It’s a rough day for technology stocks, but one group in the sector is still pushing higher.
Electronics-payments firms including Square (SQ) and Mastercard (MA) are mostly positive today. These have been one of strongest niches in the entire market for a while, with an average gain of almost 50 percent so far this year. (See RadarScreen® below.)
Many of the companies in the group reported strong results last quarter: High-flier Square (SQ), for instance, beat on the top and bottom lines on August 2. Less than two weeks later, news reports said its Cash app had more downloads than PayPal’s (PYPL) Venmo.
Big names like Visa (V) and MA were sloppier. V’s volume was a bit light and security costs hurt MA’s margins. But lesser-known companies like WorldPay (WP) and First Data (FDC) stunned to the upside.
In conclusion, this isn’t a trade recommendation and everyone needs to do their own homework. We just wanted to dig a little deeper on a day when everyone is focused on the broad selling in tech.
