COST vs MA: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Costco Wholesale Corporation and Mastercard Incorporated — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-05-13.
Costco Wholesale Corporation · Consumer Defensive
$999.89
-20.7% upside to fair value
Grade D
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.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
COST |
MA |
| Current Price |
$999.89 |
$499.81 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$793.02 |
$525.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-20.7%
|
+5.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$443.6B |
$441.6B |
| Forward P/E |
51.9x
|
28.6x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
30.9x
|
21.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.6x
|
13.0x
|
| Price / FCF |
48.8x
|
24.9x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+9.2%
|
+15.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
12.9%
|
83.0%
|
| Operating Margin |
3.8%
|
59.4%
|
| Return on Equity |
28.8%
|
206.1%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0.6% |
| FCF Yield |
2.05%
|
4.01%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Costco Wholesale Corporation operates a global membership-based warehouse club model that leverages scale, low costs, and superior employee retention to deliver consistent revenue and earnings growth. The company reported $269.9 billion in net sales for fiscal 2025 with an 8% year-over-year increase, driven by strong segments in Foods and Sundries and membership fees exceeding $5.65 billion in th…
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 |
COST |
MA |
| Zone Low |
$594.76 |
$393.75 |
| Zone High |
$674.07 |
$446.25 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|