Item 6. [Reserved]

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Item 6. [Reserved]

45 MASTERCARD 2024 FORM 10-K

PART II

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Item 7. Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes of Mastercard Incorporated and its consolidated subsidiaries, including Mastercard International Incorporated (together, “Mastercard” or the “Company”), included elsewhere in this Report. Percentage changes provided throughout “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” were calculated on amounts rounded to the nearest thousand. For discussion related to the results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022, please see Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Business Overview

Mastercard is a technology company in the global payments industry. We connect consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments, digital partners, businesses and other organizations worldwide by enabling electronic payments and making those payment transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. We make payments easier and more efficient by providing a wide range of payment solutions and services using our family of well-known and trusted brands, including Mastercard®, Maestro® and Cirrus®. We operate a payments network that provides choice and flexibility for consumers, merchants and our customers. Through our unique and proprietary global payments network, we switch (authorize, clear and settle) payment transactions. We have additional payments capabilities that include automated clearing house (“ACH”) transactions (both batch and real-time account-based payments). Using these capabilities, we offer consumer and commercial payment products, capture new payment flows and provide services and solutions. These services and solutions include, among others, security solutions, consumer acquisition and engagement services, and business and market insights, all of which draw on our principled and responsible use of secure data. Our capabilities strengthen, reinforce and complement each other and are fundamentally interdependent. For our global payments network, our franchise model sets the standards and ground-rules that balance value and risk across all stakeholders and allows for interoperability among them. We employ a multi-layered approach to help protect the global payments ecosystem in which we operate.

Mastercard is not a financial institution. We do not issue cards, extend credit, determine or receive revenue from interest rates or other fees charged to account holders by issuers (the account holders’ financial institutions), or establish the rates charged by acquirers (the merchants’ financial institutions) in connection with merchants’ acceptance of our products. In most cases, account holder relationships belong to, and are managed by, our customers.

Financial Results Overview

The following table provides a summary of our key GAAP operating results, as reported:

Years ended December 31,2024 Increase/ (Decrease)2023 Increase/ (Decrease)
202420232022
(in millions, except percentages and per share data)
Net revenue$28,167$25,098$22,23712%13%
Operating expenses$12,585$11,090$9,97313%11%
Operating income$15,582$14,008$12,26411%14%
Operating margin55.3%55.8%55.2%(0.5) ppt0.7 ppt
Income tax expense$2,380$2,444$1,802(3)%36%
Effective income tax rate15.6%17.9%15.4%(2.3) ppt2.6 ppt
Net income$12,874$11,195$9,93015%13%
Diluted earnings per share$13.89$11.83$10.2217%16%
Diluted weighted-average shares outstanding927946971(2)%(3)%

Note: Table may not sum due to rounding.

MASTERCARD 2024 FORM 10-K 46

PART II

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following table provides a summary of our key non-GAAP operating results1, adjusted to exclude the impact of gains and losses on our equity investments, Special Items (which represent litigation judgments and settlements and certain one-time items) and the related tax impacts on our non-GAAP adjustments. In addition, we have presented growth rates, adjusted for the impact of currency:

Years ended December 31,2024 Increase/(Decrease)2023 Increase/(Decrease)
202420232022As adjustedCurrency-neutralAs adjustedCurrency-neutral
($ in millions, except per share data)
Adjusted net revenue 2$28,167$25,098$22,20012%13%13%13%
Adjusted operating expenses$11,714$10,551$9,54911%11%10%11%
Adjusted operating margin58.4%58.0%57.0%0.4 ppt0.7 ppt1.0 ppt0.9 ppt
Adjusted effective income tax rate16.2%18.5%15.7%(2.3) ppt(2.2) ppt2.8 ppt2.7 ppt
Adjusted net income$13,541$11,607$10,34217%18%12%12%
Adjusted diluted earnings per share$14.60$12.26$10.6519%21%15%15%

Note: Table may not sum due to rounding.

1 See “Non-GAAP Financial Information” for further information on our non-GAAP adjustments and the reconciliation to GAAP reported amounts.

2For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, the amounts presented are GAAP reported amounts, not adjusted.

