Mastercard Incorporated (MA)

Business

From the FY2025 10-K, accession 0001141391-26-000013.

Mastercard operates a global payments network and sells services built on top of it. It switches (authorizes, clears and settles) card and account-based payment transactions between the banks that issue cards to consumers and businesses and the banks that sign up merchants, in more than 220 countries and territories and more than 150 currencies, and it charges those financial-institution customers fees based on the dollar volume and the number of transactions that run over the network. Alongside the network it sells security and fraud solutions, consumer acquisition and engagement services, business and market insights, digital and authentication services, issuer processing and payment gateways, and other solutions such as ACH and real-time account-to-account payments, bill pay, cross-border money movement and open finance. Net revenue in 2025 was $32,791 million: $19,476 million from the payment network and $13,315 million from value-added services and solutions. About 71% of 2025 revenue came from activities outside the United States. The company reports one operating segment, "Payment Solutions".

Mastercard is not a lender. It does not issue cards, extend credit, or set or receive the interest rates and fees that issuers charge account holders, and it does not set the discount rates acquirers charge merchants. Interchange fees are generally collected from acquirers and paid to issuers; Mastercard (or, alternatively, financial institutions) sets default interchange fees and administers their settlement, but it does not earn revenue from interchange. It does guarantee settlement of many transactions between issuers and acquirers, which exposes it to customer credit and liquidity risk for a few days at a time.

How the network earns its money. Payment network revenue is driven by four kinds of "assessments" (the company's standard pricing, which it says is not the same as net revenue): domestic assessments on volume where card and merchant are in the same country, cross-border assessments where they are not, transaction processing assessments driven by the number of switched transactions, and other network assessments for licensing and franchise fees. In 2025 these were $11,029 million domestic (up 8%), $12,021 million cross-border (up 18%), $15,930 million transaction processing (up 17%) and $1,018 million other (up 9%), a combined $39,998 million. Against these the company provided $20,522 million of rebates and incentives to customers (up 16%), which are netted against payment network revenue. These incentives, paid to issuers, acquirers and merchants to win and keep card programs, exceeded the company's total 2025 operating expenses of $13,894 million.

Scale. In 2025 Mastercard-branded cards carried $10.6 trillion of gross dollar volume (up 9% in local currency), cross-border volume grew 15% in local currency, and the network switched 175.5 billion transactions. Mastercard switches more than 70% of all Mastercard- and Maestro-branded transactions, including nearly all cross-border transactions. By program, consumer credit accounted for $3,878 billion of volume (37% of the total) on 1,083 million cards, consumer debit and prepaid for $5,349 billion (50%) on 2,134 million cards, and commercial credit and debit for $1,405 billion (13%) on 174 million cards. The five largest customers generated about $6.9 billion, or 21%, of 2025 net revenue. At December 31, 2025 the company employed about 39,800 people, roughly 70% of them outside the U.S.

Strategy. Management organizes the business around three interdependent priorities:

• Consumer payments, displacing cash, opening closed-loop and domestic networks, and extending tokenization, authentication (including device biometrics through Mastercard Payment Passkey Service) and Click to Pay checkout.
• Commercial and new payment flows, corporate, small-business, travel and fleet cards, virtual card numbers for invoiced B2B payments, and Mastercard Move, a disbursements and remittances platform reaching more than 17 billion endpoints from more than 60 originating countries into 155 receiving countries.
• Services and other solutions, selling security, data, AI, consulting, marketing, authentication and processing services to the same customers, both bundled with the network and stand-alone. Recorded Future, the threat-intelligence business acquired in December 2024, feeds the security offering, including Mastercard Threat Intelligence, launched in 2025.

The company also supports blockchain-based models, crypto co-brand cards and stablecoin settlement over its network, a line it extended in 2026 with the BVNK acquisition described below.

Competition. Mastercard competes with other global networks (Visa, American Express, JCB, China UnionPay and Discover), with local debit networks that serve as the main domestic brand in some countries, with real-time account-based payment systems (including government- and central-bank-backed systems such as Brazil's PIX, FedNow in the U.S. and India's UPI), with digital wallets, buy-now-pay-later providers and other fintechs, with central bank digital currencies, and with stablecoins and cryptocurrencies, which the company describes as both an opportunity and a competitive threat (the U.S. GENIUS Act became law in 2025). In services it competes with consulting, data, cyber and loyalty providers.

Regulation. Mastercard is designated a systemically important payment system in the EU, and in the U.K. the Bank of England has designated its Vocalink real-time payments platform a "specified service provider" and Mastercard a "recognized payment system". Developments the 10-K highlights for 2025 and 2026 include:

• A November 2025 Central Bank of Brazil regulation requiring payment scheme operators, including Mastercard, to extend their settlement guarantees to previously non-guaranteed transactions such as merchant installment payments; full implementation is expected by November 2026.
• Conflicting 2025 U.S. federal district court rulings on the Federal Reserve's Regulation II debit interchange cap, which remains in effect while litigation continues.
• New Zealand cross-border interchange caps, effective May 2026.
• The EU's revised systemic-importance regulation (July 2025), which adds cyber-resilience and outsourcing rules.

