Mastercard 4Q Profit Rises as Consumers Continue to Spend
By Nicholas G. Miller
Mastercard reported higher fourth-quarter profit and sales and said that consumer and business spending remained healthy.
The credit-card company on Thursday reported net income of $4.06 billion, or $4.52 a share, up from $3.34 billion, or $3.64 a share, the year prior.
Adjusted earnings were $4.76 a share. Analysts expected $4.24 a share, according to FactSet.
Revenue rose 18% to $8.81 billion. Wall Street expected $8.77 billion. Payment network net revenue increased 12%, while value-added services revenue grew 26%.
"The overall macroeconomic environment is supportive and we continue to see healthy consumer and business spending," said Chief Executive Michael Miebach.
Payment networks including Mastercard and Visa serve as intermediaries between retailers and credit-card providers when consumers pay with a credit card. The payment networks also charge the retailer a swipe fee every time someone pays with a credit card.
Shares of the payment networks took a beating earlier in January after President Trump made a Truth Social post endorsing the Credit Card Competition Act, which would seek to break up Mastercard and Visa's duopoly on credit-card swipe fees.
In its earnings release, Mastercard listed "regulation related to the payments industry" as a potential risk to future results.
Write to Nicholas G. Miller at nicholas.miller@wsj.com.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 29, 2026 08:38 ET (13:38 GMT)
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