Google vs Mastercard: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Google reported $402.8B of revenue in FY2025 and $132.2B of net income. Mastercard reported $32.8B of revenue in FY2025 and $15B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
- Latest revenue
- $402.8B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $132.2B
- Net margin
- 32.8%
- Revenue growth
- +18.1% a year, FY2016–FY2025
Mastercard
- Latest revenue
- $32.8B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $15B
- Net margin
- 45.6%
- Revenue growth
- +13.2% a year, FY2016–FY2025
Financial summary
Alphabet's FY2025 Form 10-K reported $402.836 billion of revenue and $132.170 billion of net income, making it one of the most profitable companies in the world. Growth accelerated in 2026: Q2 2026 revenue rose 24% year over year to $119.8 billion, operating income rose 30% to $40.8 billion and operating margin reached 34.0%. Reported Q2 net income of $112.1 billion was inflated by a $99.0 billion gain, mostly unrealized gains on equity holdings, so operating income is the cleaner measure. The trade-off is spending: management raised 2026 capital expenditure guidance to $195-205 billion, and analysts flagged negative free cash flow in Q2 2026 as data-center investment outpaced operating cash flow.
Mastercard
Mastercard's net revenue grew from $10.8 billion in 2016 to $32.8 billion in FY2025, with net income of $14.97 billion in FY2025, a net margin near 46%. Growth continued in 2026: second-quarter net revenue rose 14% to $9.28 billion and net income reached $4.39 billion, with a GAAP operating margin of 60.2%. Because incremental transactions cost little to process, most of that cash goes to share buybacks, dividends and acquisitions such as Recorded Future ($2.65 billion, 2024) and BVNK (up to $1.8 billion, 2026).
Revenue and profit by year
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $402.8B | $132.2B | 32.8% | +15.1% | Source |
| FY2024 | $350B | $100.1B | 28.6% | +13.9% | Source |
| FY2023 | $307.4B | $73.8B | 24.0% | +8.7% | Source |
| FY2022 | $282.8B | $60B | 21.2% | +9.8% | Source |
| FY2021 | $257.6B | $76B | 29.5% | +41.2% | Source |
| FY2020 | $182.5B | $40.3B | 22.1% | +12.8% | Source |
| FY2019 | $161.9B | $34.3B | 21.2% | +18.3% | Source |
| FY2018 | $136.8B | $30.7B | 22.5% | +23.4% | Source |
| FY2017 | $110.9B | $12.7B | 11.4% | +22.8% | Source |
| FY2016 | $90.3B | $19.5B | 21.6% | — | Source |
Mastercard
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $32.8B | $15B | 45.6% | +16.4% | Source |
| FY2024 | $28.2B | $12.9B | 45.7% | +12.2% | Source |
| FY2023 | $25.1B | $11.2B | 44.6% | +12.9% | Source |
| FY2022 | $22.2B | $9.9B | 44.7% | +17.8% | Source |
| FY2021 | $18.9B | $8.7B | 46.0% | +23.4% | Source |
| FY2020 | $15.3B | $6.4B | 41.9% | -9.4% | Source |
| FY2019 | $16.9B | $8.1B | 48.1% | +12.9% | Source |
| FY2018 | $14.9B | $5.9B | 39.2% | +19.6% | Source |
| FY2017 | $12.5B | $3.9B | 31.3% | +16.0% | Source |
| FY2016 | $10.8B | $4.1B | 37.7% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
- Google Search advertising~12%
Auction-based text and shopping ads served alongside organic search results, generating approximately $198 billion in FY2024 through cost-per-click and cost-per-impression pricing.
- YouTube advertising~12%
Video advertising across pre-roll, mid-roll, display, and Shorts formats, plus subscription revenue from YouTube Premium, Music, and YouTube TV, totaling approximately $36 billion in ad revenue for FY2024.
- Google Cloud~12%
Infrastructure-as-a-service, platform tools, Vertex AI, BigQuery, Mandiant cybersecurity, and Google Workspace subscriptions, generating significant FY2025 revenue.
