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The Dates That Matter Most For Mastercard Stock

Mastercard (MA) stock returned 20.5% in the six months to October 27, 2026, outpacing the 8.8% return for the S&P 500, a gain holders will want to keep. On July 30, management guided 2026 net revenue growth to the high end of the low double digits on a currency-neutral basis, excluding acquisitions and disposals. Below are the events most likely to move Mastercard stock over the next six months, starting with its October 2026 report. Mastercard is expected to report its fiscal Q3 2026 results on October 29, 2026, before the market opens. It will be the first report since Ling Hai became chief financial officer on August 3, 2026, taking over from Sachin Mehra, who gave the July guidance. These figures offer the first look at whether growth held near the top of management’s range. For that quarter, as for the full year, management guided net revenue growth to the high end of the low double digits on a currency-neutral basis. This target follows 12% growth in fiscal Q2 2026 that beat management’s own expectations. Third-quarter growth will be measured against the $8.6 billion of revenue Mastercard reported for fiscal Q3 2025. Value-added services and solutions, the services Mastercard sells alongside its card network, represent the faster-growing part of the business. Revenue in this segment rose 18% in fiscal Q2 2026, compared with 8% for payment network revenue. Management also said on July 30 that rebates and incentives would take a slightly larger share of payment network fees in fiscal Q3 2026 than in Q2. Management said on its April 30 call that the conflict in the Middle East began to weigh on cross-border travel in March 2026. By the July 30 call, the impact had eased and was less severe than management had expected. Even so, management estimated the impact would stay at the level seen late in fiscal Q2 2026 for the rest of 2026, and called the region’s environment dynamic. Cross-border spending matters to Mastercard because the fees it earns on that spending grew faster than the spending itself in fiscal Q2 2026, so any slowdown in travel volume reaches a fast-growing fee line. During that quarter, cross-border assessments, the fees Mastercard charges on those transactions, rose 20%, compared with 12% for cross-border volume. Management said the 8-point gap came mainly from pricing in international markets and mix. Cross-border volume growth is the number to watch in the October 2026 and January 2027 reports. Mastercard is expected to report its fiscal Q4 2026 results in January 2027, closing out the year covered by management’s July 30 guidance. Management said then that 2026 net revenue growth would come in higher within its range than it had first expected, largely because of a stronger first half. The final quarter will be compared with the $8.81 billion of revenue Mastercard reported for fiscal Q4 2025. Management also expected operating expenses to grow at a low double-digit rate for 2026, on the same currency-neutral basis. In fiscal Q2 2026, management tied the rise in costs mainly to hardening its infrastructure, geographic expansion and product innovation. Full-year net revenue growth on a currency-neutral basis is the number to watch in the January 2027 report. Earnings calls have moved Mastercard stock before. The shares rose 3.3% around the January 29, 2026 call, fell 5.7% around the April 30, 2026 call and rose 1.7% around the July 30, 2026 call. Their worst fall over the past year was 18.7% between January 6 and June 3, 2026, a stretch that took in the April call. If a repeat of that fall would push you to sell, the stake is too large to hold through these dates. The risk is worth taking at a size you could keep through a repeat, for as long as Mastercard’s growth stays at the high end of the range management has set for 2026. Many readers of a Mastercard article work there and own its stock through grants or a purchase plan. When your paycheck and your savings depend on the same company, one bad year can hit both. Our partner advisory firm offers a free strategy review of ways to protect a large company-stock position and sell it down with less tax.

The Dates That Matter Most For Mastercard Stock
North America
Fortune

China’s first AI-generated film to get a theatrical release flops at the box office

