AXP vs MA vs SPGI Stock Comparison

American Express, Mastercard and S&P Global Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AXP American Express Co
$313.06 +3.6% 1M -11.8% 1Y
Market cap
$212.01B
P/E
17.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$77.59B
Div. yield
–
Money Center Banks Financial Services
3 wins
MA Mastercard Inc
$623.47 +11.3% 1M +8.7% 1Y
Market cap
$541.87B
P/E
33.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.08B
Div. yield
–
Payment Networks Financial Services
7 wins
SPGI S&P Global Inc.
$450.20 +10.7% 1M -6.7% 1Y
Market cap
$132.84B
P/E
27.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$16.12B
Div. yield
0.01%
Financial Data and Analytics Financial Services
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Mastercard leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Mastercard 7, American Express 3, S&P Global 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAXPMASPGILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $212.01B $541.87B $132.84B MA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.3x 33.3x 27.0x AXP
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 18.3x 29.7x 23.9x AXP
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +10.2% +16.0% +9.7% MA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.8% 46.3% 30.5% MA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 19.6% 59.0% 12.1% MA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.5x 0.6x 1.3x AXP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -11.8% +8.7% -6.7% MA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +10.9%/yr +11.7%/yr 0.0%/yr MA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 26.1% 22.6% 30.9% MA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 41/100 51/100 58/100 SPGI

Percentile Scorecard

AXPMASPGI

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAXPMASPGI
Valuation 19 #293 of 361 13 #822 of 945 24 #722 of 945
Growth 36 #222 of 344 68 #268 of 822 68 #261 of 822
Profitability 61 #137 of 348 99 #11 of 835 89 #95 of 835
Financial Health 35 #222 of 340 49 #461 of 905 67 #298 of 905
Shareholder Returns 55 #159 of 352 28 #521 of 726 43 #411 of 726
Overall 41 51 58
  • AXP ranked among 370 companies in Banking
  • MA ranked among 1,011 companies in Financial Services
  • SPGI ranked among 1,011 companies in Financial Services

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAXPMASPGISPY
1 month +3.6%+11.3%+10.7% -1.0%
3 months -4.1%+15.5%+5.6% +2.9%
6 months -0.3%+23.7%+3.1% +6.4%
Year to date -15.4%+9.2%-13.9% +11.4%
1 year -11.8%+8.7%-6.7% +13.1%
3 years +116.8%+61.1%+29.4% +79.4%
3 years, per year +29.4%+17.3%+9.0% +21.5%
5 years +67.3%+73.8%-0.1% +67.7%
5 years, per year +10.9%+11.7%0.0% +10.9%
10 years +364.8%+506.2%+263.1% +255.2%
10 years, per year +16.6%+19.7%+13.8% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureAXPMASPGISPY
Volatility, 1Y 26.1%22.6%30.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 30.0%22.4%35.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.930.270.34 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.450.38-0.22 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -32.0%-28.6%-40.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -18.7%-1.5%-17.6% -2.5%
52-week high $384.89$632.81$546.35 $779.14
52-week low $292.27$471.55$386.35 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAXPMASPGI
P/E now vs peer median 17.2xmedian 12.5x 33.8xmedian 13.4x 27.0xmedian 13.4x
P/S now vs peer median 2.7xmedian 3.5x 15.5xmedian 3.2x 8.2xmedian 3.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 8.8xmedian 4.8x 23.1xmedian 5.9x 17.2xmedian 5.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.1xmedian 11.4x 32.5xmedian 11.1x 23.8xmedian 11.1x
P/B now vs peer median 5.9xmedian 1.2x 96.7xmedian 1.2x 4.2xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.93median 1.48 1.73median 0.89 0.86median 0.89

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAXPMASPGI
Revenue $77.59B $35.08B $16.12B
Gross profit – – $11.43B
Operating income – $20.47B $7.16B
Net income $12.26B $16.26B $5.32B
Free cash flow $13.91B $16.70B $5.57B
EPS (diluted) $18.18 $18.41 $16.66
Cash & equivalents $43.20B $11.29B $4.13B
Total debt $59.95B $81.59B $15.17B
Shares (diluted) 674.00M 883.00M 295.50M
Enterprise value $11.49B $501.79B $123.43B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAXPMASPGI
P/E 17.2x 33.8x 27.0x
P/FCF 15.1x 32.5x 23.8x
P/Operating cash flow 11.9x 31.1x 23.2x
P/S 2.7x 15.5x 8.2x
P/B 5.9x 96.7x 4.2x
P/Tangible book 5.9x 3,744x 8.3x
EV/EBITDA 8.8x 23.1x 17.2x
EV/EBIT 9.5x 27.2x 20.1x
EV/Revenue 2.9x 15.9x 8.9x
EV/FCF 15.9x 33.3x 25.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 12.6x 31.9x 25.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.93 1.73 0.86

