Mastercard vs Block

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KIRA’s take AI analyst

I put Mastercard and Block side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:

Mastercard is the larger business, with $32.8B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $24.2B for Block.
Mastercard grew revenue faster (16.4%, against 0.3%).
Mastercard kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (57.6% operating margin, against 7.1%).
Mastercard turned more of its sales into free cash flow (52.3% FCF margin, against 10.0%).
Mastercard earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (93.8%, against 6.4%).
Investors pay more for each dollar of Block’s earnings: a P/E of 136.5x against 34.3x for Mastercard.

Who comes out ahead

Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.

Mastercard

8/10

Revenue growthOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-scoreShare count change

Block

XYZ

2/10

5-year growthNet debt / EBITDA

Side by side

Best in the row

Latest fiscal year	MA FY25	XYZ FY25
Size
Market cap	$550.6B	$46.5B
Revenue	$32.8B	$24.2B
Free cash flow	$17.2B	$2.4B
Net income	$15.0B	$1.3B
Growth
Revenue growth	16.4%	0.3%
5-year growth	16.5%	20.6%
Share count change	−2.3%	−2.1%
Profitability
Gross margin	—	42.8%
Operating margin	57.6%	7.1%
Net margin	45.7%	5.4%
FCF margin	52.3%	10.0%
Return on capital	93.8%	6.4%
Return on equity	210.5%	6.0%
Balance sheet
Net debt	$8.4B	$207M
Net debt / EBITDA	0.4x	0.1x
Dividends and buybacks	$14.5B	$2.3B
Valuation & quality
P/E	34.3x	136.5x
Piotroski F-score	8	5

Ten years

Revenue

FY16

MA $10.8B

XYZ $1.7B

FY17

MA $12.5B

XYZ $2.2B

FY18

MA $15.0B

XYZ $3.3B

FY19

MA $16.9B

XYZ $4.7B

FY20

MA $15.3B

XYZ $9.5B

FY21

MA $18.9B

XYZ $17.7B

FY22

MA $22.2B

XYZ $17.5B

FY23

MA $25.1B

XYZ $21.9B

FY24

MA $28.2B

XYZ $24.1B

FY25

MA $32.8B

XYZ $24.2B

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

MA XYZ

Operating margin

FY16

MA 53.5%

XYZ −10.0%

FY17

MA 53.0%

XYZ −2.5%

FY18

MA 48.7%

XYZ −1.1%

FY19

MA 57.2%

XYZ 0.6%

FY20

MA 52.8%

XYZ −0.2%

FY21

MA 53.4%

XYZ 0.9%

FY22

MA 55.2%

XYZ −3.6%

FY23

MA 55.8%

XYZ −1.3%

FY24

MA 55.3%

XYZ 3.7%

FY25

MA 57.6%

XYZ 7.1%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

MA XYZ

Free cash flow

FY16

MA $4.4B

XYZ −$2.3M

FY17

MA $5.4B

XYZ $102M

FY18

MA $5.9B

XYZ $234M

FY19

MA $7.8B

XYZ $265M

FY20

MA $6.9B

XYZ $34.7M

FY21

MA $9.1B

XYZ $714M

FY22

MA $10.8B

XYZ $5.1M

FY23

MA $11.6B

XYZ −$50.2M

FY24

MA $14.3B

XYZ $1.6B

FY25

MA $17.2B

XYZ $2.4B

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

MA XYZ

Return on capital

FY16

MA 107.2%

XYZ —

FY17

MA 87.1%

XYZ −25.0%

FY18

MA 117.8%

XYZ −4.9%

FY19

MA 128.7%

XYZ 2.6%

FY20

MA 80.9%

XYZ −1.5%

FY21

MA 74.2%

XYZ 8.1%

FY22

MA 76.2%

XYZ −5.3%

FY23

MA 83.8%

XYZ −1.3%

FY24

MA 86.6%

XYZ 5.0%

FY25

MA 93.8%

XYZ 6.4%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

MA XYZ

Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.