American Express Co

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.

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.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) could register strong year-over-year growth in its Q3 earnings, mainly driven by higher revenues and moderate fuel costs.

On August 24, in an interview with CNBC, Mario Gabelli encouraged value investing. He is the CEO, chairman, and founder of GAMCO Investors.

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.

American Express (AXP) reported its second-quarter earnings results on Friday before the market opened. Its EPS beat analysts’ consensus estimate.

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).

Visa (V) has seen three upward revisions in its target price in April. On April 10, Cowen increased its target price for Visa from $161 to $177.

The implied volatility in Visa fell by ~12.5 percentage points from January 2 to 18.73% on April 12. Visa stock has risen ~21% during this period.

Visa (V) is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings on April 24. In the quarter ending December 31, Visa reported 7% sequential EPS growth.

Despite frequent criticism from Trump, the Fed went ahead with four rate hikes last year.

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 […]

Raises outlook Delta Air Lines (DAL) shares jumped over 6% on April 2 after the company increased its first-quarter guidance. The airline cited robust passenger demand and a renewed credit-card deal with American Express (AXP) as the main reasons behind the upbeat guidance. Delta now expects its first-quarter revenues to increase by 7% YoY (year-over-year), […]

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).

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.

In the previous part of this series, we discussed why Tesla’s (TSLA) CEO, Elon Musk, might be on the verge of more trouble.

In his 2002 shareholder letter, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) chair Warren Buffett shared his views on derivatives.

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.

In the previous part of this series, we looked at Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK-B) huge losses of over $25 billion in the fourth quarter of 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.

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

Apple (AAPL), which was Buffett’s top holding at the end of the third quarter, saw a selling spree in the fourth quarter.

In the first three quarters of 2018, world-renowned billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway increased its bets on the banking sector.

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.

Mastercard (MA) stock rose ~3% in premarket trading on October 30 following its announcement of its impressive third-quarter results.

PayPal finished the third quarter with 254.0 million active customers on its platform.

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%.

PayPal added ~9.1 million net active customers, ending the third quarter with 254.0 million active customer accounts.

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.

Mastercard (MA) stock has risen ~40% YTD. Visa (V) has risen 15%, PayPal (PYPL) has gained 18%, and American Express (AXP) has fallen 1.5%.

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%.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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%.

The rise in US stocks to more than a five-month high prompted investors to put money into ETFs. US-listed ETFs added $8.5 billion last week.

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.

JPMorgan Chase’s (JPM) CCB segment has benefited from consumer spending, credit card revenues, and business lending.

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.

Discover Financial Services’ (DFS) Direct Banking segment generates most of its interest income from credit card loans.

For Discover Financial, nine analysts recommend a “strong buy,” eight recommend a “hold,” and ten recommend a “buy” on the stock.

At the end of the first quarter, Discover Financial’s Payment Services segment saw total volumes of $88.4 billion.

Capital One’s (COF) price-to-earnings ratio stood at ~9.1x on an NTM basis compared to the average of its peers of ~16.7x.

American Express is being covered by 33 analysts, 17 of whom have recommended “holds” and two of whom have recommended “strong sells” on the stock.

American Express (AXP) incurred total expenses amounting to $6.9 billion in the first quarter, implying a rise of 9% on a YoY (year-over-year) basis.

The Global Merchant Services segment’s total revenue (after deducting interest expenses) amounted to $1.2 billion in the first quarter.

American Express’s (AXP) International Consumer and Network Services segment is affected by consumer spending levels.

Wall Street analysts have given Mastercard (MA) an average EPS estimate of $1.5 for the second quarter, reflecting a year-over-year rise.

Analysts expect Visa to reach $140.09 in a year, implying a 7.2% rise from the stock’s current price of $130.72.

Visa (V) is expected to post EPS (earnings per share) of $1.11 in the third fiscal quarter (ending in June), boosted by strong business fundamentals.

Mastercard benefited from the Latin America region. The region witnessed favorable momentum in consumer confidence and lower unemployment.

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

Discover Financial Services (DFS) has a price-to-earnings ratio on an NTM (next-12-months) basis of ~8.9x, which highlights its lower valuations.

Discover Financial Services’ (DFS) Direct Banking segment generated pretax income of $3.4 billion in 2017.

Discover Financial’s (DFS) Payment Services segment saw a rise in its pretax income from $107.0 million in 2016 to $145.0 million in 2017.

Mastercard (MA) saw positive momentum in its business in 2017 thanks to the adoption of e-commerce.

On April 9, 2018, Mastercard (MA) made an announcement regarding the integration of its Masterpass service with the My Phillips 66 app.