Chinese audiences may be happy to let AI generate their microdramas—but a fully AI-generated feature film may be a step too far. China’s first AI-generated feature to release in cinemas, the sci-fi thriller Sanxingdui: Future Past, flopped at the Chinese box office. The movie, produced by Bona Film Group, tells the story of an archaeologist who must save the future world enslaved by AI, according to Chinese state media. It only managed to generate an estimated $180,000 through Monday, according to ticketing platform Maoyan. The film had a budget of $1.5 million, according to AFP. Jiang Defu, the company’s chief operating officer, acknowledged the film’s lukewarm reception in an interview with Chinese film outlet Yuli. Still, he argued Sanxingdui was an important experiment. “We are the first to try it, the first to get a theatrical release permit, and the first to be tested by the audience,” he said. “I think that is not easy at all.” Social media reactions to the film have been mixed. “China’s first AI movie totally traumatized me,” wrote one user on Xiaohongshu, a Chinese social media platform similar to Instagram. Another user was more positive: “My biggest takeaway? AI movies are super low-cost and let you tell stories with complete freedom.” AI has already taken over microdramas, or shorter narratives designed for social media platforms like TikTok. According to Caixin, over 95% of the more than 120,000 Chinese microdramas released in the first quarter of 2026 were AI-generated, compared with nearly zero just a year ago. The cost of making these dramas has plummeted too, down to as little as $3,000. But Sanxingdui’s flop suggests that consumers don’t want to see AI in a full-length movie. “The public is highly skeptical about AI use in major feature films, despite their general acceptance of short-form films,” said Stanley Rosen, a University of Southern California professor who specializes in Chinese film and society. In the U.S., the use of AI in filmmaking is controversial. In 2023, U.S. screenwriters and actors went on strike, in part to demand protections against the use of AI. AI models like those from ByteDance and Higgsfield AI are already being used in Hollywood productions. On Oct. 9, Netflix released its crime thriller “Animals,” whose director Ben Affleck admitted that he had used AI. “I used [AI] for lots of things in that movie,” Affleck said during a Bloomberg event, adding that he was “a little bit hesitant to point out what they are” because movies are meant to “foster the illusion of reality.”

China’s first AI-generated film to get a theatrical release flops at the box office
Asia-Pacific
Channel NewsAsia

Pakistan military 'cautiously optimistic' on Iran-US mediation

Pakistan's chief mediator in its efforts to de-escalate the now eight-month-old Iran war has been to Tehran twice this month, most recently on Monday alongside Saudi and Turkish officials. RAWALPINDI: Pakistan’s military is “cautiously optimistic” about its mediation between Iran and the United States, its spokesman said on Friday (Oct 30) in his first interview since a high-level delegation visited Tehran this week. Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir - Pakistan's chief mediator in its efforts to de-escalate the now eight-month-old Iran war - has been to Tehran twice this month, most recently on Monday alongside Saudi and Turkish officials. “Why would the Field Marshal be going twice if it is not for some positivity? So yes, of course,” spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said when asked whether the trips were a positive sign. “The word that we would use is always cautiously optimistic,” added Chaudhry, director general of Inter-Services Public Relations. CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less There were still "powerful spoilers and detractors" who believed conflict serves them, he added without naming them. Speaking in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where Pakistan's armed forces are headquartered, Chaudhry declined to say what was discussed or whether the United States had backed the trip. Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin joined Munir in Tehran on Monday. Their two countries signed a joint defence pact with Pakistan on Aug 7, saying an attack on any signatory will be treated as an attack on all. The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement has taken on added significance as the Iran war has redrawn regional alliances and raised fears of a broader Middle East conflict. While the three signatories say the agreement is aimed at collective deterrence and regional security, analysts see its evolution as closely tied to efforts by regional powers to manage the fallout from the Iran-US confrontation. After Monday’s talks, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said regional security should be ensured by regional countries without foreign intervention.

Pakistan military 'cautiously optimistic' on Iran-US mediation
North America
Yahoo Finance

How Would You Fix Take-Two?

Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) needs a profit fix, not a sales fix. Revenue grew 15.3% over the four quarters to June 2026, yet the company still ran an operating loss. If you own the stock, it has been a frustrating year: the shares lost 21.1% over the past twelve months, while the S&P 500 returned 15.0%. The games are selling, and the shares have not followed. So if you were handed the keys on Monday, where is the most money waiting? The operating margin is the one lever with a clear dollar value. Take-Two lost 2.4 cents at the operating level on every dollar of revenue over the four quarters to June 2026, while the median of four peers, Microsoft, Roblox, Amazon.com and NVIDIA, kept 29.5 cents. That 31.9-point gap is worth about $2.13 billion a year on $6.69 billion of revenue, though NVIDIA and Microsoft lift that median. Against Take-Two’s own 21.4% margin of 2021, the gap is 23.8 points, worth about $1.59 billion a year. That median sets a high bar, and Roblox, one of the four, also ran an operating loss. Take-Two’s own past offers a closer goal: the company kept 21.4% of revenue as operating profit over the four quarters to June 2021. If you ran the company, your first goal would be getting back toward that level. Spending inside NBA 2K grew 7% from a year earlier in the June quarter, and spending inside the Grand Theft Auto series rose 3%, management said. By the August 7 call, NBA 2K26 had shipped over 12 million units, 9% more than NBA 2K25. Grand Theft Auto VI is due on November 19, and management called its preorders “unprecedented and astonishing.” The company also said it does not know how those preorders will translate into sales. Even so, these two series are the part of Take-Two that is already working. Management said spending inside its mobile games fell 7% from a year earlier in the June quarter, though several mobile titles still grew, Top Eleven among them. Management attributed the drop to the comparison with Color Block Jam, a new title a year earlier. It also said there is some pressure on the cost of winning new players. Management expects Zynga, home of several of its mature mobile titles, to bring in roughly 34% of fiscal 2027 net bookings, a sales measure the company uses. If you ran Take-Two, you would keep spending on new players only where each game earns it back over its life, as management says it already does. One part needs protecting before any cash decision: spending inside games players already own. Management said this spending made up 84% of net bookings in the June quarter. The hardest call is cash. Take-Two carried $2.95 billion of debt in June 2026, against $188 million five years earlier. The company pays no dividend and buys back no shares. Management expects operating cash flow of more than $1 billion in fiscal 2027 and says it is on track to hold more cash than debt by the end of that year, after which it would be more likely to consider an acquisition. If you ran Take-Two, clearing the debt would come before buybacks or an acquisition. Despite the operating loss, investors pay 5.6 times sales for the stock, against 3.2 times for the S&P 500. That price looks like a bet on management’s fiscal 2027 outlook of $8 billion to $8.2 billion in net bookings, which the company ties to the Grand Theft Auto VI release. The first fix is still the margin. Take-Two’s operating margin, a loss of 2.3% of revenue in the June quarter, is the number to watch when the company reports in November 2026.

How Would You Fix Take-Two?
North America
Fortune

Elon Musk promised an AI epic to rival Christopher Nolan’s film. Viewers got a seven-minute glitch

The first installment of Elon Musk’s AI-generated adaptation of The Odyssey has arrived, drawing swift ridicule for the medium Musk claimed would challenge Hollywood and offering an awkward AI-generated entry into the woke wars. Back in July, the world’s richest man promised in an X post that by the end of the year, he would release a full-length, “historically accurate” version of The Odyssey, the roughly 2,800-year-old Homer epic adapted for a Christopher Nolan film that was released this summer. The promise came after he ranted about Nolan’s version several times on X prior to its release. At the heart of Musk’s criticism was the idea that Nolan’s version was too woke, particularly for the famed director’s decision to cast actress Lupita Nyong’o, who is Black, as Helen of Troy and her sister Clytemnestra. Nolan’s film, championed for its sweeping practical effects and real-world locations, has grossed $1.79 billion worldwide since its summer debut. Yet the rollout of Musk’s seven-minute opening episode highlights the stubborn chasm between Silicon Valley bravado and narrative craft. Rather than a triumph of independent, automated mythmaking over studio orthodoxy—or an opening shot in Musk’s litigation of the culture wars—the short was met with immediate ridicule online for jarring scene transitions, plastic character models, and modern English dialogue that undercut Musk’s claims of authenticity. In reply to an X post announcing the project, users criticized the video quality, saying it’s still clear the video was made with AI. Others said the film could have been improved if it was done the old-fashioned way. (Nolan is known for his preference for real filming locations over studio work and his use of practical effects.) One user said the film’s hard cuts, a type of transition between scenes that uses no visual effects, made it more obvious where different prompts were used. Another poked fun at Musk’s claim from July that his film, based on the thousands-of-years-old work of fiction set in the Mediterranean, was going to be “historically accurate.” “It supposed to be historically correct. Why are they talking in English?” the user wrote. To be sure, some users also said the project was a good step forward for the category of AI-generated video, despite its shortcomings. “There’s a lot of room for growth, but the good news is there will be growth,” wrote one X user. The seven-minute-long feature is just the first episode of the AI-created work, according to a post announcing the project on X. The post did not say how many episodes would be released in total. Musk’s Odyssey was created with Grok Imagine, SpaceXAI’s AI image and video generation tool that was released publicly in 2025 and released its latest update in July. The tool uses text prompts to make both images and videos and can create videos of up to 1080p quality. Unlike other popular AI video tools such as Runway or Google Veo, Grok Imagine also includes a “spicy mode” to create NSFW content, which previously sparked some criticism. The feature is still available to users with paid Grok subscriptions. The film was created in collaboration with director Dev Walker, a filmmaker specializing in AI, and Wonder Studios, a studio founded in 2025 by filmmaker Justin Hackney and entrepreneur Xavier Collins with the mission of becoming the A24 of AI production, according to Deadline. The studio has raised more than $15 million from investors including unnamed angel investors from AI companies like OpenAI and Google DeepMind, according to its website.

