Mastercard (MA) Q3 2026 Earnings Report
MX:MA Q3 2026 EPS Results
- Actual EPS
- MXN 99.79
- Consensus EPS
- MXN 97.12
- Beat/Miss
- Beat by +MXN 2.67
- One Year Ago EPS
- MXN 82.31
MX:MA Q3 2026 Revenue Results
- Actual Revenue
- MXN 184.20B
- Expected Revenue
- MXN 181.57B
- Beat/Miss
- Beat by +MXN 2.63B
- YoY Revenue Growth
- +13.74%
Earnings Announcement Details
- Quarter
- Q3 2026
- Date
- 10/29/2026
- Time
- Before Open
- Conference Call
- Thursday, October 29, 2026
Mastercard's next earnings date is estimated for January 28, 2027, based on past reporting schedules.
Q3 2026 Earnings Call Audio
Q3 2026 Earnings Slide Deck
Q3 2026 Earnings Call Summary
The call was strongly positive overall. Mastercard reported double-digit revenue, operating income, net income, and EPS growth; healthy payment volumes; broad-based value-added-services momentum; major customer wins; and continued expansion in acceptance, security, agentic commerce, and digital assets. The company also maintained favorable 2026 revenue expectations. Management acknowledged geopolitical uncertainty, foreign-exchange effects, timing-related Q4 offsets, intra-Europe cross-border pressure, and the early stage of agentic commerce, but described underlying spending and the broader business as resilient.
For full year 2026, Mastercard expects net revenue growth to remain at the high end of low double digits range on a currency-neutral basis, excluding inorganic activity, with minimal impact from acquisitions and dispositions and a tailwind of approximately 1 PPT from foreign exchange; operating expenses growth is expected to remain in line with previous expectations at a low double digits range versus a year ago on a currency-neutral basis, excluding inorganic activity, with a minimal impact from acquisitions and dispositions and a headwind of 0.5-1 PPT from foreign exchange. For Q4 2026, year-over-year net revenue growth is expected to be at the high end of low double digits range on a currency-neutral basis, excluding inorganic activity, with minimum impact from acquisitions and dispositions and a headwind of approximately one PPT from foreign exchange; operating expense growth is expected to be at the high end of low double digits range versus a year ago, with a one PPT drag from acquisitions and dispositions and foreign exchange a tailwind of approximately 0.5 PPT. Q4 other income and expense is expected to be an expense of approximately $115 million, and the non-GAAP tax rate is expected to be in the range of 20%-21% for both the full year and Q4; rebates and incentives as a percent of gross assessments are expected to be higher than Q3, while formal 2027 guidance will be provided in the next quarter's release.
- Strong Q3 Financial PerformanceThird-quarter net revenue increased 14% and net income increased 18% year over year on a non-GAAP, currency-neutral basis. Operating income rose 15%, while EPS increased 21% to $5.31, including a $0.16 contribution from share repurchases.
- Broad-Based Revenue GrowthPayment network net revenue increased 11%, driven primarily by domestic and cross-border transaction volume growth and pricing. Value-added services and solutions net revenue increased 19%, driven by demand across consumer acquisition and engagement, business and marketing insights, security solutions, digital and authentication, and pricing.
- Healthy Payment Volume and Transaction GrowthWorldwide gross dollar volume increased 7%, with U.S. GDV up 6% and GDV outside the U.S. up 8%. Global cross-border volume increased 11%, switched transactions grew 9%, and card growth was 5% to reach 3.8 billion Mastercard and Maestro-branded cards.
- Growing Acceptance and Digital ReachMastercard now has more than 200 million acceptance locations and 300 million additional digital access points worldwide. Merchant acceptance increased 20% year over year in the first half of 2026, supported by initiatives including Pay Local and Tap on Phone.
- Contactless Adoption Continued to RiseContactless transactions represented 81% of all in-person switched purchase transactions in Q3, up five percentage points from the same period last year.
- Financial Inclusion ExpansionMastercard signed 15 Essential Debit programs across seven markets in 2026. These programs provide partners with tools to address up to 70 million unbanked adults in those markets, with early traction through Airtel in Nigeria and Financoop in Ecuador.
- Strong Affluent Portfolio MomentumMastercard won 100 new affluent credit and debit programs and launched more than 25 World Legend programs this year. Affluent spend is growing two times faster than overall credit, and UBS launched a super-premium, invitation-only Mastercard credit product in Switzerland.