Key highlights for 2024 as compared to 2023 were as follows:

Net revenue
GAAPNon-GAAP (currency-neutral)Both the as-reported and currency-neutral net revenue increase was attributable to growth in our payment network and value-added services and solutions.
up 12%up 13%
Operating expensesAdjusted operating expenses
GAAPNon-GAAP (currency-neutral)The as-reported operating expenses increase was primarily due to higher general and administrative expenses and litigation provisions. The as-adjusted operating expenses increase was primarily due to higher general and administrative expenses.
up 13%up 11%
Effective income tax rateAdjusted effective income tax rate
GAAPNon-GAAPBoth the as-reported and as-adjusted effective income tax rates were lower than the prior year rates primarily due to the establishment of a valuation allowance in 2023, partially offset by our ability in 2023 to claim more U.S. foreign tax credits generated in 2022 and 2023. Additionally, a change in our geographic mix of earnings in 2024 contributed to the lower effective income tax rate compared to the prior year.
15.6%16.2%
down 2.3 pptdown 2.3 ppt

Other 2024 financial highlights were as follows:

  • We generated net cash flows from operations of $14.8 billion.

  • We completed the acquisitions of businesses for total consideration of $2.8 billion.

  • We repurchased 23.0 million shares of our common stock for $11.0 billion and paid dividends of $2.4 billion.

  • We completed debt offerings for an aggregate principal amount of $4.0 billion.

47 MASTERCARD 2024 FORM 10-K

PART II

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Non-GAAP Financial Information

Non-GAAP financial information is defined as a numerical measure of a company’s performance that excludes or includes amounts so as to be different than the most comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). As described more fully below, our non-GAAP financial measures exclude the impact of gains and losses on our equity investments, which includes mark-to-market fair value adjustments, impairments and gains and losses upon disposition, as well as the related tax impacts. Our non-GAAP financial measures also exclude the impact of special items, where applicable, which represent litigation judgments and settlements and certain one-time items, as well as the related tax impacts (“Special Items”). We also present growth rates adjusted for the impact of currency, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. We believe that the non-GAAP financial measures presented facilitate an understanding of our operating performance and provide a meaningful comparison of our results between periods. We use non-GAAP financial measures to, among other things, evaluate our ongoing operations in relation to historical results, for internal planning and forecasting purposes and in the calculation of performance-based compensation. We excluded these items because management evaluates the underlying operations and performance of the Company separately from these recurring and nonrecurring items. Net revenue, operating expenses, operating margin, other income (expense), effective income tax rate, net income and diluted earnings per share adjusted for the impact of gains and losses on our equity investments, Special Items and/or the impact of currency should not be relied upon as substitutes for measures calculated in accordance with GAAP.

Our non-GAAP financial measures for the comparable periods exclude the impact of the following:

Gains and Losses on Equity Investments

  • During 2024, 2023 and 2022, we recorded net pre-tax losses of $29 million ($25 million after tax, or $0.03 per diluted share), $61 million ($36 million after tax, or $0.04 per diluted share) and $145 million ($126 million after tax, or $0.13 per diluted share), respectively. These net losses were primarily related to unrealized fair market value adjustments on marketable and nonmarketable equity securities.

Special Items

Litigation provisions

  • During 2024, we recorded pre-tax charges of $680 million ($495 million after tax, or $0.53 per diluted share), primarily as a result of a legal provision associated with the U.K. consumer class action settlement, settlements with a number of U.K. merchants and a change in estimate related to the claims of merchants who opted out of the U.S. merchant class litigation.

  • During 2023, we recorded pre-tax charges of $539 million ($376 million after tax, or $0.40 per diluted share), primarily as a result of changes in the estimate related to the claims of merchants who opted out of the U.S. merchant class litigation and settlements with a number of U.K. and Pan-European merchants.

  • During 2022, we recorded pre-tax charges of $356 million ($263 million after tax, or $0.27 per diluted share), primarily as a result of settlements (both final and agreements in principle) with a number of U.K. merchants and a change in estimate related to the claims of merchants who opted out of the U.S. merchant class litigation.

Restructuring charge

  • During 2024, we recorded a restructuring charge of $190 million ($147 million after tax, or $0.16 per diluted share). The restructuring action is intended to streamline our organization, delivering efficiencies to enable reinvestment in our business to support the realization of our long-term growth opportunities.

Russia-related impacts

  • During 2022, we recorded a net pre-tax charge of $30 million ($24 million after tax, or $0.02 per diluted share), directly related to imposed sanctions and the suspension of our business operations in Russia. The net charge was comprised of general and administrative expenses of $67 million, primarily related to incremental employee-related costs and reserves on uncollectible balances with certain sanctioned customers. This charge was offset by net benefits of $37 million in net revenue, primarily related to a reduction in payment network rebates and incentives liabilities as a result of lower estimates of customer performance for certain customer business agreements due to the suspension of our business operations in Russia.

See Note 7 (Investments) and Note 21 (Legal and Regulatory Proceedings) to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Report for further discussion related to certain of the items discussed above.

MASTERCARD 2024 FORM 10-K 48

PART II

Previous: Item 5. Market for registrant’s common equity, related stockholder matters and issuer purchases of equity securities · Next: Item 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS