Mastercard Inc.
FinancialsA global card payment network
$460.20 +0.70% today · Market cap $430B
Step 1 · The business
What does it do?
Like Visa, Mastercard connects shoppers, banks and merchants, earning a fee each time a card on its network is used.
How it makes money
Share of yearly revenue
Step 2 · The case for
Why might investors care?
What people like about it, then how the business is doing — each number in plain words.
- High margins and global reach
How it's doing
Revenue growth
Sales grew 12% over the past year.
Large companies often grow 3–10% a year.
Profit margin
It keeps about $46 of profit from every $100 of sales.
Varies by industry: retailers ~3%, software 30%+.
Price / earnings (P/E)
Investors pay $34 for each $1 of yearly profit.
The S&P 500 average is around 20–25×.
Dividend yield
Pays about $0.60 a year for every $100 of stock.
Steady, mature companies often pay 2–4%.
Step 3 · The case against
What could go wrong?
The risks people point to, and how bumpy owning it can be.
- Fee regulation
- Competition from new payment apps
Typical yearly swing
In a typical year the price might end ~21% above or below where it started.
The S&P 500 swings about 17% a year.
If the market fell 15%
A broad 15% fall would move MA about 15% in MAVEST's scenario model.
A learning scenario, not a forecast.
Debt level
A manageable amount of borrowing.
Step 4 · Your turn
Before you decide
Questions worth answering for yourself — there are no right answers.
- 160% of sales come from payment network. What happens if that slows down?
- 2If you already own Financials companies, does this add something new — or more of the same?
In your portfolio
You haven't built a practice portfolio yet. Thinking this through starts one, or open Portfolio Lab.
Starts the Decision Coach · practice money · you choose the amount
Price history
Simulated history on mock data. A price move alone isn't a reason to decide.
$460.20+0.70% today
+19.11% over 1Y · Market cap $430B
What others are thinking
Reasoning shared by other learners — not tips.
No one has shared research on MA yet. Yours could be the first.
Others in Financials