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Side-by-side financial comparison of Mastercard (MA) and PayPal (PYPL). Click either name above to swap in a different company.
Mastercard is the larger business by last-quarter revenue ($8.8B vs $8.7B, roughly 1.0× PayPal). Mastercard runs the higher net margin — 46.1% vs 16.6%, a 29.5% gap on every dollar of revenue. On growth, Mastercard posted the faster year-over-year revenue change (17.6% vs 3.7%). Mastercard produced more free cash flow last quarter ($4.9B vs $2.2B). Over the past eight quarters, Mastercard's revenue compounded faster (17.8% CAGR vs 6.2%).
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.
PayPalPYPLEarnings & Financial Report
PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support online money transfers; it serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as checks and money orders. The company operates as a payment processor for online vendors, auction sites and many other commercial and company users.
MA vs PYPL — Head-to-Head
Income Statement — Q4 FY2025 vs Q4 FY2025
| Metric | | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $8.8B | $8.7B |
| Net Profit | $4.1B | $1.4B |
| Gross Margin | — | — |
| Operating Margin | 55.8% | 17.4% |
| Net Margin | 46.1% | 16.6% |
| Revenue YoY | 17.6% | 3.7% |
| Net Profit YoY | 21.5% | 28.2% |
| EPS (diluted) | $4.52 | $1.53 |
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 | $8.8B | $8.7B | ||
| Q3 25 | $8.6B | $8.4B | ||
| Q2 25 | $8.1B | $8.3B | ||
| Q1 25 | $7.3B | $7.8B | ||
| Q4 24 | $7.5B | $8.4B | ||
| Q3 24 | $7.4B | $7.8B | ||
| Q2 24 | $7.0B | $7.9B | ||
| Q1 24 | $6.3B | $7.7B |
| Q4 25 | $4.1B | $1.4B | ||
| Q3 25 | $3.9B | $1.2B | ||
| Q2 25 | $3.7B | $1.3B | ||
| Q1 25 | $3.3B | $1.3B | ||
| Q4 24 | $3.3B | $1.1B | ||
| Q3 24 | $3.3B | $1.0B | ||
| Q2 24 | $3.3B | $1.1B | ||
| Q1 24 | $3.0B | $888.0M |
| Q4 25 | 55.8% | 17.4% | ||
| Q3 25 | 58.8% | 18.1% | ||
| Q2 25 | 58.7% | 18.1% | ||
| Q1 25 | 57.2% | 19.6% | ||
| Q4 24 | 52.6% | 17.2% | ||
| Q3 24 | 54.3% | 17.7% | ||
| Q2 24 | 58.0% | 16.8% | ||
| Q1 24 | 56.8% | 15.2% |
| Q4 25 | 46.1% | 16.6% | ||
| Q3 25 | 45.7% | 14.8% | ||
| Q2 25 | 45.5% | 15.2% | ||
| Q1 25 | 45.2% | 16.5% | ||
| Q4 24 | 44.6% | 13.4% | ||
| Q3 24 | 44.3% | 12.9% | ||
| Q2 24 | 46.8% | 14.3% | ||
| Q1 24 | 47.4% | 11.5% |
| Q4 25 | $4.52 | $1.53 | ||
| Q3 25 | $4.34 | $1.30 | ||
| Q2 25 | $4.07 | $1.29 | ||
| Q1 25 | $3.59 | $1.29 | ||
| Q4 24 | $3.64 | $1.09 | ||
| Q3 24 | $3.53 | $0.99 | ||
| Q2 24 | $3.50 | $1.08 | ||
| Q1 24 | $3.22 | $0.83 |
Balance Sheet & Financial Strength
Snapshot of each company's liquidity, leverage and book value from the latest quarter.
| Metric | | |
|---|---|---|
| Cash + ST InvestmentsLiquidity on hand | $10.6B | $10.4B |
| Total DebtLower is stronger | — | — |
| Stockholders' EquityBook value | $7.7B | $20.3B |
| Total Assets | $54.2B | $80.2B |
| Debt / EquityLower = less leverage | — | — |
8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.
