MA, V, or XYZ: Which Fintech Stock Is Wall Street's Best Pick?
Macro uncertainty, geopolitical concerns, and increased competition could impact consumer spending and weigh on the performance of fintech stocks. Last week, fears about retail giants considering the launch of their own stablecoins dragged down stocks of fintech giants. Nonetheless, analysts believe in the resilience of several fintech stocks. With this backdrop in mind, we used TipRanks' Stock Comparison Tool to place Mastercard (MA), Visa (V), and Block (XYZ) against each other to find the best fintech stock, according to Wall Street analysts.
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Mastercard (NYSE:MA)
Mastercard boasts a vast payments network and a solid brand name. MA stock has risen about 8% so far in 2025. The payments processing behemoth reported a 9% growth in its gross dollar volume (on a local currency basis) to $2.4 trillion in the first quarter of 2025.
The company is focused on innovation to drive further growth. It launched Mastercard Agent Pay, its new Agentic Payments Program, and will work with companies like Microsoft (MSFT) and OpenAI. Mastercard has also entered into a strategic partnership with Corpay to offer an enhanced suite of corporate cross-border payment solutions.
Mastercard sees its value-added services, which complement its core payments network, as a key growth driver. Interestingly, 85% of the company's value-added services and solutions revenues are recurring in nature, presenting a stable baseline for growth. Despite ongoing macro challenges, Mastercard remains confident about delivering a resilient performance, supported by its diversified business model.
Is Mastercard Stock a Good Buy?
On Friday, Visa and Mastercard stocks declined 5% each in reaction to a Wall Street Journal report that retail giants Amazon (AMZN) and Walmart (WMT) are exploring issuing their own stablecoins to shift high volumes of transactions outside the traditional financial system and save billions of dollars in fees.
Reacting to the news, Barclays analyst Ramsey El Assal reiterated a Buy rating on Mastercard stock with a price target of $650 and a Buy rating on Visa stock with a price target of $396.
While Assal sees notable potential in stablecoin technology and remains optimistic about its broader applications, he believes retail payments will be a challenging area for adoption. He contends that the concerns about the impact on Visa and Mastercard are exaggerated. Assal stated that he views any related weakness as a buying opportunity.
With 20 Buys and three Holds, Mastercard stock scores a Strong Buy consensus rating. At $639.10, the average MA stock price target indicates 12.4% upside potential from current levels.
See more MA analyst ratings
Visa (NYSE:V)
Payments processing giant Visa delivered a resilient performance in the March quarter despite a challenging macro backdrop. The company reported market-beating results for the second quarter of Fiscal 2025 (ended March 31, 2025), with payments volume rising 7.5% (constant currency basis) to $3.34 trillion.
Visa's Q2 FY25 revenue was supported by strength in cross-border volume and processed transactions. Despite macro challenges, the company is confident about generating solid performance, driven by its strategy across key offerings, a diversified business model, and a focus on innovation.
Is Visa Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Following a Wall Street Journal article on Amazon (AMZN) and Walmart's (WMT) potential issue of their own stablecoins, William Blair analyst Andrew Jeffrey encouraged investors to accumulate shares of Visa and Mastercard on pullback, as he does not believe that stablecoins are well suited for B2C commerce, even as merchants view them as a potential means of lowering card acceptance costs.
Jeffrey's opinion is backed by three reasons. Firstly, consumers are habituated to the ease of use and security of traditional cards. Secondly, there is no stablecoin standard. Lastly, Visa and Mastercard are building stablecoin infrastructure that can support commerce on their platforms, which can help them to continue partnering with banks for issuance while bringing down merchants' acceptance costs.
Overall, Visa stock scores a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 24 Buys and four Holds. The average VISA stock price target of $388.85 indicates 9.4% upside potential from current levels. VISA stock has risen about 12.5% so far this year.
Block (NYSE:XYZ)
Fintech company Block operates two ecosystems: Square for addressing merchants' financial needs and Cash App for peer-to-peer payments. It is also growing its Bitcoin (BTC-USD) platform and recently announced the launch of Bitcoin payments on Square. XYZ stock has risen 12.4% over the past month, but is still down about 24% so far in 2025 due to concerns over a slowdown in growth amid intense competition. Last month, Block reported dismal earnings for the first quarter of 2025 and lowered its full-year gross profit outlook, citing weak consumer spending due to macro woes and lower-than-anticipated inflows in what is generally seen to be a strong tax refund season.
In the Q1 shareholder letter, management mentioned the recent deceleration in growth and stated that they expect Cash App gross profit growth and overall Block gross profit growth to 'significantly accelerate' starting in the third quarter. The company said that it expects the rollout of Cash App Borrow to more customers and an increase in Borrow limits to drive gross profit growth through increased originations and enhanced unit economics.
Is XYZ Stock a Good Buy?
Earlier this month, Evercore analyst Adam Frisch upgraded Block Stock to Buy from Hold and increased the price target to $75 from $58.
Frisch thinks that the initial concerns around Block's aggressive lending following its first-quarter earnings have eased. He believes that the company's lending strategy is more balanced than feared, given a diversified risk profile and controlled expansion, especially within Cash App Borrow. Frisch also noted that low-end consumer spending remains stable, supported by steady unemployment deposits and steady payment activity.
The analyst noted recent product launches at Square, including new hardware and a consolidated app, as favorable indications of development efficiency following an internal reorganization. He expects the revamped sales efforts and product improvements to drive Square's growth. Frisch thinks that XYZ stock is attractively valued compared to its peers and historical multiples.
Turning to Wall Street, Block stock scores a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 29 Buys, eight Holds, and two Sell recommendations. The average XYZ stock price target of $66.25 indicates a modest upside potential of 2.2% from current levels.
See more XYZ analyst ratings
Conclusion
Wall Street is bullish on Visa and Mastercard stocks and cautiously optimistic on Block. Analysts see a slightly higher upside potential in Mastercard stock than in Visa stock. They are confident about continued growth in Mastercard, driven by its extensive network, dominant position, innovation, and strength in value-added services.
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