Risk factors

From the FY2025 10-K, accession 0001141391-26-000013. The Q3 2026 10-Q refers readers back to these risk factors and adds no new ones.

The risks that bear most directly on Mastercard's economics fall into a handful of groups:

• Regulation of fees and payments systems. Central banks and regulators increasingly oversee payments networks, and several jurisdictions are examining the network fees Mastercard charges its customers, not only interchange; regulation of network fees could materially hurt results. Interchange caps and litigation can push issuers to cut card benefits or seek larger incentives from Mastercard, or push merchants to route away from its network. Its no-surcharge rules have been relaxed in the U.S. and Canada, and broader merchant surcharging could make its cards less attractive to consumers.
• Government preference for domestic networks. Some governments mandate domestic switching or data localization, create national payment schemes, or restrict foreign ownership, which can shut Mastercard out of domestic or regional transaction flows. Sanctions-related actions can have the same effect; the company suspended its business in Russia and warns of further legal and operational consequences, including the nationalization of its subsidiary there.
• Litigation. Mastercard faces long-running antitrust litigation over interchange and acceptance rules in the U.S., U.K. and Europe (see the current-quarter section for the status of each matter), plus investigations; at the time of the 10-K these included a U.S. Department of Justice civil investigative demand about its U.S. debit program and a European Commission inquiry into network fees charged to acquirers. Litigation settlements have already led to rule changes, such as the U.S. and Canadian no-surcharge rule changes.
• Competition, disintermediation and pricing pressure. Real-time account-based schemes, government digital public infrastructure, CBDCs, stablecoins, wallets and fintechs could bypass the card network; processors and merchants may try to route transactions directly to issuers. To win business, Mastercard may have to keep increasing rebates and incentives, which in 2025 already equalled more than half of gross assessments, without matching volume growth.
• Customer concentration and consolidation. Many customer relationships are not exclusive; some large issuers are closely aligned with competitors, and bank consolidation or failures can move portfolios to rival networks. The five largest customers supplied 21% of 2025 net revenue.
• Cross-border exposure and currency. Cross-border volume generates a disproportionate share of revenue and is sensitive to travel, geopolitical conflict, pandemics and possible regulation of interregional interchange (for example, G20 cross-border payment targets). About 71% of 2025 revenue came from outside the U.S., and only a limited number of currencies are hedged.
• Cyber security and operational resilience. As a central switch, Mastercard is a prominent target for cyber-attacks, including attacks amplified by AI; outages on its card network or on Vocalink could trigger regulatory intervention and reputational damage. The company says it has not experienced a material cyber incident to date.
• Privacy, data and AI regulation. Overlapping data-localization, privacy and AI rules (including the EU AI Act) can restrict how it uses data in its services business and raise compliance costs.
• Settlement guarantee and other contingent obligations. Simultaneous settlement failures by large customers could exceed available resources, and Brazil's new rule widens the scope of guaranteed transactions.
• Tax. The Pillar 2 global minimum tax that took effect in Singapore in 2025 largely offsets the benefit of Mastercard's Singapore tax incentive (renewed through 2029) and raised the 2025 effective tax rate.
• Acquisitions. Acquisitions face antitrust and national-security scrutiny and integration risk, and they can bring new regulation; Recorded Future, for example, brings exposure to cyber-crime laws and possible "unreliable entity" listings in some jurisdictions.
• Governance. Anti-takeover provisions cap any holder at 15% of Class A stock or of total voting power. Mastercard Foundation, which holds more than 5% of the voting power, began selling shares in March 2024 under a seven-year diversification plan.

Management's discussion and analysis, fiscal year 2025

From the FY2025 10-K, accession 0001141391-26-000013.

2025 was a year of mid-teens revenue growth with expanding margins:

