V vs MA: Visa vs Mastercard — Which Payment Stock Is Better?: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Visa and Mastercard are as close as any two large-cap stocks get — both operate the global card payment duopoly with near-identical business models, margins, and competitive moats. The differences are subtle: Visa is slightly larger by volume, while Mastercard typically grows revenue faster due to its higher services revenue mix and international weighting.
Use this V vs MA comparison to make a nuanced choice between two nearly equivalent payment compounders. Both are exceptional businesses; the comparison is about whether you prefer Visa's slightly larger scale or Mastercard's slightly faster revenue growth and international exposure.
V holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. V leads on both 1-year return (+6.90%) and forward P/E quality (25.43x vs 25.85x for MA), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. V leads on both revenue growth (14.40%) and operating margin (66.13%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies similar upside for both: +9.51% for V and +12.46% for MA.
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want the largest global payment network with the deepest merchant and issuer acceptance
- Prefer the slightly lower relative valuation that Visa often trades at versus Mastercard
- Value the global scale of cross-border volume as international travel grows
- Are content with a very high-quality, predictable compounder with modest valuation upside
- Prefer slightly faster revenue growth driven by services and international mix
- Want stronger European and emerging market payment network exposure
- Value Mastercard's higher services revenue share as a premium growth driver
- Are comfortable paying a slight premium for what has historically been a faster-growing business
| Metric | V | MA |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 50.3 | 57.2 |
| AI ranki | #434 | #194 |
| Latest closei | $375.07 | $579.21 |
| 1M returni | +1.77% | +1.53% |
| 6M returni | +17.28% | +10.40% |
| 1Y returni | +6.90% | -2.37% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | V | MA |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $10.69K (+6.9%) started 2025-09-04 | $9.72K (-2.8%) started 2025-09-04 |
| 5Y ago | $17.55K (+75.5%) started 2021-09-07 | $17.56K (+75.6%) started 2021-09-07 |
| 10Y ago | $51.42K (+414.2%) started 2016-09-06 | $65.02K (+550.2%) started 2016-09-06 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | V | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $712.47B | $521.49B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 32.48 | 32.78 |
| Forward P/Ei | 25.43 | 25.85 |
| Price/Salesi | 18.85 | 18.43 |
| EV/Revenuei | 16.00 | 15.24 |
| Analyst targeti | $417.90 | $669.46 |
| Target upsidei | +9.51% | +12.46% |
| Metric | V | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 14.40% | 14.10% |
| Earnings growthi | 10.20% | 22.10% |
| EPS growthi | +10.20% | +22.10% |
| FCF margini | +45.86% | +48.35% |
| Operating margini | 66.13% | 61.11% |
| Profit margini | 50.78% | 46.34% |
| ROIC proxyi | 61.19% | 241.20% |
| Return on equityi | 61.19% | 241.20% |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.70% | 0.58% |
| Betai | 0.76 | 0.73 |
| Debt/equityi | 67.82 | 439.58 |
| Current ratioi | 0.98 | 1.06 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.63 | 0.67 |
Over the past year, V and MA have moved strongly in the same direction (correlation of 0.86), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | V | MA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +6.86% | -2.76% |
| CAGRi | +6.87% | -2.76% | |
| Volatilityi | 22.21% | 22.55% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.21 | -0.21 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.32 | -0.30 | |
| Max drawdowni | 17.35% | 21.23% | |
| Current drawdowni | 2.36% | 3.44% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 6.27% | 10.05% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.86% | 11.47% | |
| Max daily dropi | 4.50% | 5.77% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 8.30% | 6.45% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +70.50% | +71.77% |
| CAGRi | +11.28% | +11.45% | |
| Volatilityi | 22.94% | 23.97% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.39 | 0.39 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.56 | 0.55 | |
| Max drawdowni | 24.14% | 28.25% | |
| Current drawdowni | 2.36% | 3.44% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 6.73% | 7.13% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 8.63% | 9.37% | |
| Max daily dropi | 7.74% | 7.69% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 11.76% | 13.28% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +382.98% | +517.15% |
| CAGRi | +17.07% | +19.97% | |
| Volatilityi | 24.50% | 26.97% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.58 | 0.64 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.84 | 0.93 | |
| Max drawdowni | 36.36% | 41.00% | |
| Current drawdowni | 2.36% | 3.44% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 6.35% | 6.28% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 8.90% | 8.86% | |
| Max daily dropi | 13.55% | 12.73% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 16.49% | 21.70% |
| Category | V | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Visa Inc. | Mastercard Incorporated |
| Sector | Financial Services | Financial Services |
| Industry | Credit Services | Credit Services |
| Core business | Operator of the world's largest payment network facilitating electronic funds transfers. Revenue from payment volume, transactions processed, and value-added services. Asset-light model with no credit risk. | Global payment network and technology company operating alongside Visa, processing payments across consumer cards, commercial cards, and new payment flows. Strong cross-border volumes and services revenue. |
| Investor focus | Payment volume growth in international markets, cross-border transaction recovery, value-added services revenue, and new payment flows (B2B, disbursements). | Switched transaction volume growth, cross-border volume recovery, services revenue expansion (Verizon, data analytics), and new payment flows in B2B and disbursements. |
- Largest global payment network by payment volume with unmatched merchant and issuer acceptance
- Asset-light business model with no credit risk generates exceptional free cash flow margins
- Cross-border transaction volumes provide meaningful revenue uplift as global travel recovers
- Co-duopoly with Visa in global card payments with equally strong merchant acceptance
- Faster services revenue growth as a share of total revenue provides premium growth optionality
- Strong international exposure, particularly in Europe and emerging markets
- Regulatory pressure on interchange fees in the US and EU
- Competitive threats from real-time payment networks that bypass card rails
- Central bank digital currencies and open banking reducing reliance on card networks
- Same regulatory and competitive risks as Visa in interchange and open banking
- Slightly smaller scale than Visa in overall payment volume
- Services revenue growth must continue to outpace transaction volume for multiple expansion
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