Elon Musk promised an AI epic to rival Christopher Nolan’s film. Viewers got a seven-minute glitch
North America
Fortune

Newsom agrees smart glasses need privacy rules—just not the ones California lawmakers wrote

A phone pointed at a stranger is hard to miss. A camera tucked into a pair of glasses is another story—and lawmakers are trying to decide how much warning the person on the other side of the lenses should get. In California, that warning won’t be coming anytime soon. Last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have required prominent recording indicators on wearable devices sold in the state beginning in 2028. It would also have prohibited disabling those indicators and made it a misdemeanor to record people without explicit consent in physical places of business like offices and retail stores where they reasonably expect privacy. California is home to several companies betting on smart glasses, but those companies, like Meta and Snap, are also raising privacy questions for people who never chose to wear them. Lawmakers want stronger protections against unnoticed recording, while Newsom argues that the proposed rules would reach too far into other everyday technology. Newsom acknowledged that reports of invasive uses of the technology “demand a legislative response.” But in his veto message, he argued that the bill could sweep in smartwatches and other everyday devices, while duplicating existing privacy protections. Asked whether he would support a narrower proposal, his office referred Fortune back to the message, saying it “speaks for itself.” Meanwhile, tech companies are working to make smart glasses a familiar sight—even Iron Man has been recruited to help. Snap, Snapchat’s California-based parent company, told Fortune its collaboration with Robert Downey Jr. goes “well beyond a traditional endorsement,” with the actor helping develop new experiences for its Specs augmented reality glasses. And for smart-glasses heavyweight Meta, sales topped 7 million pairs last year, according to eyewear partner EssilorLuxottica. But with wider adoption comes more encounters with people who may not recognize the devices or know when they are recording. Authored by State Sen. Eloise Gómez Reyes, the bill would have required a light, sound, or other indicator prominent enough to alert a reasonable person nearby when a wearable device was capturing sound or video. It also targeted technology designed to disable those safeguards. Violating the recording or indicator-disabling provisions could have brought up to a year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,500, or both. Knowing violations of the device-sale requirements could have triggered civil penalties of up to $2,500. The bill also included exemptions for certain uses of assistive technology by people with disabilities. Newsom’s objection centered on how those rules were written. Including certain smartwatches and other commonly worn devices capable of recording, he wrote, could create “significant confusion and unintended consequences.” The governor also pointed to existing laws criminalizing recording people in places where they reasonably expect privacy and recording confidential communications without consent. Those protections remain in place despite the veto. TechNet, a bipartisan network and trade association of tech CEOs and senior executives whose members include Meta, Google, and Amazon, opposed the legislation, arguing that existing laws already address unlawful recording, according to the Associated Press. Reyes’s office did not respond to Fortune’s questions about whether she plans to reintroduce the legislation or has discussed a revised proposal with the governor’s office.

Newsom agrees smart glasses need privacy rules—just not the ones California lawmakers wrote
Europe
DW Economy

