American Express Co

American Express (AXP) expects its full-year 2016 EPS to be between $5.40–$5.70. It looks to return to positive EPS growth in 2016 and is targeting a minimum of $5.60 EPS for 2017.

As of October 2017, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) stock has returned 3.2% in the past month and 31.4% over the past four quarters.

MasterCard’s rebates and incentives rose by 18% to $1.0 billion in 1Q16—higher than expected, mainly due to the timing of some deals and acquisitions.

Visa (V) has maintained its operating margin above 60% over the past few years. The company’s major expenses include personnel, marketing, network and processing, and professional fees.

Visa’s total transactions grew by 11% on a YoY (year-over-year) basis in fiscal 4Q15. The company reported total transactions of 27.9 billion in fiscal 4Q15, as compared to 25 billion in fiscal 4Q14.

Payment processors are seeing major changes in 2016, including increased competition on pricing and the adoption of new technologies such as wearables.

Payment processors are rewarding their shareholders with 1%–2% dividend yields, largely dependent on operating performance.

MasterCard (MA) has debt of $3.3 billion with a total balance sheet of $15.9 billion as of March 31, 2016. This compares to $16.2 billion in 4Q15.

American Express (AXP) has been using its strong balance sheet position to consistently declare dividends to its shareholders.

Boeing stock fell 10.3% last week—the biggest weekly loss in the last three years. The stock fell 11.4% during the week ending February 12, 2016.

Discover Financial’s (DFS) stock price rose from $14.70 at the end of 2009 to $65.50 at the end of 2014. This is an increase of 346%.

Today, Sun Trust Banks and BB&T announced a merger that would create the sixth largest bank in the United States.

Since 2010, SAP AG (SAP) spent more than ~$12 billion on acquisitions. Concur Technologies is the largest acquisition in SAP’s 42-year history. In its 2Q14 results, most of SAP’s growth was from its cloud business—approximately $1 billion annually. Concur’s management mentioned that they expect to end fiscal year 2014 with ~$690 million.

Wells Fargo seems unlikely to put capital on a falling brand like American Express, unless Warren Buffett has a different perspective and backs a takeover.

Visa (V) reported total processed transactions of 27.9 billion in 4Q15 compared to 25 billion in 4Q14. Total transactions are payments and cash transactions reported by clients on operating certificates.

Payment processors are rewarding their shareholders with dividend yields of 1%–2%, depending largely on operating performance.

Visa announced partnerships with the China Foundation for Development of Financial Education and the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation.

Today at 7:02 AM ET, AXP stock rose 1.1% to $84.10 in the pre-market session. The company reported its first-quarter earnings results on April 24.

Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares have fallen 25% in 2020, while the S&P 500 has fallen 28.5%. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Berkshire Hathaway’s biggest holding.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) stock soared 3% yesterday after the company provided an optimistic 2020 earnings outlook and disclosed a new investment.

Berkshire Hathaway is a huge conglomerate with diverse operations. The company’s operations are complex, so let’s take an easy-to-understand approach.

Balance transfer Citigroup cards allow you to transfer your balances from a high-interest credit card to a Citi low-interest card.

Citigroup is the world’s largest credit card issuer. Bank of America and Capital One follow Citigroup in terms of credit and charge volume.

Consensus Wall Street analyst estimates project revenue of $27.6 billion for Costco in fiscal 3Q16—an implied increase of 3.4% YoY.

Credit card loans account for more than half of Bank of America’s total consumer loan portfolio.

On Thursday, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) (BRK.A) released its third-quarter 13F. There were some surprises in the filing. The company took a new stake in RH.

At the end of the third quarter, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Biogen, UnitedHealth, and Walmart (WMT) were Renaissance Technologies’ top five buys.

The US GDP increased at an impressive rate of 1.9% for the third quarter. The growth beat the expectations of around 1.6% for the quarter.

Mastercard just posted a solid earnings beat. It’s been a blockbuster Q3 for payment companies, with Visa and American Express beating projections, too.

