V vs PYPL vs AXP Stock Comparison

Visa, PayPal Holdings and American Express Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (EVTC) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
V Visa Inc.
$401.02 +9.0% 1M +15.6% 1Y
Market cap
$686.34B
P/E
27.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$45.90B
Div. yield
–
Payment Networks Financial Services
5 wins
PYPL PayPal Holdings, Inc.
$56.55 +4.2% 1M -22.6% 1Y
Market cap
$48.50B
P/E
10.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$34.30B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
3 wins
AXP American Express Co
$318.19 +3.9% 1M -11.9% 1Y
Market cap
$217.64B
P/E
17.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$77.59B
Div. yield
–
Money Center Banks Financial Services
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionVPYPLAXPLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $686.34B $48.50B $217.64B V
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 27.1x 10.3x 17.8x PYPL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 29.0x 10.2x 18.1x PYPL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.8% +4.4% +10.2% V
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 13.8% 15.8% AXP
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 14.6% 19.6% AXP
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.5x 0.5x AXP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +15.6% -22.6% -11.9% V
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +13.6%/yr -24.6%/yr +12.9%/yr V
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.2% 43.8% 26.2% V
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 69/100 45/100 PYPL

Percentile Scorecard

VPYPLAXP

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

AxisVPYPLAXP
Valuation 10 #847 of 941 92 #9 of 99 18 #295 of 361
Growth 56 #280 of 636 62 #36 of 94 39 #105 of 172
Profitability 95 #32 of 612 84 #15 of 90 66 #52 of 149
Financial Health 79 #145 of 693 37 #67 of 105 42 #92 of 158
Shareholder Returns 7 #657 of 706 69 #19 of 59 58 #143 of 338
Overall 49 69 45
  • V ranked among 1,003 companies in Financial Services
  • PYPL ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • AXP ranked among 368 companies in Banking

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodVPYPLAXPSPY
1 month +9.0%+4.2%+3.9% +0.9%
3 months +8.6%-3.1%-4.0% +5.9%
6 months +19.8%+11.0%+0.8% +8.5%
Year to date +14.3%-3.1%-14.0% +13.3%
1 year +15.6%-22.6%-11.9% +12.4%
3 years +74.9%+12.2%+125.2% +88.1%
3 years, per year +20.5%+3.9%+31.1% +23.5%
5 years +89.4%-75.7%+83.1% +68.2%
5 years, per year +13.6%-24.6%+12.9% +11.0%
10 years +387.7%+35.4%+378.8% +263.4%
10 years, per year +17.2%+3.1%+17.0% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureVPYPLAXPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.2%43.8%26.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.9%48.4%30.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.281.020.93 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.70-0.52-0.45 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -24.5%-83.2%-32.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.2%-22.6%-17.3% -0.9%
52-week high $414.26$73.02$384.89 $779.14
52-week low $295.52$39.08$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.

MultipleVPYPLAXP
P/E now vs peer median 27.1xmedian 12.9x 10.2xmedian 19.6x 17.5xmedian 12.1x
P/S now vs peer median 15.6xmedian 3.2x 1.4xmedian 2.3x 2.8xmedian 3.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 7.5x 7.4xmedian 17.5x 8.9xmedian 5.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 31.1xmedian 10.8x 7.5xmedian 15.9x 15.3xmedian 10.8x
P/B now vs peer median 19.8xmedian 1.2x 2.4xmedian 2.0x 6.0xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.87 0.59median 1.01 0.95median 1.32

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 monthsVPYPLAXP
Revenue $45.90B $34.30B $77.59B
Operating income $28.11B $5.83B –
Net income $23.50B $4.73B $12.26B
Free cash flow – $6.30B $13.91B
R&D – $3.28B –
EPS (diluted) – $5.51 $18.18
Cash & equivalents $12.94B $7.16B $43.20B
Total debt – $13.47B $59.95B
Shares (diluted) 1.90B 858.00M 674.00M
Enterprise value $686.34B $7.20B $17.12B

