FDS vs MA vs MSCI Stock Comparison

Factset Research Systems, Mastercard and Msci Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
FDS Factset Research Systems Inc
$312.47 +16.8% 1M +8.3% 1Y
Market cap
$11.02B
P/E
21.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.48B
Div. yield
1.45%
Financial Data and Analytics Financial Services
5 wins
MA Mastercard Inc
$611.09 +7.5% 1M +8.0% 1Y
Market cap
$532.08B
P/E
33.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.08B
Div. yield
0.57%
Payment Networks Financial Services
7 wins
MSCI MSCI Inc.
$604.83 +11.4% 1M +1.9% 1Y
Market cap
$43.37B
P/E
31.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.43B
Div. yield
1.31%
Financial Data and Analytics Financial Services

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Mastercard leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Mastercard 7, Factset Research Systems 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionFDSMAMSCILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.02B $532.08B $43.37B MA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.4x 33.2x 31.5x FDS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 16.8x 29.1x 29.1x FDS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.7% +16.0% +12.3% MA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 21.5% 46.3% 40.3% MA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 16.9% 59.0% 44.1% MA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 0.6x 3.1x MA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.45% 0.57% 1.31% FDS
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +8.3% +8.0% +1.9% FDS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -6.8%/yr +12.7%/yr -1.9%/yr MA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 48.3% 22.7% 29.8% MA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 56/100 52/100 53/100 FDS

Percentile Scorecard

FDSMAMSCI

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

AxisFDSMAMSCI
Valuation 30 #663 of 941 14 #812 of 941 23 #728 of 941
Growth 29 #454 of 636 66 #217 of 636 58 #269 of 636
Profitability 86 #89 of 612 99 #8 of 612 97 #18 of 612
Financial Health 63 #257 of 693 49 #354 of 693 27 #508 of 693
Shareholder Returns 72 #201 of 706 35 #461 of 706 61 #273 of 706
Overall 56 52 53
  • FDS ranked among 1,003 companies in Financial Services
  • MA ranked among 1,003 companies in Financial Services
  • MSCI 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

PeriodFDSMAMSCISPY
1 month +16.8%+7.5%+11.4% +0.9%
3 months +10.8%+8.4%+3.7% +5.9%
6 months +34.5%+16.3%+1.1% +8.5%
Year to date +7.7%+7.0%+5.4% +13.3%
1 year +8.3%+8.0%+1.9% +12.4%
3 years -25.7%+67.8%+27.0% +88.1%
3 years, per year -9.4%+18.9%+8.3% +23.5%
5 years -29.6%+82.1%-9.0% +68.2%
5 years, per year -6.8%+12.7%-1.9% +11.0%
10 years +101.0%+471.6%+666.1% +263.4%
10 years, per year +7.2%+19.0%+22.6% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureFDSMAMSCISPY
Volatility, 1Y 48.3%22.7%29.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 50.6%22.6%31.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.040.260.28 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.170.350.06 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -61.7%-28.6%-43.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.9%-3.4%-6.1% -0.9%
52-week high $335.45$632.81$643.83 $779.14
52-week low $190.06$471.55$511.84 $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.

MultipleFDSMAMSCI
P/E now vs peer median 21.4xmedian 12.9x 33.2xmedian 12.9x 31.5xmedian 12.9x
P/S now vs peer median 4.4xmedian 3.2x 15.2xmedian 3.2x 12.6xmedian 3.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.8xmedian 7.5x 22.7xmedian 7.5x 23.6xmedian 7.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.6xmedian 10.8x 31.9xmedian 10.8x 27.5xmedian 10.8x
P/B now vs peer median 5.5xmedian 1.2x 94.8xmedian 1.2x -14.4xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 3.25median 0.87 1.70median 0.87 1.90median 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 monthsFDSMAMSCI
Revenue $2.48B $35.08B $3.43B
Gross profit $1.25B – $2.85B
Operating income $699.96M $20.47B $1.91B
Net income $533.48M $16.26B $1.38B
Free cash flow $707.48M $16.70B $1.58B
R&D – – $184.30M
EPS (diluted) $14.57 $18.41 $19.14
Cash & equivalents $233.34M $11.29B $261.00M
Total debt $1.37B $81.59B $6.72B
Shares (diluted) 36.61M 883.00M 72.30M
Enterprise value $9.87B $492.00B $41.85B

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
MetricFDSMAMSCI
P/E 21.4x 33.2x 31.5x
P/FCF 15.6x 31.9x 27.5x
P/Operating cash flow 13.4x 30.5x 26.9x
P/S 4.4x 15.2x 12.6x
P/B 5.5x 94.8x -14.4x
P/Tangible book 72.3x 3,669x -11.1x
EV/EBITDA 13.8x 22.7x 23.6x
EV/EBIT 17.3x 26.7x 26.1x
EV/Revenue 4.9x 15.5x 14.5x
EV/FCF 17.1x 32.7x 31.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.7x 31.3x 30.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.25 1.70 1.90

