AAPL vs MA: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Apple Inc. and Mastercard Incorporated — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-05-13.
Apple Inc. · Technology
$294.80
-9.3% upside to fair value
Grade B-
High Quality
VS
Mastercard Incorporated · Financial Services
$499.81
+5.0% upside to fair value
Grade B+
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
MA has more upside to fair value
(+5.0%).
MA trades at a lower forward P/E
(28.6x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
AAPL |
MA |
| Current Price |
$294.80 |
$499.81 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$267.40 |
$525.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-9.3%
|
+5.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$4,329.8B |
$441.6B |
| Forward P/E |
35.4x
|
28.6x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
27.3x
|
21.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
9.6x
|
13.0x
|
| Price / FCF |
33.5x
|
24.9x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+16.6%
|
+15.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
47.9%
|
83.0%
|
| Operating Margin |
32.6%
|
59.4%
|
| Return on Equity |
146.7%
|
206.1%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.34% |
0.6% |
| FCF Yield |
2.98%
|
4.01%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Apple Inc. is the world's most valuable consumer technology company, anchored by the iPhone franchise and a roughly $100 billion annual Services business that compounds at a low-to-mid teens rate on an installed base of approximately 2.5 billion active devices. Fiscal Q2 2026 results reported on April 30 showed revenue of $111.2 billion (+16.6% YoY) and EPS of $2.02 (+22.4% YoY), driven by a cont…
Mastercard is one of two global payment network duopolists alongside Visa, with structurally high margins (83% gross, 59% operating, 46% net), powerful network effects, and durable secular tailwinds from the ongoing cash-to-card and card-to-digital migration. Q1 2026 results reported April 30 showed revenue of $8.40 billion (+15.8% YoY) and EPS of $4.35 (+20.8% YoY), driven by continued cross-bor…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
AAPL |
MA |
| Zone Low |
$200.50 |
$393.75 |
| Zone High |
$227.30 |
$446.25 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|