Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) on Wednesday reported a fourth quarter earnings beat but higher-than-projected costs for the year ahead.
For the quarter, the payments processor’s profit was $3.18 per share, ahead of Wall Street analyst estimates of $3.08.
Revenue of $6.5 billion was narrowly ahead of expectations of $6.46 billion.
For the full year, Mastercard reported earnings per share (EPS) of $11.83 on revenue of $25.1 billion, missing profit estimates of $12.17 per share but slightly ahead of revenue expectations of $25 billion.
“We delivered strong earnings and revenue growth for the full year 2023, driven by healthy consumer spending, cross-border volume growth of 24%, and the solid execution of our strategy," Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach said in a statement.
"In the fourth quarter, we signed the third US regulated bank debit portfolio flip to our network within the last 12 months. This is just one illustration of our deal momentum across the globe as we continue to deliver a broad range of unique, diversified products and services to solve our customers’ needs."
However, the company said it expects its adjusted operating expenses to grow by the “low-end of low-double-digit” percentage range.
Analysts had been expected the company’s expenses to grow by 8.98%, according to LSEG data.
Shares of Mastercard traded 0.9% higher at about US$449 late morning on Wednesday.