Synchrony Financial

The government shutdown gave PayPal (PYPL) an opportunity to draw more attention to its services.

Square (SQ) is again seeking bank licensing. The company is interested in operating an industrial bank, which would allow it to expand its operations targeted at businesses.

In the third quarter, PayPal reported Other Value-Added Services revenue of $340 million, representing a fall of 11% YoY (year-over-year).

PayPal (PYPL) sold its US consumer lending business to Synchrony Financial (SYF) in a transaction that closed in early July.

PayPal (PYPL) delivered 14.0% revenue growth to $3.68 billion in the third quarter, which topped analysts’ estimates of $3.66 billion.

Square’s (SQ) longtime CFO, Sarah Friar, is set to leave the company in the coming months.

A Federal Reserve report shows that access to capital remains one of the major challenges facing small businesses.

In the second quarter, Square (SQ) raised additional capital of more than $860 million through the sale of convertible notes.

Nielsen Holdings, which is a global information, data, and measurement company, was the S&P 500’s top loss on July 26.

PayPal (PYPL) has continued to make more investments in India since it launched domestic operations in the country last year.

On May 22, Chemours (CC) announced the pricing of its public offering of 450 million euros. The senior notes are due 2026.

Of 38 analysts that covered Visa in April, four recommended a “hold,” 18 recommended a “buy,” and 16 recommended a “strong buy.”

Visa’s total operating expenses rose 4% YoY to $1.73 billion in fiscal 2Q18. The company incurred personnel expenses of $824 million in fiscal 2Q18.

Five analysts suggested a “hold,” one recommended a “strong sell,” and nine recommended a “strong buy” on DFS stock.

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’s enterprise-value-to-revenue ratio is ~4.0.

Discover’s 4Q17 operating margin stood at ~49.6% on a TTM (trailing-12-months) basis.

Wall Street analysts gave a high estimate of $2.02 and a low estimate of $1.65 on Discover’s earnings per share for 1Q18.

On April 5, 2018, Mastercard (MA) made an announcement that from April 13 onward, all merchants in Canada and the United States would be able to eliminate the process of requiring signatures from cardholders.

Visa’s (V) price-to-book ratio stands at 6.83x on a next-12-month basis, implying a premium valuation compared to its peer average of 3.09x.

On February 27, 2018, Visa (V) announced that it had added 14 technology companies to its Visa Ready for Transit program.

Of its total fiscal 1Q18 net operating revenue of $4.9 billion, Visa’s service revenue made up $2.1 billion, or 44.1%.

The demonetization effect in India has created the need for digital payments, and Visa has seen a substantial rise in transactions as a result.

In February 2018, Discover Financial Services (DFS) was covered by 25 analysts, of whom nine suggested a “strong buy” and five recommended a “hold” on the stock.

Visa (V) announced on February 2 the upgrade of various POS (point-of-sale) terminals for certain businesses in Minneapolis.

Worldpay (WP) and Visa (V) said Bitcoin participants who have executed transactions on Coinbase through debit or credit card may have come across duplicate transactions.

Strong customer activity saw PayPal generate $3.7 billion in revenue in 4Q17. Wall Street was expecting $3.6 billion.

American Express’s (AXP) total revenues (net of interest expense) were $8.8 billion in 4Q17 compared to $8 billion in 4Q16.

American Express’s (AXP) Global Merchant Services segment saw a rise in non-interest revenues from $1.06 billion in 4Q16 to $1.14 billion in 4Q17.

American Express’s (AXP) Global Commercial Services segment saw a substantial rise of 52% in net income, from $382 million in 4Q16 to $580 million in 4Q17.

PayPal has written more than $3.0 billion in loans since 2013. Square (SQ) has written ~$1.8 billion in loans since 2014.

In December 2017, American Express (AXP) is being tracked by 30 analysts. Five of them are suggesting a “strong buy” for the stock, and 16 are suggesting a “hold.”

On an NTM (next 12-month) basis, American Express (AXP) has a PB (price-to-book) ratio of 3.92x. The average for its peers is 2.16x.

American Express (AXP) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) have finally sealed a deal with Marriott International (MAR) for its credit card program.

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.

The Global Commercial Services division of American Express (AXP) posted total revenues after the deduction of interest expenses of $7.6 billion in the first three quarters of 2017.

In the first three quarters of 2017, American Express (AXP) posted total expenses of $17.1 billion compared to $15.7 billion during the same period of 2016.

PayPal sells credit assets PayPal (PYPL) is seeking to sell $5.8 billion of its US credit assets to Synchrony Financial (SYF) to reduce its credit burden and increase its cash liquidity. Synchrony will buy participation interests worth $1 billion in PayPal receivables, which will allow PayPal to continue to provide consumer credit products without taking […]

In October 2017, Discover Financial Services (DFS) is being covered by 24 analysts. Of those, only one analyst has rated DFS a “strong sell,” and none of them have given it a “sell” rating.

Discover Financial Services’ (DFS) banking services have been ranked second in terms of customer satisfaction, according to a survey conducted by J.D. Power in August 2017.

PayPal (PYPL) is introducing a new cashback credit card. The digital payment company has teamed up with Synchrony Bank (SYF) to launch the PayPal Cashback Mastercard.

According to its 13F filings, Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio value stood at $162 billion on June 30, 2017, representing a marginal decline from $163 billion in 1Q17.

During Jeffrey Immelt’s 16-year tenure as GE’s CEO, the company delivered a return of 1.5% on an annual basis.

Information technology, consumer discretionary, and healthcare make up the core holdings of VAFAX. These three make up a combined 77% of the fund’s assets.

GE Capital is the financial services unit of the American conglomerate General Electric (GE). It contributed ~9% to GE’s total consolidated revenue in 2015.

General Electric’s strategy is to reshape its portfolio from a broad conglomerate to a more focused industrial leader.

Originally incorporated in 1892, General Electric is one of the largest and most diversified industrials and financial services corporations in the world.

General Electric (GE) completed its Synchrony spin-off into a stand-alone entity in November 2015. It was part of GE’s plan to exit most of its financial services (XLF) businesses by 2018.

Genworth Financial (GNW) was moved to the S&P MidCap 400 Index after its market cap declined nearly one-fifth since the financial crisis.

GE reported a $63.2 billion investment in General Electric Capital Corporation. Its asset sales may further improve GE’s balance sheet and credit metrics.

On October 14, the Federal Reserve approved General Electric’s (GE) plan to spin off Synchrony Financial (SYF) into a standalone entity.

Due to its sheer size and reliance on wholesale funding, GE Capital Corporation has been on the radar of regulators and shareholders in recent years

GE’s 3Q15 earnings carry a special significance. GE is undergoing a transformation to substantially reduce its dependence on the financial services business