• Revenue. Net revenue rose 16% to $32,791 million (15% currency-neutral), including about 1 percentage point from businesses acquired in 2024. Payment network revenue grew 12% to $19,476 million on growth in domestic and cross-border volume and switched transactions; rebates and incentives rose 16% to $20,522 million on volume growth and new and renewed deals. Value-added services and solutions grew 23% to $13,315 million (21% currency-neutral, including 3 points from acquisitions), led by security, digital and authentication, consumer acquisition and engagement services, pricing, and business and market insights.
• Key drivers. Gross dollar volume grew 9% in local currency (U.S. 6%, rest of world 10%), cross-border volume grew 15% in local currency (18% in U.S. dollars), and switched transactions grew 10%.
• Expenses. Operating expenses rose 10% to $13,894 million. General and administrative expense rose 11% to $11,318 million, including 4 points from acquisitions and higher personnel and fulfillment costs, partly offset by about 2 points from new multi-year government grants. Depreciation and amortization rose 27% to $1,143 million (13 points from acquisitions). The litigation provision fell to $504 million from $680 million; the 2025 charges related mainly to merchants who opted out of the U.S. merchant class settlement, the U.S. liability shift case and the ATM surcharge complaints. Adjusted operating expenses, which exclude litigation and restructuring items, rose 14% to $13,389 million.
• Margins and earnings. Operating margin widened to 57.6% from 55.3% (adjusted 59.2% from 58.4%). The effective tax rate rose to 19.4% from 15.6%, mainly because of Singapore's Pillar 2 minimum tax and the geographic mix of earnings. Net income rose 16% to $14,968 million and diluted EPS rose 19% to $16.52. Adjusted net income was $15,415 million and adjusted diluted EPS $17.01 (up 17%, or 15% currency-neutral).
• Cash and capital. Operating cash flow was $17,648 million, up $2.9 billion. Purchases of property and equipment ($489 million) and capitalized software ($726 million) totalled $1,215 million. The company repurchased 21.1 million shares for $11.7 billion and paid $2.8 billion of dividends. It issued $1.25 billion of notes in February 2025, ending the year with $19.0 billion of debt and no borrowings under its $8 billion commercial paper program or revolving credit facility, which was extended to November 2030. In December 2025 the board authorized a further $14.0 billion buyback program.

Current quarter, three and nine months ended September 30, 2026

From the Q3 2026 10-Q, accession 0001141391-26-000124, and the Q3 2026 earnings release, accession 0001141391-26-000122; first- and second-quarter comparisons are from those quarters' earnings releases.

Results. Third-quarter net revenue rose 14% to $9,807 million, and currency had no net effect on growth this quarter (14% currency-neutral as well). In the first half currency had added to reported growth: net revenue grew 16% in the first quarter (12% currency-neutral) and 14% in the second (12% currency-neutral), according to the first- and second-quarter earnings releases (accessions 0001141391-26-000029 and 0001141391-26-000081). For the nine months, revenue rose 15% to $27,482 million (13% currency-neutral).

• Payment network revenue grew 11% to $5,749 million, driven by domestic and cross-border volume, switched transactions and pricing. Gross dollar volume grew 7% in local currency to $3.0 trillion (U.S. 6%, rest of world 8%), cross-border volume grew 11% in local currency, and switched transactions grew 9%. Cross-border growth has eased through the year, from 13% in the first quarter to 12% in the second and 11% in the third, against 15% for 2025 as a whole. From 2026 the key-driver figures include Venezuela cross-border activity.
• Assessments and incentives. Domestic assessments were $3,211 million (up 14%), cross-border $3,841 million (up 16%), transaction processing $4,781 million (up 14%) and other network assessments $285 million (up 10%), a combined $12,118 million. Rebates and incentives rose 18% to $6,369 million on volume growth and new and renewed deals. They have grown faster than payment network revenue all year: 23% in the first quarter, 22% in the second and 18% in the third.
• Value-added services and solutions grew 19% to $4,058 million, about 41% of net revenue, on underlying driver growth, demand across several services and pricing.
• By region, the Americas contributed $4,190 million (Q3 2025: $3,651 million) and Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa $5,617 million (Q3 2025: $4,951 million).

Operating expenses rose 11% to $3,945 million. General and administrative expense rose 13% to $3,293 million on personnel and data-processing costs for strategic initiatives and on fulfillment costs for marketing services; within it, professional fees rose 27% and data processing and telecommunications 19%. Depreciation and amortization rose 12% to $326 million on capitalized software amortization and equipment. The litigation provision was $74 million, mainly settlements with merchants who opted out of the U.S. merchant class litigation. Adjusted operating expenses rose 12% to $3,872 million, including a 1 percentage point increase from acquisitions and dispositions. Operating margin was 59.8% against 58.8% (adjusted 60.5% against 59.8%).

Below the operating line, total other expense widened to $121 million from $62 million. Interest expense rose to $250 million from $186 million on the larger debt load, and equity investments produced a $5 million loss against a $41 million gain a year earlier; government grants lifted other income to $46 million from $2 million. The effective tax rate fell to 19.4% from 21.5% on higher net discrete tax benefits. Net income rose 18% to $4,628 million. Diluted EPS rose 22% to $5.28, helped by a 3% fall in diluted shares to 876 million. Adjusted diluted EPS was $5.31, up 21%.

Year to date, net income was $12,898 million (up 18%) and diluted EPS $14.59 (up 22%). The nine-month results include a first-quarter restructuring charge of $202 million ($158 million after tax, or $0.18 per share), whose savings the company says will be reinvested in long-term growth, and $156 million of litigation provisions (against $330 million a year earlier). Adjusted diluted EPS was $14.94, up 22% (19% currency-neutral). Customers had issued 3.8 billion Mastercard- and Maestro-branded cards at September 30, 2026. Neither the quarterly report nor the earnings release gives a numerical financial outlook.

