Author Bio Nicholas has been a writer for the Motley Fool since 2015, covering companies primarily in the consumer goods and technology sectors. He is also the founder and president of Concinnus Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor based in Spokane, WA. He enjoys the outdoors up and down the West Coast with his wife and their Humane Society-rescued dog. Follow @nrossolillo 2020 was a challenging year for Mastercard (NYSE:MA). The steep decline in travel due to COVID-19 adversely affected the digital payment network's results. Full-year revenue and adjusted earnings per share fell by 9% and 17%, respectively. And given that it remains a high-priced stock -- shares traded for 54 times trailing-12-month earnings at Wednesday's close -- Mastercard could be viewed as a risky investment at this juncture.