FY2026 EPS Estimates for Mastercard Increased by Analyst

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) – Equities researchers at Erste Group Bank lifted their FY2026 EPS estimates for Mastercard in a report released on Wednesday, February 18th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now anticipates that the credit services provider will post earnings of $19.58 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $19.55. The consensus estimate for Mastercard’s current full-year earnings is $15.91 per share. Erste Group Bank also issued estimates for Mastercard’s FY2027 earnings at $22.63 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $610.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Dbs Bank raised Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Mastercard from $668.00 to $671.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Compass Point upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $620.00 to $735.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $669.27.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $525.94 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $551.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $561.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The firm has a market cap of $469.04 billion, a PE ratio of 31.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.82 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MA. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 153.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,730 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.5% during the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 309,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $175,872,000 after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 88.9% during the third quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 15,335 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,723,000 after purchasing an additional 7,215 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3,694.7% in the third quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 9,297 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,288,000 after purchasing an additional 9,052 shares during the period. Finally, Longbow Finance SA boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 50.3% in the third quarter. Longbow Finance SA now owns 23,013 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $13,090,000 after purchasing an additional 7,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.07%.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic cybersecurity partnership with Cloudflare positions Mastercard to sell security tools to small businesses and strengthen transaction security — a potential new revenue stream and cross‑sell opportunity that supports longer‑term growth. Cloudflare, Inc. (NET) and Mastercard Incorporated Announce Strategic Cybersecurity Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is tapping telecom partners to reach ~120 million potential customers — a distribution play that can grow prepaid and mobile-first payment penetration in emerging markets. Mastercard Taps Telecoms for 120M Potential Customers
• Positive Sentiment: Local rollout wins: Mastercard enabled Google Pay for cardholders in Saudi Arabia and partnered with Grameenphone in Bangladesh — both moves expand tap‑to‑pay and digital wallet adoption in growth markets. Mastercard enables Google Pay for cardholders in Saudi Arabia
• Positive Sentiment: Product innovation: Mastercard highlights a move toward “agentic AI” — shifting from recommendation to automated action — which could improve fraud prevention, merchant solutions, and customer experiences over time. “We Are Moving From AI Systems That Recommend to That Act”: Mastercard on Agentic AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces reinforce Mastercard’s long-term performance narrative (e.g., 10‑year return retrospectives and momentum stock write‑ups) — useful for sentiment but low immediate impact on fundamentals. $1000 Invested In Mastercard 10 Years Ago Would Be Worth This Much Today
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional reporting explains how Mastercard and Cloudflare will fight cyber threats — supports the partnership narrative but is incremental to the main announcement. How are Mastercard and Cloudfare Fighting Cyber Threats?
• Negative Sentiment: Critical analysis in the Financial Times argues the UK has become overly dependent on Mastercard, highlighting regulatory and political scrutiny risks that could translate into higher compliance costs or policy headwinds. How the UK accidentally shackled itself to Mastercard

About Mastercard

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.