Thanks to major power failures and nearby flooding, the U.S. Stock Market closed on Monday, October 29 and Tuesday, October 30.
Those in remittances may wish it hadn’t reopened, as the industry fell a whopping -31.07 percent amidst concerns of disappointing quarterly earnings and serious questions about the industry’s future.
Western Union took the biggest hit, falling -33.55 percent to $12.22 a share after a seven percent downward revision of their earnings per share to $1.65-1.68. Investors have cited regulatory concerns and an increase in competition, as well as disappointing third quarter results, as reasons for Western Union’s precipitous fall.
Another remittance businesses, MoneyGram International, also fell this week, dropping -4.28 percent to $14.52. The company rescheduled its Q3 release from Friday, November 2 to Friday, November 9 due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy.
Payments’ biggest winner of the shortened week was Heartland Payments Inc, which saw its stock rise 7.15 percent to $27.69 following a report of strong third quarter earnings. Fidelity National Information Services also helped to boost the Acquirer/Processor industry, which saw an overall increase just shy of 1 percent.
The four major networks all had solid showings, as the industry as a whole grew 2.9 percent. Visa and MasterCard each gained around 3.5 percent to rise to $141.50 and $465.65, respectively. Discover and American Express saw more modest respective gains of 1.42 percent and 0.3 percent, increasing to $40.26 and $56.36.
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