BizJournals Portfolio
Home >   Business Views, Opinions and Blogs >   Business Blogs >   Market Movers >  

Chart Of The Day Mastercard Vs Visa

Market Movers

by Felix Salmon
Main
Rant of the Day: Jezebel's "Dear Ben" Letter   Meriwether Decimates his Partners' Capital, Again

Recent Blog Posts

Links

Mar 19 2008 12:00am EDT

Chart of the Day: Mastercard vs Visa

When Mastercard went public in May 2006 its opening price was $40.30 per share; today it's over $200. What are the chances that something similar is going to happen with Visa? About zero:

mavisa.jpg

(Incidentally, American Express is worth about $48 billion, somewhere in the middle there.)

There are good reasons why Visa might be worth more than MasterCard, but $30 billion more? Count me in for the long-Mastercard, short-Visa relative value play. In any case, if Visa simply can't quintuple in value over the next two years: if it did, it would be worth $290 billion, and be the third most valuable company in the US, after Exxon Mobil and GE.

All the same, I'm heartened by the nice pop in Visa shares today. They priced above their indicated range, and still managed to end thd day up more than 28% from the IPO price. Amidst all the gloom and chaos, it seems that big deals can still get done - in the equity markets, at least, if not in the debt markets.

(Via Abnormal Returns)

blog comments powered by Disqus
Real Business, Real Results
Out of the 'Family'

Did anyone at Microsoft ever watch the (gasp!) offensively funny show Family Guy?

Cruz Missile Lands

Ex-Morgan Stanley exec Zoe Cruz is now heading her own hedge fund. Are Wall Street's leaders done?

Scandal Chic

Martha, Bernie and Skilling know that what you wear for court can go a long way in public perception.

spotlight on

Health Care

Bad to the Bone No More

Companies such as General Mills say they're stepping up efforts to change employees' bad behavior and promote healthier lifestyles. Read More