Earnings Preview: Visa

Visa (V) is expected to report Q3 earnings after market close Wednesday, Oct. 29, with a conference call scheduled for 5:00 pm.

Guidance

Analysts are looking for EPS of 56c on revenue of $1.68B. The consensus range for EPS is 40c to 62c, while the consensus range for revenue is $1.62B to $1.71B, according to First Call.

Analyst Views

Visa investors may be encouraged by American Express's (AXP) Q3 results. American Express reported EPS of 74c, easily beating analysts' consensus estimate of 59c.

In addition, two research firms recently issued optimistic notes about Visa. J.P. Morgan included Visa on its list of 16 stocks to own over the next 12 to 18 months. On October 14 Morgan Keegan upgraded Visa to Outperform from Market Perform. Although the firm believes that the company's results will be weaker in the short-term, it thinks the stock's valuation is highly attractive over the long-term.

On the other hand, Citigroup recently reduced its target for Visa to $60 from $88, citing the global economic slowdown and risks caused by the consolidation of financial institutions. The firm maintained a Hold rating on the stock. Meanwhile, The New York Times today predicted that America would be hit with a "credit card crisis," and cited analysts who expect the industry to write off $55B in bad debt over the next 18 months.

Comments

[jkmss007:]

我看好VISA，加油！

2008 Oct 29 11:29 PM