Shares of Mastercard Inc. jumped 1.6% toward a record high in premarket trade Thursday, after the payments and credit card company reported fourth-quarter profit and revenue that beat expectations. Net income fell to $227 million, or 21 cents a share, from $933 million, or 86 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as the negative one-time effect of tax-reform legislation, earnings per share came to $1.14, above the FactSet consensus of $1.12. Revenue rose 20% to $3.31 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $3.25 billion. Gross dollar volume increased 13% to $1.4 trillion, switched transactions rose 17% to 17.7 billion and cross-border volumes grew 17%. The company said the increases were partially offset by an increase in rebates and incentives. The stock was trading at $171.75 ahead of the open, above the Jan. 26 record close of $170.34. It has soared 61% over the past 12 months through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has climbed 24%.
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