Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette upgraded his view of the Payments and Processing industry to Attractive, citing the firm's U.S. Strategy Team's call for rotation out of Technology and his view that Payments will be seen as an attractive option for investors looking to become more defensive. Investors underappreciate the resilience of consumer spending and Faucette sees the potential for his Payments coverage market-cap weighted earnings growth to accelerate organically to 15% over 2018-2020 from 11% growth over the last three years, he tells investors. In the group, the firm has Overweight ratings on Visa (V), MasterCard (MA), PayPal (PYPL), GreenSky (GSKY), Worldpay (WP) and FleetCor (FLT). Morgan Stanley has Underweight ratings on Western Union (WU) and On Deck Capital (ONDK), having downgraded On Deck this morning.

Bernstein analyst Harshita Rawat raised the firm's price target on Visa to $310 from $304 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm notes Visa delivered a strong Q2 and intact 2024 guidance. Going into the quarter, there were growing concerns regarding negative revisions due to multi-year low FX volatility and somewhat high volumes baked into the guide. The beat in the quarter and management commentary regarding the second half of the year may lead to consensus numbers going up modestly, Bernstein adds.

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Notable companies reporting after the market close, with earnings consensus, include Meta Plataforms (META), consensus $4.32... IBM (IBM), consensus $1.60... ServiceNow (NOW), consensus $3.14... Lam Research (LRCX), consensus $7.30... Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), consensus $11.68... O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY), consensus $9.26... Ford Motor (F), consensus 42c... United Rentals (URI), consensus $8.32... Align Technology (ALGN), consensus $1.97... Molina Healthcare (MOH), consensus $5.59... Teradyne (TER), consensus 33c... Universa Health Services (UHS), consensus $3.16... Western Union (WU), consensus 41c.

DMG Blockchain Solutions (DMGGF) announced a strategic collaboration with PayPal (PYPL) and Energy Web to explore ways to decarbonize the Bitcoin blockchain. The companies are working together on developing methods for transacting on the Bitcoin network which would expand its use as a carbon neutral payment rail, thus advancing its application. DMG, Energy Web, and PayPal are working together to publish a research paper, which we collectively believe will benefit users of the Bitcoin network who would like to take advantage of carbon neutral options in their transactions. PayPal, with its focus on developing its bitcoin payment rail, has been a leader in new payment technologies with the introduction of its enhanced services by integrating blockchain technology, launching the PayPal USD stablecoin with Paxos Trust Company in August 2023 for efficient transactions.

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Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri raised the firm's price target on Visa to $300 from $280 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm notes Visa reported stronger than expected Q2/FY24 results, while reiterating FY24 guidance.

Citi raised the firm's price target on Visa to $321 from $314 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. the company's March quarter results featured a top- and bottom-line beat and while the reiterated fiscal 2024 outlook implies lower second half of the year revenues, a modest step-up in growth remains embedded and the low double-digit exit rate bodes well for fiscal 2025, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says the clarity on Visa's revenue trajectory and breadth of opportunity should support the multiple.