- Major Customer and Market WinsMastercard renewed partnerships with Handelsbanken, Swedbank, SEB, DSGV, and DZ Bank; added programs with China's top 15 issuers, including Bank of Communications and Bank of China; secured Pinnacle Financial Partners' full issuing portfolio beginning in 2027; and signed an HDFC Bank small-business deal in India expected to add 3 million cards.
- Commercial Payments and Virtual Card ExpansionTungsten Automation is embedding Mastercard virtual card technology into its accounts-payable offerings for more than 25,000 customers. A large U.S. retailer consolidated more than $100 million in supplier payments through Mastercard virtual cards via Coupa, with estimated onboarding-cost savings of $35 million.
- Travel Partnerships Supporting Future SpendMastercard partners with eight of the 10 largest players in the travel vertical. Travel-related wins announced in the quarter are expected to generate more than $20 billion in incremental spend on the network over the lives of the agreements.
- Value-Added Services Delivering Client ResultsMastercard stated that clients in its global marketing-services campaigns see average incremental spend growth of 8 percentage points over the measurement period. Services are being deployed with Qatar National Bank Group across more than 28 countries and are supporting American Airlines' refreshed premium credit-card offering.
- Security Solutions Demand and Customer AdditionsMastercard added extended fraud and identity wins with Standard Bank, Monzo, and Starling Bank. Its Digital Risk Protection solution serves nearly 800 enterprise customers after only a few months in market, while the enhanced third-party risk offering combines RiskRecon and Recorded Future capabilities.
- Agentic Commerce PositioningMastercard is expanding Agent Pay, Verifiable Intent, Agentic Trust Intelligence, and Agent Connect to support trusted payments, agent verification, ecosystem transparency, transaction evaluation, and merchant discoverability. Shopify is using Agent Pay and network tokens through Shop Pay, and Mastercard signed a broad strategic partnership with OpenAI covering payments, joint services growth, and AI transformation.
- Stablecoin and Digital Asset ExpansionFollowing the acquisition of BVNK, Mastercard launched the Global Money Platform, enabling financial institutions and fintechs to offer accounts that hold, convert, send, and receive fiat currencies and stablecoins. Mastercard Move is integrated with its 17 billion endpoints, and Nuvei and Marqeta are expected to be among the first customers.
- Strong Operating Outlook for 2026Full-year 2026 net revenue growth is expected to remain at the high end of low double digits on a currency-neutral basis, excluding inorganic activity, with a foreign-exchange tailwind of approximately 1 percentage point. Full-year operating-expense growth is expected to remain in the low double digits range, excluding inorganic activity.
- Share Repurchases ContinuedMastercard repurchased $3 billion of stock during the quarter and an additional $648 million through October 26, 2026.
- Resilient Consumer and Business SpendingManagement said consumers and businesses continued to spend, consumer sentiment was positive, European consumers remained resilient, and underlying spend remained strong. The company described its business fundamentals and the macroeconomic environment as supportive despite uncertainty.
MX:MA Earnings History
| Report Date | Fiscal Quarter | Forecast / EPS | Last Year's EPS | EPS YoY Change | Press Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 28, 2027 | 2026 (Q4) | 96.40- | 89.45 | ― | ― |
| Oct 29, 2026 | 2026 (Q3) | 97.1299.79 | 82.31 | 21.23% (+17.48) | |
| Jul 30, 2026 | 2026 (Q2) | 89.6294.71 | 77.99 | 21.45% (+16.72) | |
| Apr 30, 2026 | 2026 (Q1) | 82.8286.44 | 70.09 | 23.32% (+16.35) | |
| Jan 29, 2026 | 2025 (Q4) | 79.7589.45 | 71.79 | 24.61% (+17.66) | |
| Oct 30, 2025 | 2025 (Q3) | 81.1382.31 | 73.1 | 12.60% (+9.21) | |
| Jul 31, 2025 | 2025 (Q2) | 75.7377.99 | 67.46 | 15.60% (+10.52) | |
| May 01, 2025 | 2025 (Q1) | 67.2270.09 | 62.2 | 12.69% (+7.89) | |
| Jan 30, 2025 | 2024 (Q4) | 69.4471.79 | 59.76 | 20.13% (+12.03) | |
| Oct 31, 2024 | 2024 (Q3) | 70.3673.10 | 63.71 | 14.75% (+9.40) |
The table shows recent earnings report dates and whether the forecast was beat or missed. See the change in forecast and EPS from the previous year.