American Express Company (AXP), the New York-based financial services company, released its third-quarter earnings on Friday.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) reported mixed third-quarter results this morning. Its earnings beat analysts’ consensus estimate, but its revenue missed.

On Thursday, Delta Air Lines announced a partnership with LATAM Airlines in a deal worth $2.25 billion. Delta will acquire a 20% stake in LATAM.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index or DJIA gained a marginal 0.06% today to close trading just below 27,000—despite a bleak picture in Europe’s economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 53.44 points (or 0.2%) today, possibly because the market gave a thumbs up to yesterday’s 0.25% rate cut by the Fed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index has fallen 0.4% or by 115 points today. The index is trading lower after rising for eight consecutive trading sessions.

Warren Buffet loves banking stocks. Out of his current portfolio of 47 stocks, five are commercial banks, including two regional banks.

Visa (V) is trading at a forward PE ratio of 27.7x, which is higher than its five-year average PE ratio of 24.5x.

StoneCo (STNE) was trading down 27.6% as of 1:30 PM ET. The negative price action was driven by an announcement by Itaú Unibanco Holding (ITUB).

Delta Airlines stock was up 3% in premarket trading on April 10 after it released better-than-expected results for the first quarter.

Delta-AmEx renewed deal On April 2, Delta Air Lines (DAL) announced that it had renewed its 23-year long credit-card partnership with American Express (AXP) for another 11 years. The renewed partnership deal, which will run through 2029, is likely to bring in massive incremental revenues for the airline in the next few years. With this […]

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) has invested in several payment industry stocks like Visa (V), Mastercard (MA), American Express (AXP), and StoneCo.

Among Berkshire Hathaway’s financial holdings, JPMorgan Chase was the worst performer, while Goldman Sachs was the top performer.

Earlier this week, Apple (AAPL) announced new services including video streaming, a gaming subscription, and a credit card in partnership with Goldman Sachs (GS).

Warren Buffett said, “For nearly three decades, the initial paragraph featured the percentage change in Berkshire’s per-share book value. It’s now time to abandon that practice.”

One of the world’s most successful investors of all times, Warren Buffett believes in investing for the long term.

In Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK-B) annual shareholder letter, Buffett revealed that his investment firm received dividends of about $3.8 billion from its investees in 2018.

On Saturday, February 23, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) released its fourth-quarter earnings report.

In the annual shareholder letter, Buffett lamented the lack of big acquisition opportunities, which he called “elephants.”

Berkshire Hathaway is the largest shareholder in Wells Fargo (WFC), Bank of America (BAC), U.S. Bancorp (USB), and American Express (AXP).

In Q4 2018, Third Point initiated a new position in Cigna (CI), which is an American healthcare services organization.

So far in this series, we’ve looked at Warrant Buffet’s investment firm, Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.A)(BRK.B), top five investments in the third quarter.

Visa’s adjusted fourth-quarter EPS jumped 34% year-over-year to $1.21 and surpassed Wall Street analysts’ estimates by a penny.

A healthy job market and a steady hike in wages have increased the spending power of consumers.

Mastercard (MA) is scheduled to report its third-quarter results on October 30.

The US GDP grew 4.2% in the second quarter, which was almost double the 2.2% increase registered in the first quarter.

Visa (V) plans to report its Q4 2018 earnings on October 24. Analysts expect Visa to report EPS of $1.20, marking YoY growth of 33.3%.

The Consumer Confidence Index increased to 133.4 in August from 127.9 in July—its highest reading since its October 2000 reading of 135.8.

Improving GDP growth, a healthy job market, and steady wage growth have increased the disposable income of consumers, thereby giving them greater spending power.

Visa stock (V), which was around $78 at the beginning of 2017, now trades close to $143, a jump of over 83%.

In the fiscal third quarter, Visa (V) witnessed strong growth on a YoY (year-over-year) basis in all its primary business metrics.

In the third quarter, Visa (V) witnessed a rise in payment volumes from the United States on a sequential basis from 10.1% to 10.5%.

Analysts’ rating on Mastercard (MA) improved in July compared to June.

