Earnings Season Review
Card/digital payment trends are alive and well as network payment volumes continue to point to healthy growth. Card payment volumes in aggregate increased a healthy 8% in 1Q24 to $6.0 trillion. While this is a slight deceleration from the prior year and prior quarter, it coincides with slowing inflationary trends. Growth in cards in circulation points to solid outlook, particularly for card manufacturing niche players PMTS and CMPO. Cards in circulation grew by 8% to 7.5 billion, notching their second consecutive quarter of +8% growth, continuing the modest acceleration from 1Q23 (~6% growth). March quarter top-line results seem to confirm network data as most companies in payment and related space meet/exceed 1Q24 expectations. This was led by card manufacturer CPI Group, which beat consensus by 8%, confirming data from its competitor CompoSecure, which also reported solid March quarter results. IT has also seen a big uptick in capex (+42% in CY22), providing an early indication as to AI’s incremental impact on capex intensity. Earnings remain solid as most companies in the sector met or exceeded consensus EPS. Affirm (AFRM), the leader in the “buy now, pay later” market, topped the list, reporting EPS of $0.20 for the March quarter, handily beating consensus of $0.09. On the opposite side of the coin, Toast (TOST), the leader in payments for restaurants, slightly missed EPS expectations, reporting EPS of $0.03 versus consensus of $0.05.
Water Tower Research is built on the foundation of democratizing information flow. We bridge the growing information gap between companies and investors through our investor engagement strategies and open-access research platform.
Our research analysts are Wall Street veterans with the experience and knowledge to work with companies and investors in tandem. We provide access to the information and content that anchors the due diligence process for both professional money managers and individual investors. We leverage traditional research distribution channels and the best of modern digital strategies and tactics to amplify this information flow globally to engage all categories of investors and stakeholders.
Information flow is the foundation for creating investor awareness, knowledge, and engagement. Our mission is to help companies and investors have the tools they need and achieve their goals.
Unfortunately, this report is not available for the investor type or country you selected.
Browse all ResearchPool reportsReport is subscription only.
Thank you, your report is ready.
Thank you, your report is ready.