Visa vs. Mastercard: Which Stock Will Make You Richer?
Key Points
Visa's current price-to-earnings ratio of 29.8 is cheaper than Mastercard's valuation.
Mastercard's projected earnings-per-share growth is higher than Visa's outlook.
Owning both stocks will improve the quality of any portfolio.
- 10 stocks we like better than Visa ›
When it comes to the global payments landscape, there are no two companies that dominate quite like Visa (NYSE: V) and Mastercard (NYSE: MA). Combined, they handled a whopping $7.3 trillion in payment volume during the three-month period that ended on Dec. 31, 2025. And they have billions of active cards in use around the world.
Research from The Motley Fool shows that these are two of the most valuable financial stocks out there. Which one will make you richer?
Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue »
Image source: The Motley Fool.
From a valuation perspective, Visa wins the battle. Investors can buy its shares at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 29.8. This represents a small discount to Mastercard's P/E multiple of 31.1. All else equal, investors want to focus on stocks that trade at cheaper valuations.
However, when it comes to profit growth, Mastercard comes out on top. Consensus analyst estimates call for its adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) to rise at a compound annual rate of 15.8% between 2025 and 2028. That's a faster pace than Visa's projected yearly adjusted diluted EPS gain of 12.5%. Mastercard is a smaller business, so it naturally has a bigger opportunity to expand in the years ahead.
Investors don't have to pick just one of these wide-moat stocks. Owning both Visa and Mastercard can instantly improve the quality of your portfolio. Just don't expect to achieve monster returns with either stock.
Should you buy stock in Visa right now?
Before you buy stock in Visa, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Visa wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $508,607!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,122,746!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 933% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 188% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of March 13, 2026.
Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Mastercard and Visa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Recommended Articles
