Mastercard FY2026 EPS Estimate Boosted by Erste Group Bank

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) – Equities researchers at Erste Group Bank increased their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Mastercard in a report released on Wednesday, February 18th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the credit services provider will earn $19.58 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $19.55. The consensus estimate for Mastercard’s current full-year earnings is $15.91 per share. Erste Group Bank also issued estimates for Mastercard’s FY2027 earnings at $22.63 EPS.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on MA. Macquarie Infrastructure upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $669.27.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $498.14 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $548.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $560.64. Mastercard has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $444.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.82 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vulcan Value Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the third quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 466,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $265,233,000 after buying an additional 28,331 shares during the period. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 153.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,730 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 309,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $175,872,000 after acquiring an additional 4,700 shares in the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 15,335 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,723,000 after acquiring an additional 7,215 shares during the period. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3,694.7% during the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 9,297 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,288,000 after acquiring an additional 9,052 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.07%.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic cybersecurity and SMB push via Cloudflare partnership — Mastercard and Cloudflare announced a strategic tie to build tools for small businesses and strengthen cybersecurity offerings, which could expand Mastercard’s B2B product set and drive new revenue streams. Cloudflare partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership with Ericsson to extend digital money movement — Mastercard and Ericsson will integrate platforms to expand mobile financial services in emerging markets (MEA), supporting volume growth and financial‑inclusion use cases. This can strengthen Mastercard Move and cross‑border flows over time. Ericsson partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Open‑finance traction with banks — Mastercard’s open finance API is being used by Truist for its open banking platform, reducing risky credential‑sharing and positioning Mastercard for recurring API and tokenization revenue. This is a concrete commercial win that supports future growth. Truist open finance
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support — Erste Group forecasts increased earnings for Mastercard, providing analyst backing that may underpin investor confidence. Erste Group forecast
• Neutral Sentiment: Brand & inclusion initiatives — Programs teaching seniors to bank digitally and statements about being ready for India’s agentic commerce requirements are positive for brand and regulatory positioning but unlikely to move near‑term fundamentals materially. Senior digital banking program
• Negative Sentiment: Citrini Research “agentic commerce” scenario raises structural risk to interchange economics — A widely circulated thought experiment models AI agents optimizing transactions to avoid 2–3% interchange fees (via stablecoins/low‑fee rails), prompting a sector selloff and renewed investor scrutiny of card economics. That narrative is driving short‑term downside risk to MA as markets price the potential for lower margins if such rails scale. Citrini Research analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Immediate market reaction — The dystopian AI report triggered broad declines in payments and software stocks, signaling that sentiment risk can amplify price moves even before any regulatory or technical shift occurs. Market reaction

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.