Mastercard vs PayPal
PayPal reported revenue of $33.2 billion in fiscal 2025, about the same as Mastercard's $32.8 billion in fiscal 2025. Mastercard's revenue grew 16.4% in its latest year, and PayPal's grew 4.3%. Mastercard had an operating margin of 57.6%, against 18.3% at PayPal. Free cash flow was $17.2 billion at Mastercard and $5.6 billion at PayPal.
Side by side
| Mastercard | PayPal | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest fiscal year | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 |
| Revenue | $32.8B | $33.2B |
| Revenue growth | 16.4% | 4.3% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 5 years | 16.5% | 9.1% |
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 57.6% | 18.3% |
| Net margin | 45.6% | 15.8% |
| Free cash flow | $17.2B | $5.6B |
| Free cash flow margin | 52.3% | 16.8% |
| Return on capital | 93.8% | 25.7% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.4x | −0.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $14.5B | $6.2B |
| Change in diluted share count | −2.3% | −6.8% |
| Last close | $613.50 | $54.99 |
| P/E at the last close | 33.7× | 10.3× |
| Insider trades, last 12 months | sold $69.7 million | bought $254,537, sold $8.3 million |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 of 8 | 7 of 8 |
Amounts in each company's own currency, US$ unless marked (a foreign company may report in another), each company's latest fiscal year from its 10-K, or 20-F or 40-F for a foreign company. Growth rates compare with the year before; the five-year rate is the average a year. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business; P/E is the last close over the latest earnings per share. Banks are measured differently (return on equity, efficiency ratio), so some rows apply to one company only.
Ten years
Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
MastercardPayPal
Operating margin
Percent of revenue
MastercardPayPal
Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure.
MastercardPayPal
Source: the companies' Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR, and the last close. For information only, not investment advice: the figures describe results, not which company is the better investment. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with either company. Full figures on the Mastercard and PayPal pages.