By now, we’ve probably all used some sort of mobile payment technology. Whether it’s using our smartphone to pay for coffee at Starbucks SBUX or transferring money through an app, this kind of monetary technology using our phone has fully integrated our lives.
While tech giants like Alphabet GOOGL and PayPal PYPL—PayPal owns the incredible popular app Venmo, which lets you easily send or request money—certainly dominate the industry here in the U.S., Chinese juggernauts Alibaba BABA and Tencent TCEHY are investing hundreds of millions of dollars into the space to help mobile payment technology grow and expand internationally, particularly in India.
The mobile payments industry is quickly changing, and investors have taken notice. With this in mind, check out these three mobile payment technology stocks that show promise in this expanding industry.
Square SQ
Helmed by Twitter TWTR chief executive Jack Dorsey, Square provides payments and point-of-sale devices including hardware and software. The payments company began with its flagship white credit card reader, but has since expanded into chip cards and NFC payments as well as its Cash app that lets people pay each other back instantly.
Square is a #1 (Strong Buy) on the Zacks Rank, with a Growth score of ‘A.’ Its industry, Internet-Software, rests in the top 30% of all industries ranked on the Zacks Industry Rank. Square’s earnings growth for 2017 looks very promising. For the current quarter, the company expects year-over-year earnings growth of 50%. Revenues are projected to grow over 22% in the same time period.
For the current year, Square anticipates growth of 24.5%. SQ has an average earnings surprise of nearly 46%, and beaten estimates for the past 4 consecutive quarters. Square reports its next quarterly earnings August 2 after the bell.
Visa V
Visa operates the world’s largest retail electronic payments network, and is one of the most recognized global financial services brands. The company serves banks, merchants, consumers, businesses, and government entities, and helps facilitate global commerce through the transfer of value and information. Visa has been rapidly boosting its mobile payment offerings, and it’s easier than ever to add your Visa card to your payment-enabled mobile phone or device.
Visa is a #2 (Buy) on the Zacks Rank. Its Industry, Financial Transaction Services, sits in the top 15% of all industries ranked on the Zacks Industry Rank. Last quarter, Visa reported solid second-quarter fiscal 2017 results, with beats on both the top and bottom lines.
Looking ahead, Visa’s earnings growth estimates look pretty promising, too. For the current quarter, Visa expects year-over-year earnings growth of 16.67%, with revenues gaining over 20% in the same time frame. For the current year, the company expects year-over-year earnings growth of 18.40%, with one positive revision in the last 60 days compared to none lower in the same time frame. Visa has beaten expectations in the past four consecutive quarters, and has an average earnings surprise of 7.24%. The company is set to report its third-quarter earnings on July 20 after the bell.
Apple AAPL
Best known for its flagship iPhone, Apple is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. It designs, manufactures, and markets mobile communications and media devices, personal computers, tablets, and portable digital music players, in addition to a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications.
Apple’s Apple Pay is the company’s popular contactless payment system for mobile phones, and in its last quarterly earnings report, CEO Tim Cook announced that transaction volume grew 500% year-over-year. The service is now in a total of 13 markets following recent launches in countries abroad. Apple Pay users also tripled.
Apple is a #3 (Hold) on the Zacks Rank, with a Value score of ‘B.’ Its industry, Computer-Mini Computers, rests in the top 45% of all industries ranked on the Zacks Industry Rank. Looking at Apple’s growth estimates, 2017 looks to be a good year for the iPhone maker. The company expects year-over-year earnings growth of 10.33% for the current quarter, with sales growing about 5.5%. Apple has beaten earnings expectations in the past four consecutive quarters; the company has an average earnings surprise of 2.77%. Apple reports its next quarterly earnings on August 1 after the bell.
For more information on the mobile payments industry, check out a special episode of the Zacks Friday Finish Line, where Content Writer Ryan McQueeney and Editor Maddy Johnson were joined by Andrew Chanin, the CEO of PureFunds, to discuss the ISE Mobile Payments ETF IPAY, the world’s first mobile/electronic payments ETF that was created to provide a way to invest in the growing mobile payments industry.
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Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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