** Mastercard MA.N beat Wall Street’s Q4 profit expectations on solid consumer spending and said it will cut about 4% of its global staff to shift investments

** Co said it extended its U.S. and Canada partnership with Capital One, retaining a large share of newly acquired credit accounts on its network

STRONG CONSUMER SPENDING KEEPS THE CHEER

** RBC Capital Markets ("outperform", PT: $656) says the Capital One extension likely eases investor concerns around the credit portfolio, while FX volatility could still prompt debate over the pace of a second‑half pickup

** KBW ("outperform", PT: $665) says Capital One renewal is easing concerns about potential credit‑card volume losses and risks related to Credit Card Competition Act, adding that the shares are well‑positioned for the year

** TD Cowen ("buy", PT: $671) says there’s still potential upside from agentic and stablecoin‑related innovation, while concerns around funding costs and policy issues seem exaggerated

** Morgan Stanley ("overweight", PT: $678) is encouraged by solid domestic and cross‑border spending, strong value-added services performance, emerging areas like agentic technology and operating expense savings

(Reporting by Kanishka Ajmera in Bengaluru)

((Kanishka.Ajmera@thomsonreuters.com))