Growth

14 metrics
MetricFDSMAMSCI
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.7% 16.0% 12.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.9% 14.1% 12.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 2.4% – 13.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 4.1% – 12.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) -6.5% 21.3% 15.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 3.6% 16.1% 13.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -10.6% 19.7% 13.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 4.4% 16.7% 13.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -6.3% 23.2% 19.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 6.6% 19.5% 16.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 13.2% 2.9% 6.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 8.4% 14.6% 11.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 14.6% 0.9% 6.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.6% 14.4% 11.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricFDSMAMSCI
Gross margin 50.6% – 82.9%
EBITDA margin 35.6% 68.6% 61.6%
Operating margin 28.3% 58.3% 55.7%
Pretax margin 26.2% 57.5% 47.3%
Net margin 21.5% 46.3% 40.3%
FCF margin 28.6% 47.6% 45.9%
Operating cash flow margin 33.2% 49.7% 47.0%
Return on equity 26.4% 263.6% –
Return on assets 12.8% 29.5% 24.7%
Return on invested capital 16.9% 59.0% 44.1%
Return on capital employed 22.8% 68.1% 47.5%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.6x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x 1.1x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 3.4% 1.8% 3.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricFDSMAMSCI
Debt / assets 33.1% 42.7% 120.0%
Debt / equity 0.7x 4.4x -2.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 0.6x 3.1x
Debt / FCF 1.9x 1.5x 4.3x
Liabilities / assets 51.6% 90.3% 153.9%
Equity / assets 48.4% 9.7% -53.9%
Interest coverage 12.8x 27.4x 6.9x
Current ratio 0.6x 1.1x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.7x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.5x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 5.03 10.17 6.22

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricFDSMAMSCI
Dividend yield 1.4% 0.6% 1.3%
Net buyback yield 5.5% 2.9% 4.7%
Shareholder yield 7.0% 3.5% 6.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 42.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 37.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 6.7%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 10.5%

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.

ConsensusFDSMAMSCI
Forward P/E 16.8xFY2027 29.1xFY2026 29.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $18.55FY2027 $20.99FY2026 $20.78FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +3.0%FY2027 +23.4%FY2026 +20.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.9% +14.7% +5.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.68BFY2027 $38.99BFY2026 $3.73BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.1%FY2027 +18.9%FY2026 +19.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +9.7% +0.4% +9.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersFDSMAMSCI
Held by institutions 100.0% 87.5% 92.4%
Institutions holding 769 3,584 1,080
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.1% +0.6% +3.6%
Institutions buying 415 1,589 512
Institutions selling 244 1,527 407
Buyers to sellers 1.70 1.04 1.26

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.

FDSMAMSCI
FDS 1.00 0.34 0.55
MA 0.34 1.00 0.37
MSCI 0.55 0.37 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, FDS, MA and MSCI?

Mastercard (MA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Factset Research Systems (FDS) $11.02B, Mastercard (MA) $532.08B, Msci (MSCI) $43.37B.

Which stock is cheaper, FDS, MA and MSCI?

Factset Research Systems (FDS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Factset Research Systems (FDS) 21.4x, Mastercard (MA) 33.2x, Msci (MSCI) 31.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Factset Research Systems (FDS) is cheapest (Factset Research Systems (FDS) 16.8x, Mastercard (MA) 29.1x, Msci (MSCI) 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: Factset Research Systems (FDS) +6.7%, Mastercard (MA) +16.0%, Msci (MSCI) +12.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mastercard (MA) has the highest net margin (Factset Research Systems (FDS) 21.5%, Mastercard (MA) 46.3%, Msci (MSCI) 40.3%). On return on invested capital, Mastercard (MA) leads (Factset Research Systems (FDS) 16.9%, Mastercard (MA) 59.0%, Msci (MSCI) 44.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Factset Research Systems (FDS) returned the most: Factset Research Systems (FDS) +8.3%, Mastercard (MA) +8.0%, Msci (MSCI) +1.9%. Over five years, Mastercard (MA) compounded fastest (Factset Research Systems (FDS) -6.8%/yr, Mastercard (MA) +12.7%/yr, Msci (MSCI) -1.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Factset Research Systems (FDS) has the highest dividend yield: Factset Research Systems (FDS) 1.45%, Mastercard (MA) 0.57%, Msci (MSCI) 1.31%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mastercard (MA) has been the steadiest (Factset Research Systems (FDS) 48.3%, Mastercard (MA) 22.7%, Msci (MSCI) 29.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, FDS, MA and MSCI?

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.