S&P 500 Posts Third Straight Year of 15% Gains, Investors Seek Growth Stocks
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Jan 15 2026
0mins
Source: NASDAQ.COM
- S&P 500 Performance: The S&P 500 rose 16% in 2025, marking its third consecutive year of gains above 15%, providing growth-seeking investors with opportunities despite high market valuations.
- Payment Processing Sector: Visa and Mastercard, as chief competitors, stand to benefit from a potential cap on credit card interest rates, which is expected to drive higher merchant fees and reinforce their leadership in the payment processing market.
- Pinterest User Growth: Pinterest's global monthly active users reached 600 million in Q3 2025, with ARPU increasing by 5% year-over-year, indicating enhanced ad pricing power and potential to attract more advertisers in the future.
- Okta's Market Demand: Okta's remaining performance obligations grew by 17% to $4.29 billion, reflecting strong demand in the cybersecurity sector, with over 5,000 customers spending more than $100,000 annually, indicating the sustainability of its business model.
Get Free Real-Time Notifications for Any Stock
Monitor tickers like MA with instant alerts to capture every critical market movement.
Sign up for free to build your custom watchlist and receive professional-grade stock notifications.
Analyst Views on MA
Wall Street analysts forecast MA stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for MA is 684.13 USD with a low forecast of 525.00 USD and a high forecast of 1088 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
24 Analyst Rating
20 Buy
4 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 521.370
Low
525.00
Averages
684.13
High
1088
Current: 521.370
Low
525.00
Averages
684.13
High
1088
About MA
Mastercard Incorporated is a technology company in the global payments industry. The Company connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments, digital partners, businesses and other organizations worldwide by enabling electronic payments and making those payment transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. It provides a range of payment solutions and services using its brands, including Mastercard, Maestro and Cirrus. It operates a payments network that provides choice and flexibility for consumers, merchants and its customers. Through its proprietary global payments network, it switches (authorizes, clears and settles) payment transactions. Its additional payments capabilities include automated clearing house (ACH) transactions (both batch and real-time account-based payments). It offers security solutions, consumer acquisition and engagement, business and market insights, gateway, processing and open banking, among other services and solutions.
About the author

Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
Mastercard Q4 Earnings Preview: Strong Growth Expected
- Earnings Growth Expectation: Analysts forecast Mastercard's Q4 earnings to reach $4.24 per share, a 10.99% increase from last year's $3.82, indicating sustained profitability that could drive stock price appreciation.
- Revenue Growth Forecast: The anticipated Q4 revenue of $8.78 billion represents a 17.4% increase from last year's $7.49 billion, reflecting a recovery in consumer spending and increased transaction volumes, further solidifying market position.
- Dividend Increase: On December 9, Mastercard raised its quarterly cash dividend from $0.76 to $0.87 per share, demonstrating confidence in future cash flows while attracting income-focused investors and enhancing shareholder returns.
- Share Repurchase Program: The company announced a $14 billion stock repurchase program aimed at boosting earnings per share and enhancing shareholder value, signaling management's confidence in the company's future performance.

Continue Reading