Germany news: Merz hopes for Korean reunification at DMZ

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has expressed hope for Korean reunification during a visit to the heavily fortified border. Meanwhile, President Steinmeier has held talks with China's Xi Jinping in Beijing. South Korea is the final stop on Merz's five-day Asia tour, following visits to Singapore and JapanImage: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/picture allianceAdvertisementSkip next section What you need to knowWhat you need to knowThese updates have been closed.  While President Frank-Walter Steinmeier sought to reinforce ties with China in Beijing, Chancellor Friedrich Merz toured Japan, South Korea and Singapore, promoting closer cooperation among what he calls the world's "middle powers." Together, the visits highlight Berlin's effort to lower risks without decoupling from China. Germany's annual inflation rate eased to 2.8% in October from 3.3% in September, with economists pointing to the government's fuel tax cut as the main reason. Preliminary figures from the Federal Statistical Office showed energy prices rose 12.2% compared with a year earlier, down from 14.9% in September. Services inflation slowed to 2.5%, while food inflation remained at 0.4%. "The decisive factor was the fuel tax cut," said Silke Tober of the Macroeconomic Policy Institute. The reduction took effect in October and runs through December, although rising crude oil prices partly offset the savings at the pump. ING bank economist Carsten Brzeski said higher energy costs had yet to feed through into broader price increases. Unlike during the 2022 energy crisis, consumers were unwilling or unable to absorb substantially higher prices, he said. But economists warned the relief could prove temporary. "Gas and oil prices have risen significantly again in recent weeks," said Stephanie Schoenwald, an economist at Germany's state-owned development bank KfW, citing continuing conflicts and lower inventories. German President's Frank-Walter Steinmeier latest trip to Asia was intended to provide more clarity. Amid a delicate period, Steinmeier sought a balancing act in China between respect and criticism.  It was a state visit of a kind rarely seen today. For four days, Steinmeier traveled across the country: from Hefei, where the German automaker Volkswagen's China operations are headquartered, through historic villages and the imposing landscapes of the Yellow Mountains. He also visited several points of interest of Chinese history, art, and science, and finally, he headed to Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing's political center. Steinmeier—who is set to leave office in March 2027— spoke as a statesman and diplomat on matters of German and European interest. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Steinmeier have known each other for many years, so in this respect, the president was the right man to address even the most difficult issues as a European.

Germany news: Merz hopes for Korean reunification at DMZ
North America
Yahoo Finance

Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Futures Climb As Tech Stocks Get A Boost From Anthropic IPO Listing: SOFI, BB, PYPL, CLS In Focus

U.S. stock futures traded higher in the overnight session late Monday as Wall Street kicked off the week on a winning note, bolstered by Anthropic’s Nasdaq listing to go public. As of 10:22 p.m. EDT, Dow futures gained 0.18%, and S&P 500 futures were up 0.14%. Nasdaq-100 futures climbed 0.16%. On Monday, U.S. benchmark indexes closed higher. The Nasdaq Composite led the climb, adding more than 200 points to close 0.82% higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.28%, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.70%. Artificial intelligence and technology stocks boosted markets at the week’s open after Anthropic filed its IPO, boosting sentiment across the sector. Markets are also gearing up for a week of key earnings from multiple tech companies. "Today's all about the Anthropic release, so we're back on a little bit of an optimistic tilt, I ​would say. But there's a lot in that release. It will be interesting to see how well things are received when they actually come to list," JP Powers, chief investment officer at RWA Wealth Partners in Boston, reportedly told Reuters. "The risk is maybe a little bit of a whipsaw if things aren't all moving in the same direction. A little optimism today, but who knows what will ​happen from some of these other releases this week," Powers said. Markets will also watch the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting set to begin on Tuesday. Investors largely expect the central bank to hold rates steady as the midterm elections approach, although markets are pricing in a December hike amid rising inflation. Richard Clarida, PIMCO global economic advisor and former Federal Reserve vice chair, told CNBC in an interview that the Fed will hold rates steady in October, as messaging suggests “they can afford to be patient.” “All eyes will be on the chairman’s press conference, but we do expect at least one more hike at the December meeting,” he added. Meanwhile, on the geopolitical front, media reports indicate that senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan held talks with Iran on Monday to "de-escalate between the parties to the current crisis.” Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei said the discussions in the capital were "very good," according to state television, adding that "I feel that a new atmosphere is emerging in the region... I sensed a very positive atmosphere in the discussions among the gentlemen." Earlier over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump had said that he was still working out whether to reach an agreement with Iran or take action to "finish them off." While Trump has kept the possibility of a new round of major U.S. strikes against Iran on the table, Trump told reporters on Sunday that “there will not be a strike (on Iran) today.”

Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Futures Climb As Tech Stocks Get A Boost From Anthropic IPO Listing: SOFI, BB, PYPL, CLS In Focus
Europe
BBC Business

What we know about Binance's $6.3bn hack

Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange, has been hit by a $6.3bn (£4.7bn) hack - thought to be the biggest in history. Half of the assets have been frozen but many remain in the hands of the hackers, the cryptocurrency giant said. It later added that it has "begun recovering" some funds. Two analytics firms have attributed the incident to a North Korean hacking unit, though no one has claimed responsibility. Binance did not directly respond to questions about the incident's potential links to North Korea. BBC cyber correspondent Joe Tidy explains more about the hack and what to do if you are affected.

What we know about Binance's $6.3bn hack