TickerBrief

Payments compared

Updated September 4, 2026 — 4 companies: AXP, V, MA, PYPL.

Card networks and payment processors compared: revenue, operating margin and free cash flow, from their filings with the SEC.

At a glance

CompanyMarket capRevenueOperating marginNet marginFree cash flow
AXP American Express Company$220.7B$43.1B—26.6%$15.1B
V Visa Inc.$692.7B$43.0B61.1%51.7%$21.2B
MA Mastercard Incorporated$508.8B$35.1B58.3%46.3%$16.7B
PYPL PayPal Holdings, Inc.$46.9B$33.7B17.9%15.0%$5.5B

Revenue, margins and free cash flow cover the twelve months to Q2 '26 (V to Q1 '26, PYPL to Q1 '26, which has not filed since), summed from each company's quarterly filings with the SEC. Market capitalization is market data as of September 4, 2026. Companies are listed largest by revenue first. A column no company in this sector reports is left out rather than filled with dashes.

Share price and valuation

Share performance, one year
-48%-10%28%Sep '25Nov '25Jan '26Apr '26Jun '26Sep '260.0%3.3%-0.1%5.7%9.0%4.2%12.0%15.2%15.8%9.9%9.8%1.4%-9.3%-10.0%-0.5%-2.3%-5.2%-6.0%3.0%7.7%6.1%5.5%0.2%-1.4%0.0%-3.6%-0.3%-1.9%-3.0%-7.7%-5.6%0.3%0.4%-6.4%-6.5%-9.8%-12.5%-14.7%-10.0%-6.0%-7.2%-9.6%-5.9%1.8%1.4%5.0%4.2%6.9%0.0%-1.6%-2.6%-4.9%-7.2%-11.0%-8.4%-3.3%-2.6%-11.5%-9.3%-13.6%-16.4%-17.1%-12.7%-15.6%-17.0%-19.8%-17.2%-10.5%-9.6%-4.2%-3.7%-2.8%0.0%0.1%1.2%1.1%-3.5%-12.2%-9.0%-12.6%-14.9%-17.3%-39.4%-33.5%-34.4%-34.8%-27.6%-26.8%-35.1%-35.0%-38.5%-34.1%-18.4%-15.4%-9.0%-19.7%0.0%2.0%3.3%3.6%4.1%2.2%5.7%5.8%6.4%6.9%6.8%6.3%2.0%-2.4%8.0%10.9%13.9%17.0%14.1%15.9%15.5%18.8%17.5%18.7%

Percent change in the closing price since September 4, 2025, excluding dividends.

CompanyYTD return1-year returnP/E (TTM)P/S (TTM)Dividend yield
AXP American Express Company-11.8%-1.4%19.3×5.1×1.1%
V Visa Inc.+6.9%+6.9%31.2×16.1×0.7%
MA Mastercard Incorporated+1.5%-2.8%31.3×14.5×0.6%
PYPL PayPal Holdings, Inc.-5.9%-19.7%9.3×1.4×0.8%

Returns and dividend yields are market data — daily closing prices for each listing, with yield the trailing twelve months of dividends against the latest close. P/E and P/S divide the market capitalization above by the same trailing-twelve-month net income and revenue as the first table, so each ratio mixes market data with SEC filings. A dash under dividend yield means no dividend was paid in the window.

Size and cash generation

Revenue, trailing twelve months
AXPAXP$43.1BVV$43.0BMAMA$35.1BPYPLPYPL$33.7B
Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
AXPAXP$15.1BVV$21.2BMAMA$16.7BPYPLPYPL$5.5B

Operating cash flow less capital expenditure. Bars below the line are cash burned, not generated.

Revenue by quarter

Quarterly revenue
$6.7B$9.2B$11.8BQ3 '24Q4 '24Q1 '25Q2 '25Q3 '25Q4 '25Q1 '26Q2 '26$9.7B$10.0B$9.6B$10.3B$10.4B$10.9B$10.5B$11.2B$9.6B$9.5B$9.6B$10.2B$10.7B$10.9B$11.2B$7.4B$7.5B$7.3B$8.1B$8.6B$8.8B$8.4B$9.3B$7.8B$8.4B$7.8B$8.3B$8.4B$8.7B$8.4B

Margins by quarter

Operating margin
10%42%73%Q3 '24Q4 '24Q1 '25Q2 '25Q3 '25Q4 '25Q1 '26Q2 '2666.0%65.6%56.6%60.7%57.3%61.8%64.4%54.3%52.6%57.2%58.7%58.8%55.8%58.4%60.2%17.7%17.2%19.6%18.1%18.1%17.4%17.8%

Gaps mean the company did not report that line for the quarter. AXP does not report this line, so it is not plotted.

Company pages

Revenue, profit, margin and cash-flow figures come from the companies' filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Trailing-twelve-month totals are the sum of the four most recent reported quarters, which is why they can cover slightly different periods for companies with different fiscal calendars.

This content is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Always do your own research before making financial decisions.