AMAT vs MA: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Applied Materials, Inc. and Mastercard Incorporated — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-07-17.
Applied Materials, Inc. · Technology
$603.04
-45.0% upside to fair value
Grade C
High Quality
VS
Mastercard Incorporated · Financial Services
$543.60
+45.0% upside to fair value
High Conviction
Grade A
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
MA has more upside to fair value
(+45.0%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
AMAT |
MA |
| Current Price |
$603.04 |
$543.60 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$331.67 |
$788.22 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-45.0%
|
+45.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$478.8B |
$480.3B |
| Forward P/E |
56.4x
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
43.0x
|
23.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
16.5x
|
14.2x
|
| Price / FCF |
80.3x
|
27.1x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+11.4%
|
+15.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
49.0%
|
83.0%
|
| Operating Margin |
29.5%
|
59.4%
|
| Return on Equity |
39.8%
|
206.1%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0.62% |
| FCF Yield |
1.25%
|
3.69%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Applied Materials, Inc. is a leading semiconductor equipment company with a strong competitive moat in multiple wafer fab equipment segments, driven by its scale, infrastructure, and technology leadership in AI-critical process steps. The company benefits from a seasoned management team led by CEO Gary Dickerson, who has over 12 years at the helm and a track record of strong revenue and profitabi…
Mastercard operates a global two-sided payments network that connects issuers, acquirers, merchants and cardholders, monetizing payment volumes and an expanding set of security, data, authentication and other value-added services. Business quality is high: the network benefits from powerful acceptance and scale effects, 83.0% gross margin, 59.4% operating margin, 45.9% net margin, 206.1% ROE, and…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
AMAT |
MA |
| Zone Low |
$248.75 |
$591.16 |
| Zone High |
$281.92 |
$669.99 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|