Visa (V) has been making efforts to increase the use of contactless payments in the United States after experiencing a positive response.

Mastercard (MA) has a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04x on an NTM (next-12-month) basis compared to the peer average of 15.95x.

Visa (V) posted total payment volumes amounting to $2.1 trillion in its fiscal third quarter.

On July 26, Discover Financial Services (DFS) released its earnings report for the second quarter.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) stock has risen 4.7% in the last month and 15.9% in the last year.

On July 25, Visa (V) posted its third fiscal quarter results. The company posted an EPS of $1.20, which exceeds Wall Street analysts’ expectations.

Capital One Financial (COF) posted second-quarter results on July 19.

On July 18, American Express (AXP) is expected to report its Q2 2018. Analysts expect EPS to be $1.82 compared to $1.86 in the first quarter.

Capital One (COF) is expected to release its Q2 2018 earnings on July 19. Analysts expect EPS of $2.68, a YoY rise of 38.1%.

Growing trade tensions are a primary concern, as they could impact the performances of Discover Financial Services (DFS) and its peers.

Discover Financial Services (DFS) generated net interest income amounting to $2.1 billion in the first quarter.

The economic and business environment prevailing in an economy affects the business fundamentals of payment processing giants like Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA).

In June, eight of the 32 analysts covering the stock have given it a “buy” rating, and two analysts have given it a “strong sell.”

American Express’s (AXP) Global Commercial Services segment’s non-interest revenues rose 9% YoY in the first quarter.

The second quarter could be beneficial for American Express (AXP) due to an expected rise in consumer loans and transactions.

In fiscal Q3 2018, Visa’s (V) service revenue could rise YoY (year-over-year) due to its payment volumes rising YoY in fiscal Q2 2018.

Mastercard (MA) released its earnings report this morning. The company reported earnings per share or EPS of $1.50 in 1Q18.

American Express (AXP) is covered by 31 analysts in March 2018. Two of them have given it a “strong sell” rating, and one is recommending “sell.”

On March 8, 2018, American Express (AXP) announced that Sonia Cargan will become its chief diversity officer.

On March 7, 2018, American Express (AXP) held its Investor Day, which focused primarily on its business model and avenues for investments.

On January 30, 2018, American Express (AXP) announced the acquisition of Mezi, an app (application) that focuses on customer satisfaction.

Visa (V) announced its acquisition of Fraedom, which provides payment solutions for financial institutions.

In the first three quarters of 2017, American Express’s (AXP) Global Merchant Services division rose 7% in income compared to the same period in 2016.

JPMorgan Chase’s (JPM) Consumer and Community Banking division (or CCB) managed net revenues of ~$12.0 billion in 3Q17, an increase from ~$11.3 billion in 3Q16 and ~$11.4 billion in 2Q17.

As of August 2017, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) stock has risen 4.2% in the past month and 21.2% in the past year.

American Express (AXP) witnessed a rise of 12.0% in its proprietary cards volume in 2Q17, which reflects a marginal increase of 1.0% from 1Q17.

Consumer financial companies such as American Express (AXP), Mastercard (MA), and Visa (V) beat analysts’ estimates for EPS (earnings per share) in 2Q17.

Alibaba (BABA) has set a target to reach 2 billion consumers within the next 20 years. Alibaba’s fiscal 1Q18 report is expected on August 9.

JPMorgan Chase’s (JPM) Consumer and Community Banking division posted net revenue of $11.41 billion in 2Q17, compared to $11.45 billion in 2Q16 and $10.97 billion in 1Q17.

Berkshire Hathaway’s major investments have been in consumer, financials, technology, and product companies. It’s shown less interest in technology services.

Visa (V) will report its fiscal 3Q17 earnings on July 20, 2017. Wall Street analysts expect Visa to report EPS of $0.81 per share—a decline of 5.8%.

In 1Q17, while Amex’s US Consumer Services segment saw a 32% YoY fall in its income, its International Consumer and Network Services segment saw a 16% YoY rise.

American Express’s (AXP) Global Merchant Services segment is expected to see a marginal increase in its net income in 2Q17.