vs
Side-by-side financial comparison of American Express (AXP) and Mastercard (MA). Click either name above to swap in a different company.
American Express is the larger business by last-quarter revenue ($10.9B vs $8.8B, roughly 1.2× Mastercard). Mastercard runs the higher net margin — 46.1% vs 22.5%, a 23.6% gap on every dollar of revenue. On growth, Mastercard posted the faster year-over-year revenue change (17.6% vs 9.9%). Mastercard produced more free cash flow last quarter ($4.9B vs $2.3B). Over the past eight quarters, Mastercard's revenue compounded faster (17.8% CAGR vs 8.2%).
American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides charge and credit payment card products, and travel-related services worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Global Consumer Services Group, Global Commercial Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services. Its products and services include payment and financing products; network services; accounts payable expense management products and services; and travel and lifestyle services. The company's products an...
Mastercard Inc. is an American multinational payment card services corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York. It offers a range of payment transaction processing and other related-payment services. Throughout the world, its principal business is to process payments between the banks of merchants and the card-issuing banks or credit unions of the purchasers who use the Mastercard-brand debit, credit and prepaid cards to make purchases. Mastercard has been publicly traded since 2006.
AXP vs MA — Head-to-Head
Income Statement — Q4 FY2025 vs Q4 FY2025
| Metric | | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $10.9B | $8.8B |
| Net Profit | $2.5B | $4.1B |
| Gross Margin | — | — |
| Operating Margin | 28.2% | 55.8% |
| Net Margin | 22.5% | 46.1% |
| Revenue YoY | 9.9% | 17.6% |
| Net Profit YoY | 13.5% | 21.5% |
| EPS (diluted) | $3.52 | $4.52 |
Green = leading value per metric. Periods may differ when fiscal calendars don't align.
8-Quarter Revenue & Profit Trend
Side-by-side quarterly history. Quarters aligned by calendar period so offset fiscal years line up.
| Q4 25 | $10.9B | $8.8B | ||
| Q3 25 | $10.4B | $8.6B | ||
| Q2 25 | $10.3B | $8.1B | ||
| Q1 25 | $9.6B | $7.3B | ||
| Q4 24 | $10.0B | $7.5B | ||
| Q3 24 | $9.7B | $7.4B | ||
| Q2 24 | $9.8B | $7.0B | ||
| Q1 24 | $9.3B | $6.3B |
| Q4 25 | $2.5B | $4.1B | ||
| Q3 25 | $2.9B | $3.9B | ||
| Q2 25 | $2.9B | $3.7B | ||
| Q1 25 | $2.6B | $3.3B | ||
| Q4 24 | $2.2B | $3.3B | ||
| Q3 24 | $2.5B | $3.3B | ||
| Q2 24 | $3.0B | $3.3B | ||
| Q1 24 | $2.4B | $3.0B |
| Q4 25 | 28.2% | 55.8% | ||
| Q3 25 | 36.7% | 58.8% | ||
| Q2 25 | 34.4% | 58.7% | ||
| Q1 25 | 34.6% | 57.2% | ||
| Q4 24 | 27.7% | 52.6% | ||
| Q3 24 | 33.0% | 54.3% | ||
| Q2 24 | 38.6% | 58.0% | ||
| Q1 24 | 33.7% | 56.8% |
| Q4 25 | 22.5% | 46.1% | ||
| Q3 25 | 27.9% | 45.7% | ||
| Q2 25 | 28.0% | 45.5% | ||
| Q1 25 | 26.8% | 45.2% | ||
| Q4 24 | 21.8% | 44.6% | ||
| Q3 24 | 25.8% | 44.3% | ||
| Q2 24 | 30.7% | 46.8% | ||
| Q1 24 | 26.1% | 47.4% |
| Q4 25 | $3.52 | $4.52 | ||
| Q3 25 | $4.14 | $4.34 | ||
| Q2 25 | $4.08 | $4.07 | ||
| Q1 25 | $3.64 | $3.59 | ||
| Q4 24 | $3.04 | $3.64 | ||
| Q3 24 | $3.49 | $3.53 | ||
| Q2 24 | $4.15 | $3.50 | ||
| Q1 24 | $3.33 | $3.22 |
Balance Sheet & Financial Strength
Snapshot of each company's liquidity, leverage and book value from the latest quarter.
| Metric | | |
|---|---|---|
| Cash + ST InvestmentsLiquidity on hand | $742.0M | $10.6B |
| Total DebtLower is stronger | $56.4B | — |
| Stockholders' EquityBook value | $33.5B | $7.7B |
| Total Assets | $300.1B | $54.2B |
| Debt / EquityLower = less leverage | 1.68× | — |
8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.
