Jim Cramer’s Latest Calls: 10 Stocks You Should Not Miss

4. Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 142

Talking about Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) in a recent program on CNBC, Jim Cramer praised the company’s management and said the company is “incredible.”

“The momentum in this company is incredible. They have an amazing, amazing runway to go forward. They are accepting digital. They are doing what I regard as being the greatest fintech in the world, which is that there is no risk to money. And they are, I think, the most competitive franchise in terms of the stuff that you never see.”

Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) recently posted better-than-expected Q3 results. But the stock slipped on guidance. Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) now projects a net revenue compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in the high end of the low double-digits for 2025 to 2027, a decrease from its previous performance target of a high-teens percentage range for the 2022-2024 period. It also forecasts EPS CAGR in the mid-teens, down from the low 20s previously expected at the last investor day.

However, Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) did raise its annual operating margin target to at least 55%, up from the 50% minimum set in 2021.

It’s important to note that the 2021 targets were based on expectations for a strong rebound following the 2020 COVID recession.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) stated it plans to invest for the long term while achieving positive operating leverage.

Ithaka US Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

“Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is one of two leading companies (along with Visa, which we also own) that helps match information and funds between banks that have relationships with card-carrying consumers and banks that have relationships with merchants, thus ensuring payment transactions are reliable and secure. Since the company’s founding in 1966, Mastercard has benefi ted from the growth in personal consumption expenditure, the strong secular shift from cash and checks to credit and debit cards, and a highly profi table business model that generates high incremental operating margins and hence ample and growing free cash fl ow per share. During the third quarter Mastercard’s stock outperformed as an in-line earnings announcement and strong global credit growth helped pull the stock out of a six-month consolidation.”