By Sam Boughedda
Morgan Stanley analysts said data they are tracking for Visa (NYSE:V) shows demand and healthy trends persist through September.
The analysts, who have an Overweight rating and $291 price target on the stock, told investors in a research note Friday: "Data we tracked through Sept, including incremental insights into Asia/Oceania passenger traffic, commentary from airlines, and announcements of further openings in Hong Kong and Japan suggest 1) cross-border travel demand can persist and 2) there's still meaningful opportunity left for recovery."
At the time of writing, Visa shares are up just over 1% Friday.
The analysts explained that Visa's card-present cross-border travel-related volume reached 115% of 2019's level in August from 94% in April, "supported by strong recoveries in the US and Asia-Pacific travel corridors." In addition, US TSA data shows airport traffic "reflecting up to 97% of 2019 levels in September, after remaining at 90% for several months."
"We're encouraged by Hong Kong's announcement that it would reduce hotel quarantine rules for travelers and Japan's update that it will be expanding their reopening to include individual tourists, as data we track shows a clear acceleration in tourism traffic once border restrictions are lifted," they concluded.