V vs AXP vs MA Stock Comparison

Visa, American Express and Mastercard Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
V Visa Inc.
$408.02 +12.8% 1M +17.9% 1Y
Market cap
$674.95B
P/E
29.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$44.49B
Div. yield
–
Payment Networks Financial Services
7 wins
AXP American Express Co
$313.06 +3.6% 1M -11.8% 1Y
Market cap
$211.12B
P/E
17.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$77.59B
Div. yield
–
Money Center Banks Financial Services
2 wins
MA Mastercard Inc
$623.47 +11.3% 1M +8.7% 1Y
Market cap
$541.28B
P/E
33.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.08B
Div. yield
–
Payment Networks Financial Services
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Visa leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Visa 7, American Express 2, Mastercard 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionVAXPMALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $674.95B $211.12B $541.28B V
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.9x 17.2x 33.3x AXP
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 29.5x 18.3x 29.7x AXP
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.4% +10.2% +16.0% MA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 50.8% 15.8% 46.3% V
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 38.1% 19.6% 59.0% MA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.4x 0.5x 0.6x V
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +17.9% -11.8% +8.7% V
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +12.0%/yr +10.9%/yr +11.7%/yr V
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.1% 26.1% 22.6% V
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 41/100 51/100 V

Percentile Scorecard

VAXPMA

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

AxisVAXPMA
Valuation 13 #827 of 945 19 #293 of 361 13 #822 of 945
Growth 49 #418 of 822 36 #222 of 344 68 #268 of 822
Profitability 99 #13 of 835 61 #137 of 348 99 #11 of 835
Financial Health 71 #262 of 905 35 #222 of 340 49 #461 of 905
Shareholder Returns 30 #509 of 726 55 #159 of 352 28 #521 of 726
Overall 52 41 51
  • V ranked among 1,011 companies in Financial Services
  • AXP ranked among 370 companies in Banking
  • 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

PeriodVAXPMASPY
1 month +12.8%+3.6%+11.3% -1.0%
3 months +14.7%-4.1%+15.5% +2.9%
6 months +31.9%-0.3%+23.7% +6.4%
Year to date +16.3%-15.4%+9.2% +11.4%
1 year +17.9%-11.8%+8.7% +13.1%
3 years +73.9%+116.8%+61.1% +79.4%
3 years, per year +20.3%+29.4%+17.3% +21.5%
5 years +76.5%+67.3%+73.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year +12.0%+10.9%+11.7% +10.9%
10 years +395.5%+364.8%+506.2% +255.2%
10 years, per year +17.4%+16.6%+19.7% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureVAXPMASPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.1%26.1%22.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.0%30.0%22.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.280.930.27 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.81-0.450.38 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -24.5%-32.0%-28.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.5%-18.7%-1.5% -2.5%
52-week high $414.26$384.89$632.81 $779.14
52-week low $295.52$292.27$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.

MultipleVAXPMA
P/E now vs peer median 30.2xmedian 13.4x 17.2xmedian 12.5x 33.8xmedian 13.4x
P/S now vs peer median 16.4xmedian 3.2x 2.7xmedian 3.5x 15.5xmedian 3.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 26.1xmedian 5.9x 8.8xmedian 4.8x 23.1xmedian 5.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 34.6xmedian 11.1x 15.1xmedian 11.4x 32.5xmedian 11.1x
P/B now vs peer median 20.7xmedian 1.2x 5.9xmedian 1.2x 96.7xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 2.10median 0.89 0.93median 1.48 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 monthsVAXPMA
Revenue $44.49B $77.59B $35.08B
Operating income $27.00B – $20.47B
Net income $22.59B $12.26B $16.26B
Free cash flow $21.01B $13.91B $16.70B
EPS (diluted) $11.90 $18.18 $18.41
Cash & equivalents $12.36B $43.20B $11.29B
Total debt $23.86B $59.95B $81.59B
Shares (diluted) 1.90B 674.00M 883.00M
Enterprise value $618.26B $10.60B $501.21B