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAXPMASPGI
Revenue growth (1Y) 10.2% 16.0% 9.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 9.6% 14.1% 10.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – 11.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 12.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 21.3% 22.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 16.1% 25.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 16.3% 19.7% 22.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 15.2% 16.7% 26.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 19.5% 23.2% 27.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 18.5% 19.5% 31.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -16.6% 2.9% 2.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -4.5% 14.6% 20.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -26.6% 0.9% 3.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -9.2% 14.4% 20.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAXPMASPGI
Gross margin – – 70.9%
EBITDA margin 32.6% 68.6% 51.9%
Operating margin – 58.3% 44.4%
Pretax margin 19.9% 57.5% 42.6%
Net margin 15.8% 46.3% 30.5%
FCF margin 17.9% 47.6% 34.6%
Operating cash flow margin 22.7% 49.7% 35.5%
Return on equity 35.0% 263.6% 16.9%
Return on assets 4.0% 29.5% 8.6%
Return on invested capital 19.6% 59.0% 12.1%
Return on capital employed – 68.1% 13.6%
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.6x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.1x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 1.8% 1.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAXPMASPGI
Debt / assets 19.3% 42.7% 24.1%
Debt / equity 1.7x 4.4x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.5x 0.6x 1.3x
Debt / FCF 4.3x 1.5x 2.7x
Liabilities / assets 88.5% 90.3% 49.7%
Equity / assets 11.5% 9.7% 50.3%
Interest coverage 3.0x 27.4x 22.7x
Current ratio – 1.1x 1.0x
Quick ratio – 0.7x 0.8x
Cash ratio – 0.5x 0.5x
Altman Z-score – 10.29 3.74

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAXPMASPGI
Dividend yield 1.2% 0.6% 0.9%
Net buyback yield 3.2% 2.9% 3.5%
Shareholder yield 4.4% 3.4% 4.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 21.7%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 20.7%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 0.4%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 0.8%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAXPMASPGI
Forward P/E 18.3xFY2026 29.7xFY2026 23.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $17.14FY2026 $20.99FY2026 $18.87FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +11.4%FY2026 +23.4%FY2026 +11.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +23.9% +14.7% +12.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $82.06BFY2026 $38.98BFY2026 $15.46BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.6%FY2026 +18.9%FY2026 +0.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.3% +0.4% +6.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAXPMASPGI
Held by institutions 84.9% 88.6% 87.5%
Institutions holding 3,008 3,581 2,001
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.3% +0.6% +1.6%
Institutions buying 1,473 1,587 871
Institutions selling 1,050 1,526 876
Buyers to sellers 1.40 1.04 0.99

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AXPMASPGI
AXP 1.00 0.47 0.31
MA 0.47 1.00 0.42
SPGI 0.31 0.42 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AXP, MA and SPGI?

Mastercard (MA) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Express (AXP) $212.01B, Mastercard (MA) $541.87B, S&P Global (SPGI) $132.84B.

Which stock is cheaper, AXP, MA and SPGI?

American Express (AXP) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (American Express (AXP) 17.3x, Mastercard (MA) 33.3x, S&P Global (SPGI) 27.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, American Express (AXP) is cheapest (American Express (AXP) 18.3x, Mastercard (MA) 29.7x, S&P Global (SPGI) 23.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Mastercard (MA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: American Express (AXP) +10.2%, Mastercard (MA) +16.0%, S&P Global (SPGI) +9.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mastercard (MA) has the highest net margin (American Express (AXP) 15.8%, Mastercard (MA) 46.3%, S&P Global (SPGI) 30.5%). On return on invested capital, Mastercard (MA) leads (American Express (AXP) 19.6%, Mastercard (MA) 59.0%, S&P Global (SPGI) 12.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Mastercard (MA) returned the most: American Express (AXP) -11.8%, Mastercard (MA) +8.7%, S&P Global (SPGI) -6.7%. Over five years, Mastercard (MA) compounded fastest (American Express (AXP) +10.9%/yr, Mastercard (MA) +11.7%/yr, S&P Global (SPGI) 0.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: American Express (AXP) 0.00%, Mastercard (MA) 0.00%, S&P Global (SPGI) 0.01%. American Express (AXP) and Mastercard (MA) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mastercard (MA) has been the steadiest (American Express (AXP) 26.1%, Mastercard (MA) 22.6%, S&P Global (SPGI) 30.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AXP, MA and SPGI?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Mastercard (MA) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.