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
MetricVPYPLAXP
P/E 27.1x 10.2x 17.5x
P/FCF 31.1x 7.5x 15.3x
P/Operating cash flow 30.1x 6.7x 12.1x
P/S 15.6x 1.4x 2.8x
P/B 19.8x 2.4x 6.0x
P/Tangible book 81.8x 2.4x 6.0x
EV/EBITDA – 7.4x 8.9x
EV/EBIT – 8.7x 9.6x
EV/Revenue 15.6x 1.5x 2.9x
EV/FCF – 8.0x 16.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 30.1x 7.1x 12.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.59 0.95

Growth

14 metrics
MetricVPYPLAXP
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.8% 4.4% 10.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.0% 5.6% 9.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 17.2% -2.8% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 10.2% 8.6% –
Net income growth (1Y) 17.2% -3.9% 16.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 10.8% 7.9% 15.2%
EPS growth (1Y) – 7.6% 19.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 17.1% 18.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 2.9% 10.4% -16.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 4.6% 22.9% -4.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 13.2% -26.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 25.5% -9.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricVPYPLAXP
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin – 19.8% 32.6%
Operating margin – 17.0% –
Pretax margin – 16.6% 19.9%
Net margin – 13.8% 15.8%
FCF margin – 18.4% 17.9%
Operating cash flow margin 51.7% 20.7% 22.7%
Return on equity 65.9% 24.1% 35.0%
Return on assets 24.9% 5.8% 4.0%
Return on invested capital – 14.6% 19.6%
Return on capital employed – 17.0% –
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.4x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.5x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 2.0% 2.8% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricVPYPLAXP
Debt / assets – 16.5% 19.3%
Debt / equity – 0.7x 1.7x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.5x 0.5x
Debt / FCF – 2.1x 4.3x
Liabilities / assets 61.7% 76.1% 88.5%
Equity / assets 38.3% 23.9% 11.5%
Interest coverage – – 3.0x
Current ratio 1.0x 1.3x –
Quick ratio – 0.4x –
Cash ratio – 0.2x –
Altman Z-score – 1.91 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricVPYPLAXP
Dividend yield 0.7% 1.0% 1.2%
Net buyback yield – 12.7% 3.1%
Shareholder yield 0.7% 13.7% 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.

ConsensusVPYPLAXP
Forward P/E 29.0xFY2026 10.2xFY2026 18.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $13.83FY2026 $5.55FY2026 $17.56FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +20.6%FY2026 +4.5%FY2026 +14.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +11.6% -3.1% +21.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $48.15BFY2027 $33.55BFY2026 $82.04BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.9%FY2027 +1.1%FY2026 +13.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.9% +5.1% -0.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersVPYPLAXP
Held by institutions 87.6% 74.2% 84.9%
Institutions holding 4,529 1,379 3,010
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.4% +0.8% -0.3%
Institutions buying 2,329 522 1,474
Institutions selling 1,733 671 1,051
Buyers to sellers 1.34 0.78 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.

VPYPLAXP
V 1.00 0.28 0.45
PYPL 0.28 1.00 0.23
AXP 0.45 0.23 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, V, PYPL and AXP?

Visa (V) is the largest by market capitalisation: Visa (V) $686.34B, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) $48.50B, American Express (AXP) $217.64B.

Which stock is cheaper, V, PYPL and AXP?

PayPal Holdings (PYPL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Visa (V) 27.1x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 10.3x, American Express (AXP) 17.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) is cheapest (Visa (V) 29.0x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 10.2x, American Express (AXP) 18.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Visa (V) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Visa (V) +14.8%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) +4.4%, American Express (AXP) +10.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

American Express (AXP) has the highest net margin (PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 13.8%, American Express (AXP) 15.8%). On return on invested capital, American Express (AXP) leads (PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 14.6%, American Express (AXP) 19.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Visa (V) returned the most: Visa (V) +15.6%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) -22.6%, American Express (AXP) -11.9%. Over five years, Visa (V) compounded fastest (Visa (V) +13.6%/yr, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) -24.6%/yr, American Express (AXP) +12.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Visa (V) has been the steadiest (Visa (V) 22.2%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 43.8%, American Express (AXP) 26.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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