Mastercard (MA) Surges On "Masterful" Q1 Results

Shares of Mastercard (NYSE: MA) are up over 13% today following blow-out Q1 results.

MasterCard reported Q1 earnings of $3.01, or $2.59 per share ex-gain, well ahead of the consensus of $2.00. Revenues rose 29.2% to $1.18 billion, versus the consensus of $1.07 billion. Currency fluctuations contributed to 5.1% of the increase in revenue.

MasterCard's gross dollar volume rose 14.1% to $611 billion. Transaction volume rose 15.7% to 4.9 billion. Cross-border volumes rose 23.6%.

Wall Street was impressed with the report and raised estimates accordingly. Wachovia lifted 2008 EPS estimates to $9 and 2009 to $11. Wachovia called the results "masterful." SunTrust was equally impressed, calling the results "stellar." They have a Buy rating on MA and said they will revisit their estimates and $240 price target. [LJ]

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