| Q4 25 | $742.0M | $10.6B | ||
| Q3 25 | $1.3B | $10.3B | ||
| Q2 25 | $197.0M | $9.0B | ||
| Q1 25 | $261.0M | $7.6B | ||
| Q4 24 | $221.0M | $8.4B | ||
| Q3 24 | $120.0M | $11.1B | ||
| Q2 24 | $188.0M | $7.0B | ||
| Q1 24 | $69.0M | $7.3B |
| Q4 25 | $56.4B | — | ||
| Q3 25 | $57.8B | — | ||
| Q2 25 | $58.2B | — | ||
| Q1 25 | $51.2B | — | ||
| Q4 24 | $49.7B | — | ||
| Q3 24 | $53.5B | — | ||
| Q2 24 | $51.5B | — | ||
| Q1 24 | $48.8B | — |
| Q4 25 | $33.5B | $7.7B | ||
| Q3 25 | $32.4B | $7.9B | ||
| Q2 25 | $32.3B | $7.9B | ||
| Q1 25 | $31.2B | $6.7B | ||
| Q4 24 | $30.3B | $6.5B | ||
| Q3 24 | $29.7B | $7.4B | ||
| Q2 24 | $29.5B | $7.4B | ||
| Q1 24 | $28.8B | $7.2B |
| Q4 25 | $300.1B | $54.2B | ||
| Q3 25 | $297.6B | $53.3B | ||
| Q2 25 | $295.6B | $51.4B | ||
| Q1 25 | $282.2B | $48.5B | ||
| Q4 24 | $271.5B | $48.1B | ||
| Q3 24 | $271.0B | $47.2B | ||
| Q2 24 | $272.2B | $42.3B | ||
| Q1 24 | $269.3B | $42.6B |
| Q4 25 | 1.68× | — | ||
| Q3 25 | 1.78× | — | ||
| Q2 25 | 1.80× | — | ||
| Q1 25 | 1.64× | — | ||
| Q4 24 | 1.64× | — | ||
| Q3 24 | 1.80× | — | ||
| Q2 24 | 1.74× | — | ||
| Q1 24 | 1.70× | — |
Cash Flow & Capital Efficiency
How much cash each business actually produces after reinvestment. Cash flow is harder to manipulate than net income.
| Metric | | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating Cash FlowLast quarter | $3.1B | $5.0B |
| Free Cash FlowOCF − Capex | $2.3B | $4.9B |
| FCF MarginFCF / Revenue | 21.4% | 55.5% |
| Capex IntensityCapex / Revenue | 6.6% | 1.3% |
| Cash ConversionOCF / Net Profit | 1.25× | 1.23× |
| TTM Free Cash FlowTrailing 4 quarters | $16.0B | $17.2B |
8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.
| Q4 25 | $3.1B | $5.0B | ||
| Q3 25 | $6.2B | $5.7B | ||
| Q2 25 | $4.4B | $4.6B | ||
| Q1 25 | $4.8B | $2.4B | ||
| Q4 24 | $5.8B | $4.8B | ||
| Q3 24 | $-1.8B | $5.1B | ||
| Q2 24 | $4.5B | $3.1B | ||
| Q1 24 | $5.6B | $1.7B |
| Q4 25 | $2.3B | $4.9B | ||
| Q3 25 | $5.6B | $5.5B | ||
| Q2 25 | $3.7B | $4.6B | ||
| Q1 25 | $4.3B | $2.2B | ||
| Q4 24 | $5.3B | $4.7B | ||
| Q3 24 | $-2.3B | $5.0B | ||
| Q2 24 | $4.0B | $3.0B | ||
| Q1 24 | $5.2B | $1.5B |
| Q4 25 | 21.4% | 55.5% | ||
| Q3 25 | 53.6% | 63.8% | ||
| Q2 25 | 36.3% | 56.1% | ||
| Q1 25 | 45.0% | 30.6% | ||
| Q4 24 | 53.1% | 63.3% | ||
| Q3 24 | -23.3% | 68.2% | ||
| Q2 24 | 40.4% | 43.4% | ||
| Q1 24 | 55.2% | 23.9% |
| Q4 25 | 6.6% | 1.3% | ||
| Q3 25 | 6.3% | 2.1% | ||
| Q2 25 | 6.0% | 0.5% | ||
| Q1 25 | 4.5% | 2.2% | ||
| Q4 24 | 5.0% | 1.3% | ||
| Q3 24 | 4.7% | 1.5% | ||
| Q2 24 | 5.8% | 1.7% | ||
| Q1 24 | 4.2% | 2.5% |
| Q4 25 | 1.25× | 1.23× | ||
| Q3 25 | 2.15× | 1.44× | ||
| Q2 25 | 1.51× | 1.24× | ||
| Q1 25 | 1.84× | 0.73× | ||
| Q4 24 | 2.66× | 1.45× | ||
| Q3 24 | -0.72× | 1.57× | ||
| Q2 24 | 1.50× | 0.96× | ||
| Q1 24 | 2.28× | 0.56× |
Financial Flow Comparison
Revenue → gross profit → operating profit → net profit for each company.
Revenue Breakdown by Segment
AXP
| US Consumer Services Segment | $4.2B | 38% |
| Commercial Services Segment | $3.1B | 28% |
| International Card Services Segment | $2.1B | 19% |
| Global Merchant And Network Services Segment | $1.7B | 15% |
| Financial Service Other | $471.0M | 4% |
MA
| Payment Network | $4.9B | 56% |
| Value Added Services And Solutions | $3.9B | 44% |