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
MetricVAXPMA
P/E 30.2x 17.2x 33.8x
P/FCF 34.6x 15.1x 32.5x
P/Operating cash flow 32.2x 11.9x 31.1x
P/S 16.4x 2.7x 15.5x
P/B 20.7x 5.9x 96.7x
P/Tangible book 95.1x 5.9x 3,744x
EV/EBITDA 26.1x 8.8x 23.1x
EV/EBIT 27.4x 9.5x 27.2x
EV/Revenue 16.6x 2.9x 15.9x
EV/FCF 35.2x 15.9x 33.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 32.7x 12.6x 31.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.10 0.93 1.73

Growth

14 metrics
MetricVAXPMA
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.4% 10.2% 16.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 11.8% 9.6% 14.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.6% – 21.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 9.5% – 16.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 11.4% 16.3% 19.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 11.0% 15.2% 16.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 14.9% 19.5% 23.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 14.4% 18.5% 19.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -3.9% -16.6% 2.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 4.6% -4.5% 14.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -4.8% -26.6% 0.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 4.0% -9.2% 14.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricVAXPMA
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 63.7% 32.6% 68.6%
Operating margin 60.7% – 58.3%
Pretax margin 60.6% 19.9% 57.5%
Net margin 50.8% 15.8% 46.3%
FCF margin 47.2% 17.9% 47.6%
Operating cash flow margin 50.8% 22.7% 49.7%
Return on equity 63.8% 35.0% 263.6%
Return on assets 23.8% 4.0% 29.5%
Return on invested capital 38.1% 19.6% 59.0%
Return on capital employed 42.6% – 68.1%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.3x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.4x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 2.1% 0.8% 1.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricVAXPMA
Debt / assets 25.2% 19.3% 42.7%
Debt / equity 0.7x 1.7x 4.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.4x 0.5x 0.6x
Debt / FCF 1.1x 4.3x 1.5x
Liabilities / assets 62.8% 88.5% 90.3%
Equity / assets 37.2% 11.5% 9.7%
Interest coverage 34.8x 3.0x 27.4x
Current ratio 1.0x – 1.1x
Quick ratio 0.6x – 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.4x – 0.5x
Altman Z-score 8.94 – 10.29

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricVAXPMA
Dividend yield 0.7% 1.2% 0.6%
Net buyback yield 2.9% 3.2% 2.9%
Shareholder yield 3.6% 4.4% 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.

ConsensusVAXPMA
Forward P/E 29.5xFY2026 18.3xFY2026 29.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $13.83FY2026 $17.14FY2026 $20.99FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +20.6%FY2026 +11.4%FY2026 +23.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +11.6% +23.9% +14.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $44.21BFY2026 $82.06BFY2026 $38.98BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +10.5%FY2026 +13.6%FY2026 +18.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.9% -0.3% +0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersVAXPMA
Held by institutions 87.6% 84.9% 88.6%
Institutions holding 4,526 3,008 3,581
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.4% -0.3% +0.6%
Institutions buying 2,327 1,473 1,587
Institutions selling 1,732 1,050 1,526
Buyers to sellers 1.34 1.40 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.

VAXPMA
V 1.00 0.45 0.87
AXP 0.45 1.00 0.47
MA 0.87 0.47 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, V, AXP and MA?

Visa (V) is the largest by market capitalisation: Visa (V) $674.95B, American Express (AXP) $211.12B, Mastercard (MA) $541.28B.

Which stock is cheaper, V, AXP and MA?

American Express (AXP) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Visa (V) 29.9x, American Express (AXP) 17.2x, Mastercard (MA) 33.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, American Express (AXP) is cheapest (Visa (V) 29.5x, American Express (AXP) 18.3x, 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: Visa (V) +14.4%, American Express (AXP) +10.2%, Mastercard (MA) +16.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Visa (V) has the highest net margin (Visa (V) 50.8%, American Express (AXP) 15.8%, Mastercard (MA) 46.3%). On return on invested capital, Mastercard (MA) leads (Visa (V) 38.1%, American Express (AXP) 19.6%, Mastercard (MA) 59.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Visa (V) returned the most: Visa (V) +17.9%, American Express (AXP) -11.8%, Mastercard (MA) +8.7%. Over five years, Visa (V) compounded fastest (Visa (V) +12.0%/yr, American Express (AXP) +10.9%/yr, Mastercard (MA) +11.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Visa (V) has been the steadiest (Visa (V) 22.1%, American Express (AXP) 26.1%, Mastercard (MA) 22.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, V, AXP 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, Visa (V) 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.