On The Fly: What to watch in credit card space earnings reports

American Express (AXP), Visa (V), and MasterCard (MA) are scheduled to report quarterly results on July 18, 25 and 26, respectively. What to watch for: 1. OUTLOOK: During the company's last earnings call, Visa cut its FY18 revenue growth view to low single digits from high single digits. The company also said it sees FY18 adjusted effective tax rate between 21%-22%, FY18 adjusted EPS growth in the high-20s range, FY18 OpEx growth in low double digits and double-digit expense growth in the third quarter. Meanwhile, MasterCard said it sees full year organic net revenue growth in mid-teens. The company also expects non-GAAP revenue growth in the high teens, and operating expense organic growth in the high single digits. During American Express' last earnings call, the company said it sees FY18 EPS at high end of $6.90-$7.30 view, and FY18 revenue growth of 8%. 2. MERCHANT FEE DISPUTE: On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that American Express' policy of forbidding merchants from encouraging customers to use rival credit cards with lower fees does not violate federal antitrust law. The court upheld a lower court's decision that cleared the company of unlawfully stifling competition through anti-steering provisions in its contracts with merchants. 3. DIVIDEND, REPURCHASE: On June 28, American Express said that the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System did not object to its adjusted capital plan, which included increasing its quarterly dividend to 39c per share beginning with the Q3 dividend declaration, and repurchasing up to $3.4B of common shares during the CCAR approval period of Q3 2018 to Q2 2019. This new authorization enables the company to repurchase up to $1.6B of common shares in calendar year 2018, and up to an additional $1.9B in the first half of 2019. 4. PARTNERSHIPS: On May 9, Visa and PayPal (PYPL) announced an extension of their strategic partnership to Canada that will see them work collaboratively to accelerate the adoption of secure, reliable and convenient digital and mobile payments for consumers and merchants in Canada. The two companies are already collaborating in the U.S., Asia Pacific and Europe. Through collaboration between bank partners and PayPal, consumers will be able to add Visa cards into the PayPal digital wallet easily from other banking apps. It also enables PayPal to leverage Visa Direct, which allows Visa cardholders to more easily move funds from their PayPal account to an eligible Visa debit card in real-time. In addition, Visa and PayPal have agreed to extend participation in the Visa Digital Enablement Program. Last month, First Data (FDC) and MasterCard announced they have joined forces, enabling First Data to provide a digital disbursement platform to Mastercard's business customers. First Data's Disburse-to-Debit solution will be available to Mastercard customers that leverage MoneySend to push real-time payments to debit card holders. On June 26, American Express announced plans to launch a new cobranded Amazon (AMZN) credit card for small businesses in the U.S. The new cobranded card will enhance the way small businesses buy goods and services across Amazon, and is part of a larger multi-year partnership.