- Google Network~12%
Ads placed on third-party websites through AdSense, AdMob, and Google Ad Manager, generating approximately $31 billion in FY2024 with revenue shared with publishers.
- Other Bets~12%
Revenue from Waymo autonomous ride-hailing, Verily health technology, hardware sales (Pixel, Nest, Fitbit), Google Play commissions, and other non-advertising sources.
Mastercard
- Payment network~59%
Assessments on gross dollar volume, transaction switching fees and cross-border fees, net of customer incentives. About $19.48 billion in FY2025.
- Value-added services and solutions~41%
Fraud and security, cyber and threat intelligence, data analytics, consulting, loyalty, open banking and processing services. Grew 23% in FY2025 to about $13.3 billion.
Business model and strategy
How it makes money
Alphabet makes money mainly by selling ads against user intent and attention. Google Search & other, YouTube ads and the Google Network together account for roughly three quarters of revenue. Advertisers bid in real-time auctions to appear next to queries or videos, and Google charges per click, view or conversion.
Growth strategy
Alphabet's growth plan has four parts: put Gemini into Search (AI Overviews and AI Mode), Workspace, Android and Chrome to keep users and advertisers engaged; sell AI infrastructure, TPUs and Gemini models through Google Cloud, backed by the Wiz security platform acquired in March 2026; grow subscriptions such as YouTube Premium, YouTube TV and Google One AI plans;
Competitive advantage
Alphabet's edge is a stack few rivals own end to end: default distribution through Android and Chrome, the largest pool of search-intent data, YouTube's video audience, its own TPU chips and global data centers, and frontier models from Google DeepMind.
Mastercard
How it makes money
Mastercard earns money in two ways. Payment network revenue ($19.48 billion in FY2025, about 59% of net revenue) comes from assessments based on gross dollar volume, fees for switching transactions, and higher-yield cross-border fees, reduced by incentives paid to issuers and merchants.
Growth strategy
Mastercard's growth plan rests on three levers: moving more consumer spending from cash to cards and tokenized digital wallets, capturing new flows such as B2B payments, disbursements and cross-border remittances, and selling more services that are not tied to card volume. Services grew 23% in FY2025, faster than the network.
Competitive advantage
Mastercard's advantage is a two-sided network that took decades to build: about 3.7 billion Mastercard and Maestro cards issued by partners and acceptance at tens of millions of merchant locations worldwide. A new rival would need both sides at once. That scale also feeds its fraud models, tokenization service and data products, which makes the services business harder to copy.
Questions about Google vs Mastercard
Which company has higher revenue — Alphabet Inc. or Mastercard Incorporated?
Alphabet Inc. reported $402.8B (FY2025), while Mastercard Incorporated reported $32.8B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Alphabet Inc. is the larger business, with Mastercard Incorporated reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Alphabet Inc. vs Mastercard Incorporated?
Alphabet Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $4.31T, while Mastercard Incorporated's is $495.4B. Alphabet Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Mastercard Incorporated.
Which is more financially efficient — Alphabet Inc. or Mastercard Incorporated?
Alphabet Inc. generates $2.11M / employee in revenue per employee, while Mastercard Incorporated generates $824k / employee. Alphabet Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Alphabet Inc. and Mastercard Incorporated make money?
Alphabet Inc. and Mastercard Incorporated generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Alphabet Inc.: Alphabet makes money mainly by selling ads against user intent and attention. Mastercard Incorporated: Mastercard earns money in two ways.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Alphabet Inc. or Mastercard Incorporated?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Alphabet Inc. trades at 10.7x P/S and Mastercard Incorporated at 15.1x P/S. Mastercard Incorporated commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Alphabet Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Alphabet Inc. bigger than Mastercard Incorporated?
By last reported revenue, Alphabet Inc. ($402.8B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Mastercard Incorporated ($32.8B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Google vs Mastercard overview