Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) shares are trading higher today. On Thursday, the company announced that it would acquire Recorded Future for $2.65 billion, enhancing cybersecurity services with real-time threat intelligence.

This acquisition enhances Mastercard's cybersecurity services, strengthening the insights and intelligence crucial for securing the digital economy, including the payments ecosystem.

J.P.Morgan analyst Tien-tsin Huang writes that they see the acquisition as a positive development and note the price paid is reasonable for a high-quality asset advanced in AI for threat intelligence.

The analyst writes that Recorded Future excels in data ingestion and analysis, delivering actionable threat insights to clients.

Huang sees strong synergies with Mastercard, leveraging its extensive consumer and transactional dataset and enhancing growth through Mastercard's deep partnerships with financial institutions, merchants, and other partners.

The analyst projects that Recorded Future could boost FY25 revenue by approximately 1ppt, or 3ppts within VAS&S, and is likely to be accretive to VAS&S revenue growth.

Investors can gain exposure to the stock via iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF (NYSE:IYG) and BlackRock Long-Term U.S. Equity ETF (NASDAQ:BELT).

Also Read: Alibaba and Mastercard Team Up To Offer New Perks for US Business Owners

Price Action: MA shares are up 0.54% at $494.75 at the last check Friday.

Image: Unsplash/ CardMapr.nl

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