| Q4 25 | $10.6B | $10.4B | ||
| Q3 25 | $10.3B | $10.8B | ||
| Q2 25 | $9.0B | $10.0B | ||
| Q1 25 | $7.6B | $11.2B | ||
| Q4 24 | $8.4B | $10.8B | ||
| Q3 24 | $11.1B | $11.9B | ||
| Q2 24 | $7.0B | $13.6B | ||
| Q1 24 | $7.3B | $14.3B |
| Q4 25 | $7.7B | $20.3B | ||
| Q3 25 | $7.9B | $20.2B | ||
| Q2 25 | $7.9B | $20.2B | ||
| Q1 25 | $6.7B | $20.3B | ||
| Q4 24 | $6.5B | $20.4B | ||
| Q3 24 | $7.4B | $20.2B | ||
| Q2 24 | $7.4B | $20.6B | ||
| Q1 24 | $7.2B | $20.7B |
| Q4 25 | $54.2B | $80.2B | ||
| Q3 25 | $53.3B | $79.8B | ||
| Q2 25 | $51.4B | $79.8B | ||
| Q1 25 | $48.5B | $81.3B | ||
| Q4 24 | $48.1B | $81.6B | ||
| Q3 24 | $47.2B | $83.5B | ||
| Q2 24 | $42.3B | $84.0B | ||
| Q1 24 | $42.6B | $83.3B |
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 | $5.0B | $2.4B |
| Free Cash FlowOCF − Capex | $4.9B | $2.2B |
| FCF MarginFCF / Revenue | 55.5% | 25.2% |
| Capex IntensityCapex / Revenue | 1.3% | 2.2% |
| Cash ConversionOCF / Net Profit | 1.23× | 1.66× |
| TTM Free Cash FlowTrailing 4 quarters | $17.2B | $5.6B |
8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.
| Q4 25 | $5.0B | $2.4B | ||
| Q3 25 | $5.7B | $2.0B | ||
| Q2 25 | $4.6B | $898.0M | ||
| Q1 25 | $2.4B | $1.2B | ||
| Q4 24 | $4.8B | $2.4B | ||
| Q3 24 | $5.1B | $1.6B | ||
| Q2 24 | $3.1B | $1.5B | ||
| Q1 24 | $1.7B | $1.9B |
| Q4 25 | $4.9B | $2.2B | ||
| Q3 25 | $5.5B | $1.7B | ||
| Q2 25 | $4.6B | $692.0M | ||
| Q1 25 | $2.2B | $964.0M | ||
| Q4 24 | $4.7B | $2.2B | ||
| Q3 24 | $5.0B | $1.4B | ||
| Q2 24 | $3.0B | $1.4B | ||
| Q1 24 | $1.5B | $1.8B |
| Q4 25 | 55.5% | 25.2% | ||
| Q3 25 | 63.8% | 20.4% | ||
| Q2 25 | 56.1% | 8.3% | ||
| Q1 25 | 30.6% | 12.4% | ||
| Q4 24 | 63.3% | 26.2% | ||
| Q3 24 | 68.2% | 18.4% | ||
| Q2 24 | 43.4% | 17.3% | ||
| Q1 24 | 23.9% | 22.9% |
| Q4 25 | 1.3% | 2.2% | ||
| Q3 25 | 2.1% | 3.0% | ||
| Q2 25 | 0.5% | 2.5% | ||
| Q1 25 | 2.2% | 2.5% | ||
| Q4 24 | 1.3% | 2.4% | ||
| Q3 24 | 1.5% | 2.2% | ||
| Q2 24 | 1.7% | 2.0% | ||
| Q1 24 | 2.5% | 2.0% |
| Q4 25 | 1.23× | 1.66× | ||
| Q3 25 | 1.44× | 1.58× | ||
| Q2 25 | 1.24× | 0.71× | ||
| Q1 25 | 0.73× | 0.90× | ||
| Q4 24 | 1.45× | 2.14× | ||
| Q3 24 | 1.57× | 1.60× | ||
| Q2 24 | 0.96× | 1.35× | ||
| Q1 24 | 0.56× | 2.16× |
Financial Flow Comparison
Revenue → gross profit → operating profit → net profit for each company.
Revenue Breakdown by Segment
MA
| Payment Network | $4.9B | 56% |
| Value Added Services And Solutions | $3.9B | 44% |
PYPL
| US | $4.9B | 57% |
| Non Us | $3.7B | 43% |
