Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is scheduled to report earnings after the markets close on Thursday. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters call for $0.59 in earnings per share on $3.36 billion in revenue. The same period from last year had $0.54 in EPS on $3.16 billion in revenue.
Hacks and data security breaches in recent years have torn up some consumers’ lives and cumulatively have cost companies billions of dollars, but several cybersecurity outfits are looking to protect consumer interests and corporate interests alike. Visa has announced a new contract with cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc. (NASDAQ: FEYE) to protect consumers. The case might be a total “game changer” in cybersecurity going forward.
In early June, FireEye and Visa announced that they intend to work together to create tools and services to help merchants and issuers protect against advanced cyberattacks.
Basically, as Visa’s network security becomes more policed by FireEye, customers stand to be safer than they were previously. At this point Visa is looking out for its best interest, but it is giving FireEye, and for that matter the whole cybersecurity field, a shot at the big leagues.
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Cybersecurity might be considered by some one of the most underaddressed issues, but effectively one of the most important in corporate America.
In the previous Visa earnings report, the strengthening of the U.S. dollar had an impact on net operating revenues of approximately 2.5 percentage points of negative growth during the quarter. Anytime you see a 2.5% hit from currencies, generally speaking, it is not a good thing. However, considering other companies were at the mercy of these currency headwinds, 2.5% wasn’t as bad.
A huge development in the previous quarter was that Visa was selected by Costco as the credit card network for its U.S. warehouse clubs and gasoline locations commencing next year.
Prior to earnings a few analysts weighed in on the company:
- Oppenheimer reiterated a Buy rating with an $81 price target.
- Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating.
- Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $75 price target.
Shares of Visa were relatively flat at $71.94 Thursday morning. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $76.27 and a 52-week trading range of $48.80 to $73.00.
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