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Side-by-side financial comparison of Mastercard (MA) and Merck & Co. (MRK). Click either name above to swap in a different company.

Merck & Co. is the larger business by last-quarter revenue ($16.3B vs $8.4B, roughly 1.9× Mastercard). Mastercard runs the higher net margin — 46.4% vs 0.9%, a 45.6% gap on every dollar of revenue. On growth, Mastercard posted the faster year-over-year revenue change (16.0% vs 4.9%). Over the past eight quarters, Mastercard's revenue compounded faster (9.9% CAGR vs 0.5%).

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.

Merck & Co., Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey. The company does business as Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD outside the United States and Canada. The company is ranked fourth on the list of largest biomedical companies by revenue.

MA vs MRK — Head-to-Head

Bigger by revenue
MRK
MRK
1.9× larger
MRK
$16.3B
$8.4B
MA
Growing faster (revenue YoY)
MA
MA
+11.1% gap
MA
16.0%
4.9%
MRK
Higher net margin
MA
MA
45.6% more per $
MA
46.4%
0.9%
MRK
Faster 2-yr revenue CAGR
MA
MA
Annualised
MA
9.9%
0.5%
MRK

Income Statement — Q1 FY2026 vs Q1 FY2026

Metric
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Revenue
$8.4B
$16.3B
Net Profit
$3.9B
$141.0M
Gross Margin
74.2%
Operating Margin
58.3%
Net Margin
46.4%
0.9%
Revenue YoY
16.0%
4.9%
Net Profit YoY
18.0%
-9.5%
EPS (diluted)
$4.35

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.

Revenue
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
$8.4B
$16.3B
Q4 25
$8.8B
$16.4B
Q3 25
$8.6B
$17.3B
Q2 25
$8.1B
$15.8B
Q1 25
$7.3B
$15.5B
Q4 24
$7.5B
$15.6B
Q3 24
$7.4B
$16.7B
Q2 24
$7.0B
$16.1B
Net Profit
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
$3.9B
$141.0M
Q4 25
$4.1B
$3.0B
Q3 25
$3.9B
$5.8B
Q2 25
$3.7B
$4.4B
Q1 25
$3.3B
$5.1B
Q4 24
$3.3B
$3.7B
Q3 24
$3.3B
$3.2B
Q2 24
$3.3B
$5.5B
Gross Margin
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
74.2%
Q4 25
66.2%
Q3 25
77.7%
Q2 25
77.5%
Q1 25
78.0%
Q4 24
75.5%
Q3 24
75.5%
Q2 24
76.8%
Operating Margin
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
58.3%
Q4 25
55.8%
20.9%
Q3 25
58.8%
39.0%
Q2 25
58.7%
31.6%
Q1 25
57.2%
38.0%
Q4 24
52.6%
26.7%
Q3 24
54.3%
24.6%
Q2 24
58.0%
37.3%
Net Margin
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
46.4%
0.9%
Q4 25
46.1%
18.1%
Q3 25
45.7%
33.5%
Q2 25
45.5%
28.0%
Q1 25
45.2%
32.7%
Q4 24
44.6%
24.0%
Q3 24
44.3%
19.0%
Q2 24
46.8%
33.9%
EPS (diluted)
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
$4.35
Q4 25
$4.52
$1.19
Q3 25
$4.34
$2.32
Q2 25
$4.07
$1.76
Q1 25
$3.59
$2.01
Q4 24
$3.64
$1.49
Q3 24
$3.53
$1.24
Q2 24
$3.50
$2.14

Balance Sheet & Financial Strength

Snapshot of each company's liquidity, leverage and book value from the latest quarter.

Metric
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Cash + ST InvestmentsLiquidity on hand
$7.9B
Total DebtLower is stronger
$19.0B
Stockholders' EquityBook value
$6.7B
Total Assets
$52.4B
Debt / EquityLower = less leverage
2.82×

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Cash + ST Investments
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
$7.9B
Q4 25
$10.6B
$14.6B
Q3 25
$10.3B
$18.2B
Q2 25
$9.0B
$8.6B
Q1 25
$7.6B
$9.2B
Q4 24
$8.4B
$13.7B
Q3 24
$11.1B
$14.6B
Q2 24
$7.0B
$11.4B
Total Debt
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
$19.0B
Q4 25
Q3 25
Q2 25
Q1 25
Q4 24
Q3 24
Q2 24
Stockholders' Equity
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
$6.7B
Q4 25
$7.7B
$52.6B
Q3 25
$7.9B
$51.9B
Q2 25
$7.9B
$49.0B
Q1 25
$6.7B
$48.3B
Q4 24
$6.5B
$46.3B
Q3 24
$7.4B
$44.5B
Q2 24
$7.4B
$43.6B
Total Assets
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
$52.4B
Q4 25
$54.2B
$136.9B
Q3 25
$53.3B
$129.5B
Q2 25
$51.4B
$117.5B
Q1 25
$48.5B
$115.1B
Q4 24
$48.1B
$117.1B
Q3 24
$47.2B
$117.5B
Q2 24
$42.3B
$112.6B
Debt / Equity
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
2.82×
Q4 25
Q3 25
Q2 25
Q1 25
Q4 24
Q3 24
Q2 24

Cash Flow & Capital Efficiency

How much cash each business actually produces after reinvestment. Cash flow is harder to manipulate than net income.

Metric
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Operating Cash FlowLast quarter
$3.0B
Free Cash FlowOCF − Capex
FCF MarginFCF / Revenue
Capex IntensityCapex / Revenue
Cash ConversionOCF / Net Profit
0.77×
TTM Free Cash FlowTrailing 4 quarters

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Operating Cash Flow
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
$3.0B
Q4 25
$5.0B
$2.9B
Q3 25
$5.7B
$7.8B
Q2 25
$4.6B
$3.3B
Q1 25
$2.4B
$2.5B
Q4 24
$4.8B
$3.5B
Q3 24
$5.1B
$9.3B
Q2 24
$3.1B
$5.6B
Free Cash Flow
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
Q4 25
$4.9B
$1.8B
Q3 25
$5.5B
$6.8B
Q2 25
$4.6B
$2.5B
Q1 25
$2.2B
$1.2B
Q4 24
$4.7B
$2.5B
Q3 24
$5.0B
$8.5B
Q2 24
$3.0B
$4.8B
FCF Margin
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
Q4 25
55.5%
11.1%
Q3 25
63.8%
39.6%
Q2 25
56.1%
16.0%
Q1 25
30.6%
7.5%
Q4 24
63.3%
16.1%
Q3 24
68.2%
51.1%
Q2 24
43.4%
30.1%
Capex Intensity
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
Q4 25
1.3%
6.3%
Q3 25
2.1%
5.7%
Q2 25
0.5%
4.8%
Q1 25
2.2%
8.6%
Q4 24
1.3%
6.0%
Q3 24
1.5%
4.7%
Q2 24
1.7%
4.9%
Cash Conversion
MA
MA
MRK
MRK
Q1 26
0.77×
Q4 25
1.23×
0.96×
Q3 25
1.44×
1.35×
Q2 25
1.24×
0.74×
Q1 25
0.73×
0.49×
Q4 24
1.45×
0.92×
Q3 24
1.57×
2.94×
Q2 24
0.96×
1.03×

Financial Flow Comparison

Revenue → gross profit → operating profit → net profit for each company.

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