Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.52 EPS

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52, FiscalAI reports. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The company had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here are the key takeaways from Mastercard’s conference call:

• Q4 net revenues +15%, value-added services +22%, EPS +20%; repurchased $3.6B in Q4 and $715M through Jan 26, and guided FY2026 net revenue growth at the high end of low-double-digits.
• Won major deals globally—renewed/expanded relationships with Capital One, a ~10M-card migration with Yap? Kredi, Scotiabank in Mexico/Chile/Uruguay, exclusive South Africa wins, Apple Card network continuation, 60+ affluent programs, and strong Mastercard Move growth (>35% YoY).
• Secured multi-year government grants in December that improved operating expense growth by ~5.5 percentage points and boosted other income by about $135 million in the quarter, supporting near-term margins.
• Following a strategic review, the company will record a one-time Q1 restructuring charge of approximately $200 million and reduce roughly 4% of full-time employees, with the charge excluded from non-GAAP metrics.
• Investing in emerging payment flows—expanding stablecoin settlement, AgentPay/Agent Suite for agentic commerce, and tokenization (~40% of transactions) with partners like Ripple and MetaMask; promising long-term opportunities but early-stage and timing/impact remain uncertain.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $538.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $483.68 billion, a PE ratio of 32.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $554.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $564.33. Mastercard has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MA. TD Cowen raised their price target on Mastercard from $668.00 to $671.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Compass Point raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $668.78.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter valued at about $58,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 20.0% in the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $70,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $88,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat — Mastercard reported stronger?than?expected EPS and revenue, with growth in gross dollar volume, cross?border spending and cybersecurity/value?added services, supporting the case for durable revenue growth. Zacks Q4 Coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Macquarie raised its price target to $675 and kept an “outperform” rating — another vote of confidence that supports upside expectations. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen nudged its target higher to $671 and maintains a “buy” — adds to the cluster of bullish analyst views following the print. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: RBC reaffirmed its “outperform” rating with a $656 target — another supportive analyst anchor above the current price. TickerReport
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan trimmed its target from $685 to $655 but kept an “overweight” rating — slightly less bullish upside than before, but still constructive overall. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Management outlined strategic moves into agentic commerce and stablecoins — promising long?term optionality but uncertain near?term revenue impact. PYMNTS
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard will cut about 4% of full?time employees after a business review — a near?term cost action that can boost margins but may signal internal pressure or slower growth in some areas. Reuters
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and sector risk commentary (including discussion of potential card legislation and broader sector headwinds) adds uncertainty to valuation and investor risk appetite. BNN Bloomberg

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.