BVNK acquisition. On August 3, 2026, Mastercard acquired 100% of BVNK Holdings Limited, a stablecoin infrastructure provider, for $1.4 billion in cash. The sellers can earn up to $300 million more if performance targets are met. The preliminary purchase price allocation assigns $1,271 million to goodwill and $363 million to intangible assets: developed technology of $238 million, amortized over 9 years, and customer relationships of $125 million, over 14 years. The company says the deal expands its capabilities in the digital-asset ecosystem and did not provide pro forma results because the impact is not material.

Cash flow, debt and capital return.

• Operating cash flow fell to $11,859 million for the nine months from $12,646 million. Higher earnings were more than offset by larger customer incentive payments, cash paid for litigation settlements and the timing of customer settlements. Investing outflows rose to $2,603 million, mainly the $1,372 million (net of cash acquired) paid for BVNK and higher capital spending.
• Debt. In June 2026 Mastercard issued $5.0 billion of senior notes maturing between 2028 and 2036, for net proceeds of $4.978 billion. Total debt reached $23.9 billion at September 30 against $19.0 billion at year-end. Of that, $1.7 billion is due within twelve months: the 2.950% notes due November 2026 and the 3.300% notes due March 2027. Cash, cash equivalents and investments were $10.5 billion, and the $8 billion revolving credit facility was undrawn.
• Buybacks and dividends. The company repurchased 22.9 million shares for $11,893 million in the nine months, at an average of $520.64, including 5.3 million shares for $3.0 billion in the third quarter. It paid $2.3 billion in dividends over the nine months. The quarterly dividend is $0.87 per share, against $0.76 a year earlier.

Litigation developments during the period. The 10-Q reports movement on most of the major matters:

• U.S. merchant (MDL) litigation. The accrued liability fell to $156 million from $637 million at year-end, mainly through payments. Mastercard has settled with all but two opt-out plaintiffs; Block, Inc. and Intuit, Inc. continue to seek aggregate single damages above $5 billion. The court granted preliminary approval of the revised Rules Relief Class settlement in June 2026, with a final approval hearing set for November 2026.
• New U.S. class actions. A putative class action filed in April 2026 argued that the Damages Class settlement release does not bar post-2019 interchange claims; the district court ruled against the plaintiffs in September 2026, and they have appealed. A separate putative class action on behalf of merchants outside the Damages Class was filed in September 2026.
• Other U.S. matters. The U.S. liability shift settlement received final approval in April 2026. The non-bank ATM consumer class settlement received preliminary approval in August 2026, and the ATM operators class case was dismissed in September 2026 after Mastercard settled with the only opt-out operator.
• U.K. and Europe. More than £0.5 billion (about $0.7 billion) of unresolved U.K. and Pan-European merchant claims remain. The appeal of a 2025 adverse liability ruling is set for February 2027, and some further liability and damages issues are scheduled for trial in October 2027. A U.K. commercial-card collective action seeks more than £1 billion (about $1.3 billion). In Portugal a consumer collective action seeks about €0.4 billion (about $0.5 billion), and its trial is stayed; in the Netherlands a merchant collective action seeks about €0.3 billion (about $0.3 billion).
• Australia. In the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission's case over Mastercard's debit agreements with merchants, the liability hearing concluded in June 2026.

Subsequent events

From the Q3 2026 10-Q, accession 0001141391-26-000124, and the Q3 2026 earnings release, accession 0001141391-26-000122.

The 10-Q has no separate subsequent-events note and discloses no acquisition, divestiture or new financing after September 30, 2026. It does report the following items that fall after the quarter end:

• New U.K. collective actions. In October 2026, Mastercard and Visa were served with two proposed U.K. collective actions on behalf of U.K. merchants that have accepted transactions since October 2020. The first seeks about £1.5 billion (about $2.0 billion) from Mastercard over consumer domestic and cross-border transactions; the second seeks about £0.4 billion (about $0.5 billion) over consumer online cross-border transactions.
• Continued buybacks. From October 1 through October 26, 2026, Mastercard repurchased $648 million of stock (1.1 million shares, per the earnings release), leaving $4.9 billion of authorization under its approved programs.
• Dividend. The $0.87 quarterly dividend declared September 29, 2026 (aggregate $758 million) is payable November 9, 2026 to holders of record on October 9.

Filings that contain financial statements

Mastercard furnishes an earnings press release (Exhibit 99.1) with each quarterly Form 8-K. Each carries a consolidated statement of operations, balance sheet and statement of cash flows (unaudited), plus non-GAAP reconciliations:

• Form 8-K filed October 29, 2026, accession 0001141391-26-000122: third quarter 2026 (three and nine months ended September 30, 2026).
• Form 8-K filed July 30, 2026, accession 0001141391-26-000081: second quarter 2026 (and six months).
• Form 8-K filed April 30, 2026, accession 0001141391-26-000029: first quarter 2026.
• Form 8-K filed January 29, 2026, accession 0001141391-26-000003: fourth quarter and full year 2025.

The Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 (accession 0001141391-26-000124) was filed the same day as the third quarter release.

Earnings

• October 29, 2026 - third quarter 2026 results (8-K, accession 0001141391-26-000122). Net revenue $9.8 billion, up 14% as reported and currency-neutral. Net income $4.6 billion; diluted EPS $5.28 versus $4.34 (up 22%). Adjusted diluted EPS $5.31 versus $4.38 (up 21%). Operating margin 59.8% (adjusted 60.5%). Gross dollar volume up 7% (local currency) to $3.0 trillion; cross-border volume up 11%; switched transactions up 9%. Payment network net revenue rose 11% and value-added services and solutions 19%; payment network rebates and incentives rose 18%. Effective tax rate 19.4% versus 21.5%. Nine-month net revenue was $27.5 billion (up 15%) and diluted EPS $14.59 (up 22%).
• July 30, 2026 - second quarter 2026 results (8-K, accession 0001141391-26-000081). Net revenue $9.3 billion, up 14% (12% currency-neutral); diluted EPS $4.97 versus $4.07 (up 22%).
• April 30, 2026 - first quarter 2026 results (8-K, accession 0001141391-26-000029). Net revenue up 16% to $8.4 billion and diluted EPS of $4.35, including a restructuring charge (below).
• January 29, 2026 - fourth quarter and full year 2025 results (8-K, accession 0001141391-26-000003).

Acquisitions

• BVNK (stablecoin infrastructure) - closed. The April 30, 2026 first quarter release refers to the "planned acquisition of BVNK". The Form 10-Q for the third quarter (accession 0001141391-26-000124, Note 2) states that on August 3, 2026 Mastercard acquired a 100% equity interest in BVNK Holdings Limited for total cash consideration of $1.4 billion, with up to a further $300 million of contingent consideration payable if performance targets are met. Goodwill recognized was $1.3 billion. Cash paid for acquisitions, net of cash acquired, was $1,372 million in the nine months (cash flow statement in accession 0001141391-26-000122). No Form 8-K reports either the signing or the closing; the closing appears only in the 10-Q and the third quarter release, which cites the "new Global Money Platform through BVNK". The date the agreement was signed is not stated in the filings reviewed.

Capital actions

• Share repurchases. In the third quarter of 2026 Mastercard repurchased 5.3 million shares for $3.0 billion and paid $763 million in dividends. Through October 26, 2026 it repurchased a further 1.1 million shares for $0.6 billion, leaving $4.9 billion under approved programs (accession 0001141391-26-000122). Nine-month purchases of treasury stock were $11.9 billion and dividends paid $2.3 billion. The board approved a $14.0 billion program in December 2025.
• December 9, 2025 - dividend increase (disclosed in the Form 10-K, accession 0001141391-26-000013, and the third quarter Form 10-Q, accession 0001141391-26-000124, rather than in an 8-K). The board raised the quarterly dividend to $0.87 per share from $0.76 (14%), first payable February 9, 2026 to holders of record January 9, 2026. Dividends per share for 2025 were $3.04.
• June 8, 2026 - senior notes issued (8-K, accession 0001193125-26-261669). Mastercard completed a $5.0 billion offering: $500 million Floating Rate Notes due 2028, $1.25 billion 4.325% Notes due 2028, $1.15 billion 4.425% Notes due 2029, $1.35 billion 4.600% Notes due 2031 and $750 million 5.000% Notes due 2036. The underwriting agreement is dated June 4, 2026.
• November 12, 2025 - credit facility (8-K, accession 0001141391-25-000199). On November 7, 2025 Mastercard entered into a committed five-year unsecured $8.0 billion revolving credit facility expiring November 7, 2030, amending and restating the prior $8.0 billion facility that was due to expire November 7, 2029.

Restructuring

• First quarter 2026: a pre-tax restructuring charge of $202 million ($158 million after tax, $0.18 per diluted share), described as intended to enable reinvestment in long-term growth (8-K accession 0001141391-26-000029; nine-month figures in accession 0001141391-26-000122). It is excluded from adjusted results.

Legal and regulatory

• U.S. merchant interchange and acceptance-rules settlement. On November 10, 2025 Mastercard (with Visa) announced an updated class settlement with court-appointed counsel for the injunctive rules-relief class of merchants (8-K, accession 0001141391-25-000197). Terms include a 10 basis point reduction in the average systemwide effective interchange rate on U.S.-issued consumer and commercial credit transactions, a five-year effective cap, more merchant acceptance flexibility and simplified surcharging rules. It required court approval, then expected late 2026 or early 2027. The third quarter 2026 10-Q (accession 0001141391-26-000124) reports that the district court granted preliminary approval in June 2026 and that a final approval hearing is scheduled for November 2026; final approval had not been granted as of the filing.

