CAT vs MA: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Caterpillar Inc. and Mastercard Incorporated — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-07-17.
Caterpillar Inc. · Industrials
$940.12
-39.4% 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 |
CAT |
MA |
| Current Price |
$940.12 |
$543.60 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$569.47 |
$788.22 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-39.4%
|
+45.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$433.1B |
$480.3B |
| Forward P/E |
46.6x
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
29.7x
|
23.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
6.1x
|
14.2x
|
| Price / FCF |
37.8x
|
27.1x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+22.2%
|
+15.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
32.5%
|
83.0%
|
| Operating Margin |
16.6%
|
59.4%
|
| Return on Equity |
47.5%
|
206.1%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0.62% |
| FCF Yield |
2.64%
|
3.69%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Hold
|
Strong Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Caterpillar Inc. is a leading global manufacturer of agricultural and construction machinery, operating within the Industrials sector. The company demonstrates high business quality with a durable competitive moat supported by strong brand recognition, cost advantages, and intangible assets. It posted robust revenue growth of 22.2% and earnings growth of 27.3% in the most recent quarter, reflecti…
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 |
CAT |
MA |
| Zone Low |
$427.10 |
$591.16 |
| Zone High |
$484.05 |
$669.99 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|