Friday, December 07, 2007

Mastercard (NYSE:MA): Positive comments from Morgan Stanley

- Morgan Stanley is out with a curious note on Mastercard (NYSE:MA) saying they think MA could enjoy flat to up pricing year-over-year, fueled by Visa raising prices (in connection with its IPO) and MA's strong competitive position. However, when speaking to the investment community, MA continues to maintain its position that pricing should gently fall over time. Partially driven by such favorable pricing, as well as a strong international growth outlook and potential for decelerating expense growth, the firm sees a favorable risk-reward on MA and maintains Overweight rating.

Notablecalls: Hm, is this enough to push MA towards, say $210? Sure. Note that 9 out of 10 banks MSCO spoke with haven't noticed a price increase from Visa or MasterCard over the last year, even though both companies have been raising prices. Rather bizarre, in a positive way.

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