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner * America's Richest ZIP Code Holds Shocking Secret * 1 Under-the-Radar 5G Stock to Buy Now * The 1 Stock All Retirees Must Own The post Hereas How PayPal Stock Is Ringing Up Massive Gains appeared first on InvestorPlace.
American Century recently released its Q1 2020 Investor Letter, a copy of which you can download below. American Century Focused Global Growth Fund posted a return of -16.95% for the quarter, outperforming its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Index which returned -21.37% in the same quarter. You should check out American Century’s top 5 stock picks […]
(Bloomberg) -- DefinedCrowd, an Amazon.com Inc.-backed startup that provides data sets to train artificially intelligent speech programs, is setting its sights on a public listing in the next five years as voice interactions between humans and machines become more common.The Seattle-based company raised $50.5 million in a recent funding round led by existing investors, paving the way for an initial public offering within the next five years, Chief Executive Officer Daniela Braga said in an interview. The company declined to comment on its valuation.“It’s the road to an IPO,” Braga said, adding her company’s ambition is to support the development of AI so that people eventually will “communicate with machines the same way we do with humans.”Founded by Braga in 2015, DefinedCrowd curates voice and text data for clients including BMW AG and Mastercard Inc. to train virtual assistants and customer-service chatbots. The company designs the sets to be diverse and balanced, representing certain dialects or age ranges for audiences most likely to use the systems. Revenue grew 656% last year and is expected to triple this year, Braga said.Once the pandemic subsides, Braga said she expects businesses from a range of industries – including telehealth and education – to build AI personal assistants to better serve customers, something that might require more specific data that incorporates an industry’s vocabulary.Amazon, Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have come under fire over revelations they used recordings of customers’ interactions with virtual assistants to train their AI systems. A former contractor working on Apple’s Siri transcription project in Ireland last week complained to European privacy authorities over the “massive violation of the privacy of millions of citizens.” The companies said they’ve made changes to provide users with more control over their data.By contrast, DefinedCrowd uses a crowdsourcing platform, Neevo, to generate data from a paid community of more than 290,000 members in 70 countries. Crowd members are asked to complete tasks like recording their voices or transcribing and annotating recordings rather than pulling data from customers who are using voice AI products.Braga said the newly raised funds will help the company expand its products and nearly double the number of employees in 2020. The company current employs around 268 people. Existing investors that participated in the funding round include Evolution Equity Partners, Kibo Ventures, Portugal Ventures, Bynd Venture Capital, EDP Ventures, and Ironfire Ventures as well as new investors Semapa Next and Hermes GPE.Amazon and Sony Corp., which is also an existing investor, didn’t increase their stakes in the latest round, Braga said, adding it was a strategic move not to increase the involvement of other companies as DefinedCrowd moves toward an IPO.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Qualys stock moves from IBD's Long-Term Leaders Watchlist to the Portfolio. Mastercard and Epam Systems are now actionable.
Companies say that a return to workspaces will be slow and that they need to be sensitive to employees’ needs and concerns.
Update on Coatue Management’s top 1st-quarter trades Continue reading...
Warren Buffett likes 44 stocks plus two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) enough for them to be included in Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) portfolio. Of these 45 stocks, including Berkshire, I like five enough to own them in my investment portfolio. My favorite Buffett stock right now is... Mastercard (NYSE: MA).
In 2010, Ajay Banga was appointed CEO of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA). This analysis aims first to contrast CEO...
TORONTO and MIAMI, FL , May 28, 2020 /CNW/ - XTM, Inc. ("XTM" or the "Company") (PAID.CN) (FSE:7XT), a global Fintech company in the challenger banking space, providing mobile banking and payment solutions around the world is pleased to announce that it is completing the final steps to launch the Today™ Mastercard program throughout the United States . Due to overwhelming demand for XTM's cashless earnings and gratuity platform coupled with the Today Mastercard for workers, the Company has been working diligently to expedite the process with its processor and issuing bank. XTM has a pipeline of customers who have already committed to launching the program as soon as XTM is ready to issue Mastercard's in the U.S. which the Company expects to be by July 2020 .
Samsung Electronics America, Inc., today unveiled Samsung Money by SoFi, a new mobile-first money management experience that brings a cash management account and accompanying Mastercard debit card along with exclusive benefits to Samsung Pay, in partnership with innovative fintech company SoFi. The account is secure, with no account fees and rewards users for saving—earning higher interest relative to the national average of transactional accounts.1 At a time when people are turning to their technology to take care of essential tasks without leaving home, Samsung Money by SoFi makes it easier for them to manage more of their financial life in the Samsung Pay app.2
Mastercard chief financial officer Sachin Mehra will present at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference on May 28.
The credit card firm is the latest company to relax return-to-work rules for its global workforce.
Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) is reassessing its real estate needs and letting employees work from home until the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control.What HappenedThe world's second-largest payment processor is allowing employees to work from home until the pandemic is under control, or vaccines and other measures are available. Mastercard is also considering a consolidation of its offices, reported Reuters.Michael Fraccaro, chief people officer at Mastercard, said, "We expect in the coming weeks and months that more employees will continue to work from home than come into [the] office," adding, "And we are OK with that. We support that choice."Why It MattersMastercard employs 20,000 people around the world. The company has created a "future of work" task force to provide guidance on how to manage its employee and real estate requirements, reported Reuters.Fraccaro disclosed that 90% of Mastercard's global workforce is operating remotely. Employees working at the offices must follow social distancing norms, wear masks, and undergo temperature checks.Mastercard rivals American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) are also encouraging employees to continue working from home.Companies such as Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR), Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) are allowing employees to work from home as well. Mastercard Price ActionMastercard shares traded 0.40% higher at $300 in the after-hours session on Wednesday. The shares had closed the regular session 2.85% higher at $298.80.See more from Benzinga * Mark Zuckerberg And Priscilla Chan Donate M To Gates Foundation Coronavirus Accelerator(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Guru releases portfolio for the 1st quarter Continue reading...
Investors need to look for companies with a track record of stability and resilience as key attributes.
Yahoo Finance's Alexis Christoforous, Brian Sozzi, and Ethan Wolff-Mann discuss the rise in credit card fraud attempts as consumers are forced to use the online interface amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. economy showed mixed signals: Retail sales rose, auto sales paused and the ranks of people claiming unemployment benefits jumped.
Brown Advisory recently released its Q1 2020 Investor Letter, a copy of which you can download below. The Large-Cap Growth Fund posted a return of -13.05% for the quarter, outperforming its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Growth Index which returned -14.10% in the same quarter. You should check out Brown Advisory’s top 5 stock picks for […]
The global case tally for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 passed 5 million on Thursday after the biggest one-day increase since the start of the outbreak, as a top U.S. scientist cautioned that people should not rely on a vaccine and the labor market continued to show massive job losses.
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) announced its participation in two virtual investor conferences in the month of June 2020.