Mastercard revenue rises 14% as cross-border payments and services grow
Quarterly net revenue reached $9.8 billion. Payment volume and company revenue are different measures.
Mastercard reported third-quarter net revenue of $9.8 billion, up 14% from a year earlier, as its payment network and services businesses grew. Adjusted diluted earnings were $5.31 per share, compared with reported diluted earnings of $5.28. The company's SEC-filed release and separate Investing.com coverage reported the revenue and adjusted result.
Investing.com said adjusted earnings exceeded the $5.17 analyst consensus and revenue topped the $9.66 billion forecast. Those are the estimates cited by that outlet, rather than an additional measure of the company's actual results.
Three ways to read the payment activity
Gross dollar volume rose 7% to $3.0 trillion on a local-currency basis. Cross-border volume increased 11% on the same basis, while switched transactions rose 9%. These measures describe activity through the network; the $3.0 trillion volume is not money Mastercard booked as revenue.
Payment-network net revenue rose 11%. Value-added services and solutions net revenue increased 19%, with the company citing demand, pricing and its underlying business drivers. That distinction helps separate transaction activity from other services sold to customers.
Growth still comes with costs
The release shows reported net income of $4.6 billion and adjusted net income of $4.7 billion. Adjusted measures remove specified items and should not be substituted silently for the reported figures.
Reported operating expenses increased 11%, and adjusted operating expenses rose 12%. Revenue growth alone is not a complete account of profitability. Mastercard attributed the expense increase primarily to higher general and administrative spending.
The results offer one view of payment activity, rather than a census of every household's finances. Our GDP and PCE report covers the broader distinction between dollar spending and inflation-adjusted growth.
