Mastercard's Profit Jumps on Strong Holiday Spending

A sticker shows that a store accepts MasterCard in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, July 25, 2018. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
A sticker shows that a store accepts MasterCard in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, July 25, 2018. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
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Mastercard's Profit Jumps on Strong Holiday Spending

A sticker shows that a store accepts MasterCard in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, July 25, 2018. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
A sticker shows that a store accepts MasterCard in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, July 25, 2018. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

Mastercard reported a higher fourth-quarter profit on Thursday as a resilient economy encouraged consumers to ramp up spending during the holiday season, sending the company's shares up 2% before the bell.

Spending continues to be underpinned by a solid labor market and wage growth that have spurred consumer confidence, while retailers also offered discounts to attract budget-conscious shoppers during the holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Mastercard's gross dollar volume, the value of all transactions processed on the company's platform, rose 12% in the fourth quarter.

Cross-border volume, which tracks spending on cards outside of the country of their issue, jumped 20%, Reuters reported.

Mastercard has a more balanced global exposure compared with its peers, with the company benefiting from continued stability in volume growth, analysts have said.

The company has also focused on bolstering its value-added services such as fraud protection to diversify its business model.

Revenue from the company's value-added services and solutions unit rose 17% in the fourth quarter. Mastercard's net revenue increased 16% to $7.49 billion.

The company forecast 2025 net revenue to increase in the low double-digits percentage range, compared with the average analyst estimate of 12.7% growth, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Mastercard's net income rose to $3.34 billion, or $3.64 per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with $2.79 billion, or $2.97 per share, a year earlier.

American Express last week also reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue on strong holiday spending.

Mastercard's shares jumped 23.5% in 2024, outperforming rival Visa's 21.4% gain. Last month, Mastercard unveiled a $12 billion share repurchase program.

Visa, the world's largest payments processor, will report earnings later in the day.



OpenAI's Weekly Active Users Surpass 400 Million

OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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OpenAI's Weekly Active Users Surpass 400 Million

OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

ChatGPT developer OpenAI's weekly active users surged past 400 million in February, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday, highlighting rapid growth in the adoption of artificial intelligence tools.

The Microsoft-backed startup had 300 million weekly active users in December. Its paying business users also crossed 2 million in February, more than doubling from its last update in September.

The upbeat numbers come weeks after China's DeepSeek launched an AI model it said could match or even outperform Western rivals at a fraction of the cost, stirring doubts about US dominance in the generative AI space, Reuters reported.

But a surge in demand for DeepSeek since then has caused outages at the small startup.

There have also been questions around how DeepSeek was able to obtain Nvidia's H800 chips, used to train AI models, even though Washington had banned their exports to China.

OpenAI reported a twofold increase in developer traffic for its reasoning models over the last six months and a fivefold surge for its o3 model since its launch in late January.

The news about OpenAI's weekly users was first reported by CNBC earlier in the day.