Payment card industry giant Mastercard (MA.US) reported Q1 results that beat analysts’ expectations. At the same time, however, news broke of an antitrust investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), which is investigating the debit card program in the U.S. and the company’s relationship with rival payment networks. The company said it will cooperate with the DoJ’s antitrust division to clarify the matter. Mastercard also beat expectations for cross-border transaction volume

Revenue: $5.7 billion vs. $5.64 billion forecast (11% y/y)

Earnings per share: $2.8 vs. $2.71 forecasts (1.4% y/y)

Cross-border trading increased 35% y/y in U.S. dollar terms, all transactions combined increased 12% y/y.

• Mastercard, in a commentary on the results, warned of slower revenue growth in Q2 due to ‘economic breathlessness’. This shows that a possible recessionary scenario could pose significant challenges to the company’s business growth rate. The company expects revenue in the current quarter to grow at a single-digit rate therefore lower than the 10.7% estimated by analysts. 

Mastercard (MA.US) shares H1 interval. The stock has defended itself in the zone defined by the 23.6 Fibonacci retracement of the upward wave from the autumn 2022 and the SMA200 (red line). If the trend continues, bulls may target the $384 level set by the January 2022 peak. Source: xStation5