12 Best Stocks to Buy in 2025 for Beginners

Page 8 of 11

4. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

10-year Revenue CAGR: 11.51%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 131

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is a technology company that provides payment solutions for developing and implementing debit, credit, prepaid, commercial, and payment programs via its brands. Its portfolio includes Mastercard, Cirrus, and Maestro. The company also offers intelligence and cyber solutions.

In fiscal Q3 2024, it grew net revenue by 14% and adjusted net income by 13% compared to a year ago. This growth was attributed to healthy consumer spending, including strong cross-border volume growth of 15% year over year (on a local currency basis). Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is benefiting from a supportive macroeconomic environment, supported by strength in consumer spending.

The company is focusing on executing its growth algorithm and is optimistic about its growth outlook. It plans to tap into the sizeable secular shift to electronic payments, penetrate the addressable market in new payment and commercial flows, and gain market share by growing its value-added services and solutions. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) takes the fourth spot on our list of the 12 best stocks for beginners in 2025.

Montaka Global Investments stated the following regarding Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

“Montaka owns several duopolists in the financial services industry, including Visa and Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in payments; and S&P Global in credit ratings and financial data services. These businesses have competitively protected and reliably growing core businesses. But they also have newer, high-probability adjacent opportunities. The market, however, is underappreciating this powerful combination, in our view.

For Visa and Mastercard, their core businesses in global payment processing are being complemented by significant growth in two areas:

  • New processing opportunities in peer-to-peer, business-to-business, business-to-consumer, and government-to-consumer payments; and

  • Value-added services, including risk, fraud-detection, issuance, acceptance, and open banking.”

Page 8 of 11