Mastercard To Acquire Threat Intelligence Firm Recorded Future From Insight Partners For $2.65B: Retail Isn’t Impressed

Mastercard Inc (MA) said on Thursday it is set to acquire threat intelligence firm Recorded Future from Insight Partners for $2.65 billion. Insight Partners had reportedly acquired a controlling interest in the firm in 2019.

Recorded Future is considered as the world’s largest threat intelligence company, with over 1,900 clients across 75 countries, including the governments of 45 countries and over 50% of the Fortune 100. The company provides real-time visibility into potential threats by analyzing a broad set of data sources.

Notably, cybercrime is projected to cost $9.2 trillion globally in 2024 alone. The acquisition of Recorded Future will add to Mastercard’s identity, fraud prevention, real-time decisioning and cybersecurity services, bringing expanded threat intelligence capabilities to its network of merchants and financial institutions. The transaction is expected to close by the first quarter of 2025.

Recorded Future and Mastercard already collaborate on an AI-supported service that alerts financial institutions more quickly and with greater accuracy when a card is likely to have been compromised. Mastercard said that since its launch earlier this year, the service has doubled the rate at which compromised cards are identified.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits, however, dipped into the ‘bearish’ territory (34/100) from ‘neutral’ a day ago.

Shares of Mastercard have been on an uptrend since July 2024 when it briefly dipped below the 200-day moving average. The stock is currently facing resistance at the $488 level.

Recently Exane BNP Paribas reportedly downgraded Mastercard to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’ with a price target of $470. The firm believes cash digitization has played out in the U.S. and this leaves Visa and MasterCard to compete for potentially limited opportunities in other regions, mainly Europe.

Bearish followers of the firm on Stocktwits believe the stock is likely to witness a correction soon.

Also See: McDonald’s Extends $5 Value Meal Till December: Retail Remains ‘Bearish’