CSCO vs MA Stock Comparison

Cisco Systems and Mastercard Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CSCO Cisco Systems, Inc.
$106.50 +0.1% 1M +51.6% 1Y
Market cap
$436.07B
P/E
32.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$63.33B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
5 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
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Mastercard leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Mastercard 6, Cisco Systems 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCSCOMALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $436.07B $541.87B MA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 32.9x 33.3x CSCO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.5x 29.7x CSCO
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 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +51.6% +8.7% CSCO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +14.1%/yr +11.7%/yr CSCO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.4% 22.6% MA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 53/100 51/100 CSCO

Percentile Scorecard

CSCOMA

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

AxisCSCOMA
Valuation 32 #77 of 112 13 #822 of 945
Growth 40 #66 of 109 68 #268 of 822
Profitability 88 #14 of 105 99 #11 of 835
Financial Health 28 #84 of 117 49 #461 of 905
Shareholder Returns 77 #20 of 82 28 #521 of 726
Overall 53 51
  • CSCO ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware
  • MA 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

PeriodCSCOMASPY
1 month +0.1%+11.3% -1.0%
3 months -6.7%+15.5% +2.9%
6 months +19.6%+23.7% +6.4%
Year to date +38.3%+9.2% +11.4%
1 year +51.6%+8.7% +13.1%
3 years +100.9%+61.1% +79.4%
3 years, per year +26.2%+17.3% +21.5%
5 years +93.2%+73.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year +14.1%+11.7% +10.9%
10 years +253.2%+506.2% +255.2%
10 years, per year +13.5%+19.7% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCSCOMASPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.4%22.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 37.3%22.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.090.27 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.460.38 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -38.6%-28.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -18.1%-1.5% -2.5%
52-week high $130.00$632.81 $779.14
52-week low $70.27$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.

MultipleCSCOMA
P/E now vs peer median 31.7xmedian 31.3x 33.8xmedian 13.4x
P/S now vs peer median 6.6xmedian 2.6x 15.5xmedian 3.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 24.2xmedian 19.6x 23.1xmedian 5.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 32.9xmedian 28.3x 32.5xmedian 11.1x
P/B now vs peer median 8.4xmedian 2.9x 96.7xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 11.78median 1.15 1.73median 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 monthsCSCOMA
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) $3.33 $18.41
Cash & equivalents $7.22B $11.29B
Total debt $29.53B $81.59B
Shares (diluted) 3.99B 883.00M
Enterprise value $371.99B $501.79B

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
MetricCSCOMA
P/E 31.7x 33.8x
P/FCF 32.9x 32.5x
P/Operating cash flow 29.6x 31.1x
P/S 6.6x 15.5x
P/B 8.4x 96.7x
P/Tangible book 9.8x 3,744x
EV/EBITDA 24.2x 23.1x
EV/EBIT 28.2x 27.2x
EV/Revenue 6.9x 15.9x
EV/FCF 34.0x 33.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 30.6x 31.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 11.78 1.73

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCSCOMA
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) 30.7% 23.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 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
MetricCSCOMA
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
MetricCSCOMA
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 61.2% 90.3%
Equity / assets 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 4.05 10.29

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCSCOMA
Dividend yield 1.6% 0.6%
Net buyback yield 1.3% 2.9%
Shareholder yield 2.9% 3.4%
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.

ConsensusCSCOMA
Forward P/E 22.5xFY2027 29.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.74FY2027 $20.99FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +9.5%FY2027 +23.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +20.7% +14.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $74.93BFY2027 $38.98BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +18.3%FY2027 +18.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.6% +0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCSCOMA
Held by institutions 80.1% 88.6%
Institutions holding 4,044 3,581
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.0% +0.6%
Institutions buying 1,846 1,587
Institutions selling 1,816 1,526
Buyers to sellers 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.

CSCOMA
CSCO 1.00 -0.04
MA -0.04 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CSCO and MA?

Mastercard (MA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cisco Systems (CSCO) $436.07B, Mastercard (MA) $541.87B.

Which stock is cheaper, CSCO and MA?

Cisco Systems (CSCO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cisco Systems (CSCO) 32.9x, Mastercard (MA) 33.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Cisco Systems (CSCO) is cheapest (Cisco Systems (CSCO) 22.5x, Mastercard (MA) 29.7x). 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: Cisco Systems (CSCO) +51.6%, Mastercard (MA) +8.7%. Over five years, Cisco Systems (CSCO) compounded fastest (Cisco Systems (CSCO) +14.1%/yr, Mastercard (MA) +11.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mastercard (MA) has been the steadiest (Cisco Systems (CSCO) 35.4%, Mastercard (MA) 22.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do CSCO and MA move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of -0.04, a negative relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, 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.