COF vs CSCO vs MA Stock Comparison

Capital One Financial, Cisco Systems and Mastercard Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
COF Capital One Financial Corp
$203.46 +1.7% 1M -9.0% 1Y
Market cap
$124.82B
P/E
12.0x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
1.57%
Money Center Banks Financial Services
3 wins
CSCO Cisco Systems, Inc.
$111.38 +4.4% 1M +56.0% 1Y
Market cap
$439.51B
P/E
33.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$63.33B
Div. yield
1.50%
Networking Equipment Technology
3 wins
MA Mastercard Inc
$609.78 +7.4% 1M +6.5% 1Y
Market cap
$530.94B
P/E
33.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.08B
Div. yield
0.57%
Payment Networks Financial Services
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Mastercard leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Mastercard 6, Capital One Financial 3, Cisco Systems 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCOFCSCOMALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $124.82B $439.51B $530.94B MA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 12.0x 33.2x 33.1x COF
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 10.0x 23.5x 29.1x COF
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +11.8% +16.0% MA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 21.0% 46.3% MA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 15.9% 59.0% MA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.8x 0.6x MA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.57% 1.50% 0.57% COF
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -9.0% +56.0% +6.5% CSCO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.9%/yr +14.7%/yr +12.9%/yr CSCO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.5% 35.5% 22.7% MA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 54/100 53/100 CSCO

Percentile Scorecard

COFCSCOMA

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

AxisCOFCSCOMA
Valuation 78 #79 of 360 32 #76 of 112 14 #809 of 940
Growth – 41 #65 of 109 66 #226 of 655
Profitability – 87 #14 of 104 99 #8 of 633
Financial Health – 30 #82 of 116 49 #363 of 714
Shareholder Returns 18 #279 of 341 79 #18 of 81 36 #457 of 709
Overall – 54 53
  • COF ranked among 368 companies in Banking
  • CSCO ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware
  • MA ranked among 1,003 companies in Financial Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCOFCSCOMASPY
1 month +1.7%+4.4%+7.4% -0.2%
3 months -4.2%-3.6%+8.4% +3.9%
6 months +5.9%+28.2%+20.1% +8.2%
Year to date -16.1%+44.6%+6.8% +12.9%
1 year -9.0%+56.0%+6.5% +12.3%
3 years +108.2%+116.0%+67.5% +87.4%
3 years, per year +27.7%+29.3%+18.8% +23.3%
5 years +33.4%+98.0%+83.1% +67.9%
5 years, per year +5.9%+14.7%+12.9% +10.9%
10 years +172.0%+266.6%+488.6% +261.1%
10 years, per year +10.5%+13.9%+19.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCOFCSCOMASPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.5%35.5%22.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 35.8%37.3%22.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.311.110.26 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.281.580.29 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -46.9%-38.6%-28.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -21.1%-14.3%-3.6% -1.2%
52-week high $257.94$130.00$632.81 $779.14
52-week low $176.10$71.04$471.55 $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.

MultipleCOFCSCOMA
P/E now vs peer median 12.0xmedian 12.1x 33.2xmedian 33.2x 33.1xmedian 13.0x
P/S now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 3.4x 6.9xmedian 2.8x 15.1xmedian 3.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 5.0x 25.3xmedian 20.0x 22.6xmedian 7.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 4.1xmedian 10.9x 34.4xmedian 29.8x 31.8xmedian 10.8x
P/B now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 1.2x 8.7xmedian 3.0x 94.6xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.45median 1.34 12.32median 1.17 1.69median 0.87

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 monthsCOFCSCOMA
Revenue – $63.33B $35.08B
Gross profit – $40.86B –
Operating income – $15.37B $20.47B
Net income – $13.27B $16.26B
Free cash flow – $12.77B $16.70B
R&D – $9.56B –
EPS (diluted) $16.91 $3.33 $18.41
Cash & equivalents – $7.22B $11.29B
Total debt – $29.53B $81.59B
Shares (diluted) 621.10M 3.99B 883.00M
Enterprise value $124.82B $375.43B $490.85B

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
MetricCOFCSCOMA
P/E 12.0x 33.2x 33.1x
P/FCF 4.1x 34.4x 31.8x
P/Operating cash flow – 31.0x 30.4x
P/S 1.9x 6.9x 15.1x
P/B 1.1x 8.7x 94.6x
P/Tangible book 1.3x 10.3x 3,662x
EV/EBITDA – 25.3x 22.6x
EV/EBIT – 29.5x 26.6x
EV/Revenue – 7.2x 15.5x
EV/FCF – 35.5x 32.6x
EV/Operating cash flow – 32.0x 31.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.45 12.32 1.69