Management and governance

• June 2, 2026 - leadership changes, effective August 3, 2026 (8-K, accession 0001141391-26-000037). Ling Hai, President of Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa, succeeds Sachin Mehra as Chief Financial Officer; Mr. Mehra becomes Chief Business Officer. Linda Kirkpatrick, President of the Americas, succeeds Craig Vosburg as Chief Services Officer; Mr. Vosburg becomes Vice Chair. Vice Chair Timothy Murphy retires in October 2026. Mr. Ling's base salary is $850,000.
• May 7, 2026 - accounting officer succession (8-K, accession 0001141391-26-000034). Corporate Controller and principal accounting officer Sandra Arkell becomes Chief Audit Executive effective August 3, 2026; Chris Mullett succeeds her as Corporate Controller.
• February 5, 2026 - executive pay (8-K, accession 0001141391-26-000006). Base salary for the CFO rose from $825,000 to $875,000 and for the Chief Services Officer from $800,000 to $825,000, effective March 1, 2026, with higher target bonus percentages.
• June 16, 2026 - annual meeting (8-K, accession 0001141391-26-000041). Stockholders elected the board for a term to the 2027 annual meeting.
• June 24, 2025 - charter amendments (8-K, accession 0001141391-25-000154). Stockholders approved amendments limiting officer liability and eliminating Industry Director provisions; effective June 25, 2025.

Not found in the filings reviewed

No guidance table, or acquisition or divestiture other than BVNK, is reported in the Form 8-Ks since mid-2025.

About this file

MA annual income statement, balance sheet and cash flow

Taken from the SEC filings and normalized to actual dollars.

• Source form, FY2025. 10-K filed 2026-02-11
• Source form, FY2024, FY2023. 10-K filed 2026-02-11 (comparative prior-year columns)
• Income statement: rebates and incentives source, FY2025. disclosed in the filing
• Income statement: rebates and incentives source, FY2024, FY2023. derived: gross payment network assessments less payment network net revenue
• Balance sheet note, FY2023. The FY2025 10-K presents balance sheets for December 31, 2025 and 2024 only, so no December 31, 2023 balance sheet is available from this filing.

MA quarterly income statement, balance sheet and cash flow

Taken from the SEC filings and normalized to actual dollars.

• Source form, Q3 2026. 10-Q filed 2026-10-29
• Source form, Q3 2025. 10-Q filed 2026-10-29 (comparative prior-year columns)
• Income statement: rebates and incentives source, Q3 2026. disclosed in the filing
• Income statement: rebates and incentives source, Q3 2025. derived: gross payment network assessments less payment network net revenue
• Cash flow: cash flow basis, Q3 2026. derived: the nine months ended September 30, 2026 in the September 30, 2026 10-Q (accession 0001141391-26-000124) less the six months ended June 30, 2026 as printed in the second-quarter 2026 earnings release furnished July 30, 2026 (accession 0001141391-26-000081)
• Cash flow: cash flow basis, Q3 2025. derived: the nine months ended September 30, 2025 in the September 30, 2026 10-Q (accession 0001141391-26-000124) less the six months ended June 30, 2025 as printed in the second-quarter 2026 earnings release furnished July 30, 2026 (accession 0001141391-26-000081)
• Balance sheet note, Q3 2025. The September 30, 2026 10-Q presents balance sheets as of September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025 only, so no September 30, 2025 balance sheet is available from this filing. Its statement of changes in equity does show total equity of $7,919 million at September 30, 2025, of which $7,904 million was attributable to Mastercard.

MA year-to-date income statement and cash flow

Taken from the SEC filings and normalized to actual dollars.

• Source form, Nine months ended September 30, 2026. 10-Q filed 2026-10-29
• Source form, Nine months ended September 30, 2025. 10-Q filed 2026-10-29 (comparative prior-year columns)
• Income statement: rebates and incentives source, Nine months ended September 30, 2026. disclosed in the filing
• Income statement: rebates and incentives source, Nine months ended September 30, 2025. derived: gross payment network assessments less payment network net revenue
• Cash flow: cash flow basis. read directly from the nine-month cash flow statement

MA trailing twelve month income statement and cash flow

Derived by AI from the figures the filings report. No filing prints these, so none of them is linked.

• Basis. calculated: fiscal year 2025 (10-K, accession 0001141391-26-000013) plus the nine months ended September 30, 2026 less the nine months ended September 30, 2025 (10-Q, accession 0001141391-26-000124)
• Income statement: rebates and incentives source. calculated from the fiscal year 2025 and nine-month figures on the same basis as the income statement lines
• Cash flow: cash flow basis. calculated: fiscal year 2025 plus the nine months ended September 30, 2026 less the nine months ended September 30, 2025

