MA vs CSCO vs AXP Stock Comparison

Mastercard, Cisco Systems and American Express Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MA Mastercard Inc
$613.59 +8.1% 1M +7.0% 1Y
Market cap
$538.39B
P/E
33.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.08B
Div. yield
–
Payment Networks Financial Services
5 wins
CSCO Cisco Systems, Inc.
$110.24 +3.3% 1M +56.1% 1Y
Market cap
$440.38B
P/E
33.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$63.33B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
3 wins
AXP American Express Co
$315.00 +2.0% 1M -11.9% 1Y
Market cap
$210.88B
P/E
17.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$77.59B
Div. yield
–
Money Center Banks Financial Services
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Mastercard leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Mastercard 5, American Express 3, Cisco Systems 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMACSCOAXPLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $538.39B $440.38B $210.88B MA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.1x 33.2x 17.2x AXP
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 29.2x 23.3x 17.9x AXP
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +16.0% +11.8% +10.2% MA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 46.3% 21.0% 15.8% MA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 59.0% 15.9% 19.6% MA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 0.8x 0.5x AXP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +7.0% +56.1% -11.9% CSCO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +12.8%/yr +14.4%/yr +12.1%/yr CSCO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.7% 35.6% 26.2% MA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 53/100 45/100 CSCO

Percentile Scorecard

MACSCOAXP

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

AxisMACSCOAXP
Valuation 14 #815 of 947 31 #77 of 111 21 #287 of 362
Growth 66 #238 of 691 40 #65 of 108 39 #136 of 221
Profitability 99 #8 of 673 87 #14 of 104 65 #71 of 200
Financial Health 50 #379 of 754 28 #83 of 115 39 #124 of 203
Shareholder Returns 34 #474 of 713 78 #19 of 81 63 #129 of 342
Overall 52 53 45
  • MA ranked among 1,011 companies in Financial Services
  • CSCO ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • AXP ranked among 370 companies in Banking

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMACSCOAXPSPY
1 month +8.1%+3.3%+2.0% -0.8%
3 months +11.2%-3.8%-6.0% +3.5%
6 months +21.2%+24.9%-1.2% +7.0%
Year to date +7.5%+43.1%-14.9% +12.2%
1 year +7.0%+56.1%-11.9% +13.0%
3 years +68.5%+113.8%+122.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +19.0%+28.8%+30.7% +23.1%
5 years +82.8%+96.2%+76.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year +12.8%+14.4%+12.1% +11.0%
10 years +494.4%+260.9%+371.6% +258.0%
10 years, per year +19.5%+13.7%+16.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureMACSCOAXPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.7%35.6%26.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 22.6%37.3%30.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.261.110.93 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.311.58-0.45 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -28.6%-38.6%-32.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.0%-15.2%-18.2% -1.8%
52-week high $632.81$130.00$384.89 $779.14
52-week low $471.55$71.04$292.27 $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.

MultipleMACSCOAXP
P/E now vs peer median 33.3xmedian 13.1x 32.8xmedian 32.0x 17.3xmedian 12.1x
P/S now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 3.2x 6.9xmedian 2.8x 2.7xmedian 3.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.7xmedian 6.9x 25.1xmedian 19.4x 8.8xmedian 5.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 32.0xmedian 10.9x 34.1xmedian 29.0x 15.2xmedian 11.0x
P/B now vs peer median 95.2xmedian 1.2x 8.7xmedian 2.9x 5.9xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.70median 0.88 12.20median 1.13 0.94median 1.36

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 monthsMACSCOAXP
Revenue $35.08B $63.33B $77.59B
Gross profit – $40.86B –
Operating income $20.47B $15.37B –
Net income $16.26B $13.27B $12.26B
Free cash flow $16.70B $12.77B $13.91B
R&D – $9.56B –
EPS (diluted) $18.41 $3.33 $18.18
Cash & equivalents $11.29B $7.22B $43.20B
Total debt $81.59B $29.53B $59.95B
Shares (diluted) 883.00M 3.99B 674.00M
Enterprise value $498.31B $376.31B $10.36B

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
MetricMACSCOAXP
P/E 33.3x 32.8x 17.3x
P/FCF 32.0x 34.1x 15.2x
P/Operating cash flow 30.6x 30.7x 12.0x
P/S 15.2x 6.9x 2.7x
P/B 95.2x 8.7x 5.9x
P/Tangible book 3,685x 10.2x 5.9x
EV/EBITDA 22.7x 25.1x 8.8x
EV/EBIT 26.8x 29.2x 9.5x
EV/Revenue 15.6x 7.1x 2.9x
EV/FCF 32.8x 35.1x 16.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 31.4x 31.6x 12.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.70 12.20 0.94

