MA vs MCO Stock Comparison

Mastercard and Moodys Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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
8 wins
MCO Moodys Corp /De/
$483.45 +2.0% 1M +0.9% 1Y
Market cap
$83.73B
P/E
29.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.18B
Div. yield
0.01%
Financial Data and Analytics Financial Services
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Mastercard leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Mastercard 8, Moodys 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMAMCOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $541.87B $83.73B MA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.3x 29.0x MCO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 29.7x 26.8x MCO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +16.0% +9.0% MA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 46.3% 35.3% MA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 59.0% 27.9% MA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 1.3x MA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +8.7% +0.9% MA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +11.7%/yr +4.8%/yr MA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.6% 28.5% MA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 60/100 MCO

Percentile Scorecard

MAMCO

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

AxisMAMCO
Valuation 13 #822 of 945 18 #771 of 945
Growth 68 #268 of 822 73 #219 of 822
Profitability 99 #11 of 835 97 #26 of 835
Financial Health 49 #461 of 905 53 #424 of 905
Shareholder Returns 28 #521 of 726 58 #304 of 726
Overall 51 60
  • MA ranked among 1,011 companies in Financial Services
  • MCO 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

PeriodMAMCOSPY
1 month +11.3%+2.0% -1.0%
3 months +15.5%+2.5% +2.9%
6 months +23.7%+6.0% +6.4%
Year to date +9.2%-5.4% +11.4%
1 year +8.7%+0.9% +13.1%
3 years +61.1%+58.2% +79.4%
3 years, per year +17.3%+16.5% +21.5%
5 years +73.8%+26.7% +67.7%
5 years, per year +11.7%+4.8% +10.9%
10 years +506.2%+372.9% +255.2%
10 years, per year +19.7%+16.8% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureMAMCOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.6%28.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 22.4%30.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.270.51 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.380.03 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -28.6%-42.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.5%-10.4% -2.5%
52-week high $632.81$539.61 $779.14
52-week low $471.55$412.23 $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.

MultipleMAMCO
P/E now vs peer median 33.8xmedian 13.4x 29.0xmedian 13.4x
P/S now vs peer median 15.5xmedian 3.2x 10.2xmedian 3.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.1xmedian 5.9x 21.4xmedian 5.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 32.5xmedian 11.1x 28.0xmedian 11.1x
P/B now vs peer median 96.7xmedian 1.2x 24.4xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.73median 0.89 1.09median 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 monthsMAMCO
Revenue $35.08B $8.18B
Gross profit – $6.10B
Operating income $20.47B $3.64B
Net income $16.26B $2.89B
Free cash flow $16.70B $2.98B
EPS (diluted) $18.41 $16.64
Cash & equivalents $11.29B $1.51B
Total debt $81.59B $6.91B
Shares (diluted) 883.00M 173.30M
Enterprise value $501.79B $76.65B

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
MetricMAMCO
P/E 33.8x 29.0x
P/FCF 32.5x 28.0x
P/Operating cash flow 31.1x 25.0x
P/S 15.5x 10.2x
P/B 96.7x 24.4x
P/Tangible book 3,744x 48.5x
EV/EBITDA 23.1x 21.4x
EV/EBIT 27.2x 24.3x
EV/Revenue 15.9x 10.8x
EV/FCF 33.3x 29.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 31.9x 26.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.73 1.09

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMAMCO
Revenue growth (1Y) 16.0% 9.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 14.1% 12.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 10.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 14.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 21.3% 16.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 16.1% 23.3%
Net income growth (1Y) 19.7% 28.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 16.7% 24.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 23.2% 33.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.5% 26.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 2.9% 22.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.6% 17.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 0.9% 24.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.4% 18.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMAMCO
Gross margin – 74.6%
EBITDA margin 68.6% 50.6%
Operating margin 58.3% 44.6%
Pretax margin 57.5% 45.2%
Net margin 46.3% 35.3%
FCF margin 47.6% 36.4%
Operating cash flow margin 49.7% 40.7%
Return on equity 263.6% 87.8%
Return on assets 29.5% 19.6%
Return on invested capital 59.0% 27.9%
Return on capital employed 68.1% 31.8%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 1.8% 2.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMAMCO
Debt / assets 42.7% 46.6%
Debt / equity 4.4x 2.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 1.3x
Debt / FCF 1.5x 2.3x
Liabilities / assets 90.3% 77.0%
Equity / assets 9.7% 23.0%
Interest coverage 27.4x –
Current ratio 1.1x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.7x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 10.29 7.67

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMAMCO
Dividend yield 0.6% 0.8%
Net buyback yield 2.9% 3.5%
Shareholder yield 3.4% 4.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 24.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 23.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 3.0%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 8.8%

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.

ConsensusMAMCO
Forward P/E 29.7xFY2026 26.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $20.99FY2026 $18.07FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +23.4%FY2026 +21.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +14.7% -1.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $38.98BFY2026 $8.74BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +18.9%FY2026 +13.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.4% -1.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMAMCO
Held by institutions 88.6% 90.8%
Institutions holding 3,581 1,404
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.6% -1.6%
Institutions buying 1,587 644
Institutions selling 1,526 522
Buyers to sellers 1.04 1.23

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.

MAMCO
MA 1.00 0.45
MCO 0.45 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MA and MCO?

Mastercard (MA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mastercard (MA) $541.87B, Moodys (MCO) $83.73B.

Which stock is cheaper, MA and MCO?

Moodys (MCO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Mastercard (MA) 33.3x, Moodys (MCO) 29.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Moodys (MCO) is cheapest (Mastercard (MA) 29.7x, Moodys (MCO) 26.8x). 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%, Moodys (MCO) +9.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mastercard (MA) has the highest net margin (Mastercard (MA) 46.3%, Moodys (MCO) 35.3%). On return on invested capital, Mastercard (MA) leads (Mastercard (MA) 59.0%, Moodys (MCO) 27.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Mastercard (MA) returned the most: Mastercard (MA) +8.7%, Moodys (MCO) +0.9%. Over five years, Mastercard (MA) compounded fastest (Mastercard (MA) +11.7%/yr, Moodys (MCO) +4.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Mastercard (MA) 0.00%, Moodys (MCO) 0.01%. Mastercard (MA) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mastercard (MA) has been the steadiest (Mastercard (MA) 22.6%, Moodys (MCO) 28.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do MA and MCO move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.45, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, MA and MCO?

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 8. 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.