MasterCard Rises on Revenues, EPS (MA, V, BAC, JPM, WFC, COF)

Credit card giant MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) reported fourth quarter adjusted EPS of $4.03 on revenue of $1.72 billion. Consensus estimates called for EPS of $3.92 on $1.73 billion in revenue. The company took an after-tax charge of $495 million to cover its portion of pending litigation related to charges that retailers pay to accept the card.

MasterCard, along with the other major US card issuer Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), and a number of banks including Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), and Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) could be liable to pay $10-$15 billion if they can reach a settlement with retailers. MasterCard’s portion of any settlement or judgment would be 12% of the total.

Shares are up nearly 6% at $378.91 in a 52-week range of $237.05-$384.99. The share price came within a dollar of the high before pulling back.