Adjustments

Notes

• Periods reported here are exactly the ones the two filings put on their face: the FY2025 10-K (accession 0001141391-26-000013) presents fiscal years 2025, 2024 and 2023 on the income statement and cash flow statement and balance sheets at December 31, 2025 and 2024; the September 30, 2026 10-Q (accession 0001141391-26-000124) presents the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025, balance sheets at September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, and cash flows for the nine-month periods only. The three fiscal years were confirmed against the 10-K's printed columns and agree with the figures published for them previously, so no restatement was involved.
• Mastercard's income statement has a single top line, Net Revenue, which is already net of rebates and incentives paid to customers. There is no gross revenue line on the face of the statements, so this file adds the gross payment network assessments Mastercard discloses in management's discussion (domestic, cross-border, transaction processing and other network assessments) to make the scale of customer incentives visible. The company explicitly cautions that assessments represent agreed-upon standard pricing and do not represent net revenue.
• Rebates and incentives netted against payment network revenue are disclosed directly for the three months ended September 30, 2026 ($6,369 million) and the nine months ended September 30, 2026 ($18,005 million) in the 10-Q, and for FY2025 ($20,522 million) in the 10-K. For the comparable 2025 periods and for FY2024 and FY2023 the figure is not stated, so it was derived as gross payment network assessments less payment network net revenue. That derivation reproduces every disclosed figure exactly - for the September 2026 quarter, $12,118 million of assessments less $5,749 million of net payment network revenue equals the disclosed $6,369 million - and the derived 2025 comparatives ($5,389 million for the quarter, $14,891 million for the nine months) reproduce the 18% and 21% growth rates the 10-Q states. Each period records whether its figure was disclosed or derived.
• Rebates and incentives are attributed by the company to the revenue category they pertain to, so value-added services and solutions revenue is also reported net of some incentives. Only the payment network portion is quantified in the filings, so no gross figure is presented for value-added services and solutions.
• The 10-Q's cash flow statement covers the nine-month periods only; it prints no three-month column. The quarterly cash flow figures here are therefore derived by differencing: the nine months ended September 30 less the six months ended June 30 of the same year, the latter as printed in the second-quarter 2026 earnings release furnished July 30, 2026 (accession 0001141391-26-000081), which carries six-month cash flow columns for both 2026 and 2025. Each quarter's cash flow block records that basis. The derivation is corroborated by depreciation and amortization, which appears in both statements: the differenced figures ($326 million for the 2026 quarter, $290 million for the 2025 quarter) match the three-month income statement lines exactly. Every figure in the year-to-date and full-year cash flow blocks is read directly from a filing and involves no differencing.
• Capital expenditure is defined here as purchases of property and equipment plus capitalized software, both taken from the investing section of the cash flow statement.
• Total debt is taken from the debt note, which reconciles the face amount of the senior notes to the balance sheet: $23,938 million outstanding at September 30, 2026 against $19,000 million at December 31, 2025. The increase reflects the $5.000 billion of notes issued in June 2026, maturing between 2028 and 2036, for net proceeds of $4.978 billion. Short-term debt of $1,749 million at September 30, 2026 is the 2016 notes due November 2026 and the 2020 notes due March 2027. The 10-Q states there were no borrowings under the commercial paper program or the revolving credit facility at September 30, 2026 or December 31, 2025.
• On August 3, 2026 Mastercard acquired BVNK Holdings Limited, a stablecoin infrastructure provider, for total cash consideration of $1.4 billion, with up to $300 million of additional contingent consideration if performance targets are met. The preliminary purchase price allocation records $1,271 million of goodwill and $363 million of other intangible assets. Goodwill on the balance sheet rose from $9,560 million at December 31, 2025 to $10,804 million at September 30, 2026. The cash flow statement records $1,372 million of acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired, in the nine months, all of it falling in the third quarter.
• Total equity is reported both including and excluding non-controlling interests: $6,753 million attributable to Mastercard Incorporated at September 30, 2026, and $6,740 million including non-controlling interests, which were negative $13 million at that date. Mastercard's book equity is very small relative to its earnings because cumulative Class A treasury stock stands at $95.2 billion; conventional return-on-equity measures are therefore not meaningful for this company. Book equity fell from $7.7 billion at December 31, 2025 because $12.0 billion of stock was repurchased and $2.3 billion of dividends declared in the nine months, against $12.9 billion of net income.
• Shares outstanding at September 30, 2026 are the balance sheet's rounded figures (866 million Class A, 7 million Class B). The common stock activity note gives 865.6 million Class A and 6.5 million Class B, and the 10-Q cover reports 864,657,109 Class A and 6,519,005 Class B shares outstanding at October 26, 2026.
• The FY2025 10-K reports no balance sheet as of December 31, 2023, and the September 30, 2026 10-Q reports no balance sheet as of September 30, 2025. Those two balance sheets are recorded as unavailable rather than estimated.
• Dividends are reported on two bases where they differ: cash dividends paid per share (from the 10-K's dividend discussion, available for the fiscal years) and dividends declared per share (from the stockholders' equity note, available for every period). Mastercard declared $0.87 per share in the September 2026 quarter against $0.76 a year earlier, a 14% increase.
• The provision for litigation was $74 million in the September 2026 quarter against $83 million a year earlier, and $156 million for the nine months against $330 million. Mastercard treats this line as a special item in its own non-GAAP presentation, so a reader comparing operating margins across periods should be aware it is lumpy.
• The trailing-twelve-month block is a calculation, not a reported figure: fiscal year 2025 plus the nine months ended September 30, 2026 less the nine months ended September 30, 2025. Its trailing earnings per share figures are the sum of the reported periods' per-share amounts rather than a recomputed figure, so they may differ slightly from net income divided by the trailing share counts shown.
• The most recent quarterly results filed are those in this 10-Q. An earnings release for the same quarter was furnished on October 29, 2026 alongside it, and every figure for the September 2026 quarter here comes from the 10-Q; the only figures taken from an earnings release are the six-month cash flow columns used to derive the third-quarter cash flows.
• Multi-year trend the filings show: net revenue grew from $25,098 million in 2023 to $28,167 million in 2024 to $32,791 million in 2025, with value-added services and solutions growing faster than the payment network and rising from 37% to 41% of net revenue over the three years. Operating margin moved from 55.8% to 55.3% to 57.6%. Net income grew from $11,195 million to $12,874 million to $14,968 million and diluted earnings per share from $11.83 to $16.52, faster than net income because diluted shares fell from 946 million to 906 million. In the September 2026 quarter net revenue of $9,807 million was up 14% (14% currency-neutral), with payment network revenue up 11% and value-added services and solutions up 19%; operating income of $5,862 million was up 16% on a 59.8% margin against 58.8%; net income of $4,628 million was up 18% and diluted earnings per share of $5.28 up 22%, with diluted shares down from 905 million to 876 million. Operating cash flow for the nine months was $11,859 million against $12,646 million a year earlier; within it, the change in prepaid expenses was an outflow of $4,688 million against $2,939 million. On a trailing-twelve-month basis net revenue was $36,288 million, operating income $21,266 million, net income $16,958 million and free cash flow $15,430 million on $16,861 million of operating cash flow and $1,431 million of capital expenditure, against $15,451 million of share repurchases and $2,995 million of dividends paid.

