Investors Bet That Visa, Mastercard Can Stand Up to Libra
June 18 2019 - 2:48PM
Dow Jones News
By Jessica Menton
Investors are betting that Facebook Inc.'s efforts to create a
blockchain-based payments system won't threaten credit-card
companies' winning streak -- at least for now.
Shares of Mastercard Inc. ticked up 0.2% in early afternoon
trading Tuesday while Visa Inc.'s stock dropped less than 0.1%
after the social-networking company announced plans to launch a
cryptocurrency called Libra next year.
Facebook's stock has surged 44% this year. It has climbed 8%
since The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the company
signed up more than a dozen corporate partners -- including Visa
and Mastercard, along with PayPal Holdings Inc., Uber Technologies
Inc. and Spotify Technology S.A. -- that it said will help manage
Libra.
Stock moves among the two credit-card companies have outpaced
other lenders and broader technology stocks this year. Mastercard
has advanced 38% so far in 2019 and Visa has jumped 29%. At the
same time, the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index of large commercial lenders
has added 12% this year while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite
has climbed 20%.
Some analysts said major credit-card companies haven't seen a
dent in their share prices because they could also gain from
Libra's success. Companies such as Visa and Mastercard will likely
be involved in influencing the design system, they said.
Also, analysts don't anticipate that cryptocurrencies will
materially threaten the existing payment infrastructure that is
going to drive growth at credit-card companies.
In April, Mastercard's first-quarter revenue rose as the company
got a boost from more credit-card transactions from online
shopping. Meanwhile, Visa delivered another quarter w ith strong
growth in card spending across its global network.
"For this to get to a level that would threaten Visa and
Mastercard, this Facebook cryptocurrency would have to take over
the whole world," said Brett Horn, senior equity analyst at
Morningstar. "There's likely more limited ambitions for it. If
that's the case then it's helpful to have connections with
Mastercard and Visa because if people are using this coin, then
they may want to cash them out into existing payment systems."
Another reason why credit-card stocks aren't moving too much on
the news is likely due to uncertainty surrounding the future of
Libra, said Lisa Ellis, partner and senior research analyst at
MoffettNathanson Research.
"The long-term impact of Facebook's payment system could be
mixed for Visa, Mastercard and PayPal," Ms. Ellis said.
Write to Jessica Menton at Jessica.Menton@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 18, 2019 14:33 ET (18:33 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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