Category Archive for "Published"
Quick Thoughts: First Data Announcement Highlights Increasing Integration of Payments and Marketing
Yesterday, First Data (the leading US acquirer with 18% share – see below) announced the addition of support for loyalty marketing to its Clover platform which competes with Square Register, for example. Like Leaf from HPY and Square Register, Clover
US Payments: A Primer on Merchant Acquiring
Merchant acquiring – the business of providing merchants with authorization for card payments and settling and clearing transactions, often but not always through the branded (including EFT) networks, so that funds are moved from the merchant account to the cardholder
Index of Generic Drug Acquisition Costs Now Available to Pharmacies Nationwide; Commercial Plan Sponsors Likely to Shift Away from AWP
Medi-Span announced Friday the inclusion of National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) data in its point-of-sale pricing products for retail pharmacies; First DataBank made a similar announcement last December. These two providers dominate drug pricing data; accordingly NADAC is now
The Bull Case for PCSK9 (AMGN, SNY, REGN, PFE): Why Estimates Are Too Low
PCSK9 inhibitors are injectables (biweekly to monthly) that lower LDL (aka ‘bad’) cholesterol by ≥ 50%, on par with max dose statins. AMGN and SNY/REGN are closest to market, followed by PFE Statin-intolerant patients generally are restricted to the use
DFS: Capital, Opportunity, and Discipline
We estimate DFS has excess capital of $2.5bn (given that its 2015 Tier 1 common ratio is 8.7% under the CCAR severe-stress scenario, after the just-approved capital plan, versus a minimum requirement of 5% of risk-weighted assets that are currently
Petrochemical-Fest – A Summary of the Texas Gathering
General euphoria over the opportunity presented to the US by the abundance of shale gas – estimates of expected investments in the sector 30-40% higher than they were a year ago. There have been plenty of basic chemical investments announced
No Free Lunch: A Primer on Interchange and Debit
This note comments on the WMT suit filed yesterday against Visa in the context of the broader impact of interchange on the structure of the card payments industry, particularly in debit. The dynamics are more involved than in many industries
Quick Thoughts – BAC Capital Tsunami: Expect Stock Buyback of over $10bn in 2015
Last night, the Fed announced its review of bank capital plans for 2014 (March through March), including BAC. BAC was approved to buyback $4bn of stock and raised the dividend to 5 cents/quarter from a token penny. BAC also announced
AXP: Structurally Improving Business Model
The economics of AXP’s business model are improving meaningfully as it overcomes the anti-competitive constraints imposed by V and MA through the exclusionary rules (preventing Amex from distributing its network services through the bank channel) which were struck down by