MasterCard Incorporated is a technology company in the global payments industry MasterCard managing a family of payment card brands, including MasterCard, Maestro and Cirrus. It connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and regions. It generates revenue by charging its customers fees for providing transaction processing and other payment-related services. Being the second largest network worldwide, MasterCard benefits from the global shift toward card-based and electronic payments. According to recent macroeconomic data US retail growth in Q3 was about 3.8%. Importantly for MasterCard, despite the relatively stable growth in consumer spending in the US, there was an increase in US business in Q3 as volume grew by 9% q/q driven by improvements in consumer credit. At the same time, despite subdued economic growth in Europe, European consumer confidence continued to recover. Consumer confidence in Asia remained flat, while consumer spending increased. All in all, the global economy shows positive trend for MasterCard. Recent business activity was also favorable for the company’s potential. To be more specific, several new partnerships with the US trade companies were established (an agreement with Virgin Atlantic, new cobrand partnerships with Hawaiian Airlines and 2 more companies); participation in the transaction process was expanded for technology companies and trade companies to create better consumer behavior, better trading experiences and ensure safer and more secure transactions. Moreover, the company announced a new partnership with DataCash and Redecard (Brazil) last year. As a result, they are the first in the Brazilian market who lauched an e-commerce gateway with fraud and risk management services. Financial performance for 3Q 2013. The results of the 3rd quarter 2013 were successful. Net revenue for Q3 increased by 16% y/y to $2.2 bn due to increase in gross dollar volume, growth in processed transactions and cross-border trade volumes. Operating expenses increased at a slower pace than revenue: opex grew by 13.6% y/y to $970 mn in Q3 2013 mainly due to personnel and marketing expenses. Net income for Q3 2013 increased by 13.9% y/y Consensus target price – $777.34, short-term goal - $774.