NEW YORK, February 24, 2026, 18:56 (EST) — Trading after the bell
Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (MA) dropped 5.7%, settling at $498 in Tuesday’s after-hours session. The stock couldn’t crack $500, with intraday moves stretching from $490.05 up to $525.19. Volume came in at roughly 6.3 million shares.
Normally, Mastercard stock acts as a bellwether for consumer spending, not the kind of momentum play tied to tech themes. But now, it’s caught up in the AI narrative, as investors pare back holdings in anything they suspect might face pressure on fees or squeezed margins.
Part of this comes down to positioning. That also makes Mastercard more exposed if another round of AI news breaks, or if a macro shock rocks shopping, travel, and cross-border payments all at once.
Visa slid 4.5% to $307.22, while shares of American Express tumbled 7.2% to $320.48 during the session. Nvidia, the chipmaker fueling the AI boom, finished 0.9% higher at $192.85.
Citrini Research’s latest note has been making the rounds, painting a bleak 2028: 10.2% unemployment, all blamed on AI-fueled layoffs. Alap Shah, who wrote the report, described it as a “negative feedback loop with no natural brake.” Damien Boey at Wilson Asset Management said, “The Citrini piece has struck a nerve.” But not everyone’s convinced—some voices argue AI’s bigger impact will be on productivity, not on jobs vanishing. (Reuters)
U.S. stocks bounced back, finishing higher after Anthropic introduced fresh AI plug-in options for business users—giving risk sentiment a lift after the pullback in the previous session. But questions linger. “The biggest concern is margins,” said Ken Mahoney at Mahoney Asset Management, who noted that markets are still trying to figure out how AI will impact earnings. (Reuters)
Mastercard highlighted its ongoing money movement strategy, announcing that Triple-A is set to use Mastercard Move within a remittance platform targeting near-instant cross-border payouts. “A natural extension of our mission to simplify global payments,” Triple-A CEO Eric Barbier said of the deal. Tulsi Narayan at Mastercard added, remittances remain “a vital lifeline for families worldwide.” (Mastercard)
Capillary Technologies is picking up SessionM from Mastercard in a $20 million all-cash deal, the company announced. The move is expected to boost Capillary’s annual recurring revenue by roughly $35 million—a key subscription metric for software players. “Mastercard wanted to find a good home for this business,” CEO and founder Aneesh Reddy said. (The Economic Times)
Even so, Tuesday’s decline outpaced what you’d expect from just one deal hitting the wires. If the AI-driven pullback runs out of steam, Mastercard has a shot at rebounding. But if payments keep getting lumped in with the rest of the “AI-exposed” plays, shares could stay under pressure.
Traders eye Mastercard’s push to retake the $500 mark before Wednesday’s U.S. open, while the broader rotation—money shifting between groups of stocks—remains in focus. Nvidia’s numbers, out after the bell Feb. 25, are up next as a clear test for risk sentiment.