Uncertainties

• The quarterly cash flow figures are derived, not printed. The 10-Q's cash flow statement gives nine-month columns only, so each quarter here is the nine-month column less the six-month column printed in the second-quarter 2026 earnings release furnished July 30, 2026 (accession 0001141391-26-000081). The differencing is corroborated by depreciation and amortization, which matches the three-month income statement line exactly in both years, but any reclassification the company made between the two documents would not be visible in this file. The year-to-date and full-year cash flow figures are read directly and are unaffected.
• The six-month 2026 cash flow statement printed a separate financing line, net proceeds from debt with maturities of 90 days or less, of $84 million; the nine-month statement prints no such line. The third-quarter 2026 debt figures here ($0 of proceeds and $618 million of payments) are the differences of the lines both statements print, so they do not capture the reversal of that $84 million, which is nonetheless included in the derived third-quarter net cash used in financing activities of $4,385 million.
• Rebates and incentives for the 2025 comparative periods, for FY2024 and for FY2023 are derived, not disclosed. The derivation method reproduces every disclosed figure exactly and matches the growth rates stated in the filings, but those values are arithmetic inferences from the assessments tables rather than figures printed in a filing.
• The rebates figure applies only to the payment network category. Value-added services and solutions revenue is also stated net of incentives attributed to it, and that amount is nowhere quantified, so the total company-wide rebates and incentives burden is larger than the payment network figures shown here by an undisclosed amount.
• Gross payment network assessments are the sum of four separately disclosed assessment metrics. Mastercard presents them as key metrics and states they do not represent net revenue; the company does not itself present the sum as a gross revenue line and it should not be read as a revenue figure prepared under generally accepted accounting principles.
• FY2023 has no balance sheet in the latest 10-K and September 30, 2025 has none in the latest 10-Q, so no balance sheet data, total debt or period-end share count is reported for those two dates. No older filings were used to fill them in.
• The trailing-twelve-month weighted-average share counts (886 million basic, 887 million diluted) are calculated by weighting the reported periods by their length, not read from a filing; Mastercard publishes no twelve-month weighted-average count at a September quarter end. Trailing earnings per share is the sum of the reported periods' per-share amounts, which is why it does not tie exactly to trailing net income divided by those counts.
• The BVNK purchase price allocation is preliminary; the 10-Q states the company is still evaluating and finalizing the purchase accounting, so the goodwill and intangible asset figures at September 30, 2026 may be adjusted.
• Operating metrics (gross dollar volume, cross-border volume and switched transactions) are disclosed only as growth percentages, not as absolute dollar or transaction counts, so no level figures are available for those drivers.
• The three-month 2026 income tax expense reflects a 19.4% effective rate against 21.5% a year earlier and 19.4% for full-year 2025; quarterly effective rates at Mastercard move with discrete items and should not be annualised.

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