Mastercard (NYSE:MA) reported fourth-quarter results that cleared Wall Street’s bar on both the top and bottom lines, as the global payments processor benefited from a sturdy consumer environment during the year-end shopping season.
The Purchase, New York-based company posted net income of $4.06 billion, or $4.52 per diluted share.
Stripping out non-recurring costs and investment impacts, adjusted earnings reached $4.76 per share, comfortably ahead of the $4.20 consensus estimate from analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.
Revenue for the period rose to $8.81 billion, a double-digit increase from the prior year that also surpassed the $8.74 billion expected by the Street.
For the full year 2025, Mastercard generated a total profit of $14.97 billion, or $16.52 per share, on revenues of $32.79 billion.
The results underscore the company's ability to maintain high margins—reporting an operating margin of 55.8% for the quarter—even as it navigates a shifting global regulatory landscape and persistent inflationary pressures.
Driving the quarter’s growth was a 7% increase in gross dollar volume and a 14% rise in cross-border volume, as international travel and digital commerce continued to scale.