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMACSCOAXP
Revenue growth (1Y) 16.0% 11.8% 10.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 14.1% 3.6% 9.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 11.1% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 4.6% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 21.3% 30.7% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 16.1% 0.7% –
Net income growth (1Y) 19.7% 30.3% 16.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 16.7% 1.7% 15.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 23.2% 30.7% 19.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.5% 2.7% 18.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 2.9% -0.1% -16.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.6% -10.7% -4.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 0.9% -3.9% -26.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.4% -12.5% -9.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMACSCOAXP
Gross margin – 64.5% –
EBITDA margin 68.6% 28.3% 32.6%
Operating margin 58.3% 24.3% –
Pretax margin 57.5% 25.3% 19.9%
Net margin 46.3% 21.0% 15.8%
FCF margin 47.6% 20.2% 17.9%
Operating cash flow margin 49.7% 22.4% 22.7%
Return on equity 263.6% 26.8% 35.0%
Return on assets 29.5% 10.4% 4.0%
Return on invested capital 59.0% 15.9% 19.6%
Return on capital employed 68.1% 17.9% –
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.5x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 1.1x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 1.8% 6.0% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMACSCOAXP
Debt / assets 42.7% 22.8% 19.3%
Debt / equity 4.4x 0.6x 1.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 0.8x 0.5x
Debt / FCF 1.5x 2.3x 4.3x
Liabilities / assets 90.3% 61.2% 88.5%
Equity / assets 9.7% 38.8% 11.5%
Interest coverage 27.4x 10.5x 3.0x
Current ratio 1.1x 0.9x –
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.6x –
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.4x –
Altman Z-score 10.19 4.16 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMACSCOAXP
Dividend yield 0.6% 1.5% 1.2%
Net buyback yield 2.9% 1.3% 3.2%
Shareholder yield 3.5% 2.8% 4.3%
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.

ConsensusMACSCOAXP
Forward P/E 29.2xFY2026 23.3xFY2027 17.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $20.99FY2026 $4.74FY2027 $17.56FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +23.4%FY2026 +9.5%FY2027 +14.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +14.7% +20.7% +21.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $38.99BFY2026 $74.93BFY2027 $82.04BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +18.9%FY2026 +18.3%FY2027 +13.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.4% +0.6% -0.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMACSCOAXP
Held by institutions 88.6% 80.1% 84.9%
Institutions holding 3,581 4,044 3,008
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.6% +5.0% -0.3%
Institutions buying 1,587 1,846 1,473
Institutions selling 1,526 1,816 1,050
Buyers to sellers 1.04 1.02 1.40

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.

MACSCOAXP
MA 1.00 -0.05 0.46
CSCO -0.05 1.00 0.12
AXP 0.46 0.12 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MA, CSCO and AXP?

Mastercard (MA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mastercard (MA) $538.39B, Cisco Systems (CSCO) $440.38B, American Express (AXP) $210.88B.

Which stock is cheaper, MA, CSCO and AXP?

American Express (AXP) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Mastercard (MA) 33.1x, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 33.2x, American Express (AXP) 17.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, American Express (AXP) is cheapest (Mastercard (MA) 29.2x, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 23.3x, American Express (AXP) 17.9x). 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: Mastercard (MA) +16.0%, Cisco Systems (CSCO) +11.8%, American Express (AXP) +10.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mastercard (MA) has the highest net margin (Mastercard (MA) 46.3%, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 21.0%, American Express (AXP) 15.8%). On return on invested capital, Mastercard (MA) leads (Mastercard (MA) 59.0%, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 15.9%, American Express (AXP) 19.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cisco Systems (CSCO) returned the most: Mastercard (MA) +7.0%, Cisco Systems (CSCO) +56.1%, American Express (AXP) -11.9%. Over five years, Cisco Systems (CSCO) compounded fastest (Mastercard (MA) +12.8%/yr, Cisco Systems (CSCO) +14.4%/yr, American Express (AXP) +12.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mastercard (MA) has been the steadiest (Mastercard (MA) 22.7%, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 35.6%, American Express (AXP) 26.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 5. 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.