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCOFCSCOMA
Revenue growth (1Y) – 11.8% 16.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 3.6% 14.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 11.1% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 4.6% –
Operating income growth (1Y) – 30.7% 21.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 0.7% 16.1%
Net income growth (1Y) – 30.3% 19.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 1.7% 16.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 889.3% 30.7% 23.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.3% 2.7% 19.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – -0.1% 2.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -10.7% 14.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -3.9% 0.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -12.5% 14.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCOFCSCOMA
Gross margin – 64.5% –
EBITDA margin – 28.3% 68.6%
Operating margin – 24.3% 58.3%
Pretax margin – 25.3% 57.5%
Net margin – 21.0% 46.3%
FCF margin – 20.2% 47.6%
Operating cash flow margin – 22.4% 49.7%
Return on equity – 26.8% 263.6%
Return on assets – 10.4% 29.5%
Return on invested capital – 15.9% 59.0%
Return on capital employed – 17.9% 68.1%
Asset turnover – 0.5x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.1x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue – 6.0% 1.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCOFCSCOMA
Debt / assets – 22.8% 42.7%
Debt / equity – 0.6x 4.4x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.8x 0.6x
Debt / FCF – 2.3x 1.5x
Liabilities / assets 83.7% 61.2% 90.3%
Equity / assets 16.3% 38.8% 9.7%
Interest coverage – 10.5x 27.4x
Current ratio – 0.9x 1.1x
Quick ratio – 0.6x 0.7x
Cash ratio – 0.4x 0.5x
Altman Z-score – 4.19 10.15

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCOFCSCOMA
Dividend yield 1.6% 1.5% 0.6%
Net buyback yield – 1.3% 3.0%
Shareholder yield 1.6% 2.8% 3.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusCOFCSCOMA
Forward P/E 10.0xFY2026 23.5xFY2027 29.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $20.41FY2026 $4.74FY2027 $20.99FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.1%FY2026 +9.5%FY2027 +23.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +12.8% +20.7% +14.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $66.23BFY2026 $74.93BFY2027 $38.99BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.0%FY2026 +18.3%FY2027 +18.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.3% +0.6% +0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCOFCSCOMA
Held by institutions 86.5% 80.1% 87.5%
Institutions holding 2,111 4,046 3,583
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.7% +5.0% +0.6%
Institutions buying 1,049 1,847 1,588
Institutions selling 758 1,817 1,527
Buyers to sellers 1.38 1.02 1.04

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.

COFCSCOMA
COF 1.00 0.17 0.45
CSCO 0.17 1.00 -0.05
MA 0.45 -0.05 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, COF, CSCO and MA?

Mastercard (MA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Capital One Financial (COF) $124.82B, Cisco Systems (CSCO) $439.51B, Mastercard (MA) $530.94B.

Which stock is cheaper, COF, CSCO and MA?

Capital One Financial (COF) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Capital One Financial (COF) 12.0x, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 33.2x, Mastercard (MA) 33.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Capital One Financial (COF) is cheapest (Capital One Financial (COF) 10.0x, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 23.5x, Mastercard (MA) 29.1x). 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: Cisco Systems (CSCO) +11.8%, Mastercard (MA) +16.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mastercard (MA) has the highest net margin (Cisco Systems (CSCO) 21.0%, Mastercard (MA) 46.3%). On return on invested capital, Mastercard (MA) leads (Cisco Systems (CSCO) 15.9%, Mastercard (MA) 59.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cisco Systems (CSCO) returned the most: Capital One Financial (COF) -9.0%, Cisco Systems (CSCO) +56.0%, Mastercard (MA) +6.5%. Over five years, Cisco Systems (CSCO) compounded fastest (Capital One Financial (COF) +5.9%/yr, Cisco Systems (CSCO) +14.7%/yr, Mastercard (MA) +12.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Capital One Financial (COF) has the highest dividend yield: Capital One Financial (COF) 1.57%, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 1.50%, Mastercard (MA) 0.57%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mastercard (MA) has been the steadiest (Capital One Financial (COF) 31.5%, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 35.5%, Mastercard (MA) 22.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, COF, CSCO and MA?

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 6. 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.