HON vs MA: Which Is the Better Buy?

Side-by-side comparison of Honeywell International Inc. and Mastercard Incorporated โ€” fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals. Updated 2026-04-11.
Honeywell International Inc. ยท Industrials
$235.04
-9.9% upside to fair value
Med Conviction Grade B
VS
Mastercard Incorporated ยท Financial Services
$498.66
+22.3% upside to fair value
High Conviction Grade A-
QuantHub Verdict
MA has more upside to fair value (+22.3%). HON trades at a lower forward P/E (22.3x). These are model outputs โ€” not personalized investment advice. See all research โ†’
Valuation & Fundamentals
Metric HON MA
Current Price $235.04 $498.66
Fair Value Estimate $211.73 $610.00
Upside to Fair Value -9.9% +22.3%
Market Cap $149.4B $445.0B
Forward P/E 22.3x 25.5x
EV / EBITDA 16.9x 22.4x
Price / Sales 4.0x 13.6x
Price / FCF 27.7x 26.0x
Revenue Growth YoY -2.7% +16.4%
Gross Margin 36.9% 83.4%
Operating Margin 17.7% 59.2%
Return on Equity 33.28% 198.4%
Dividend Yield 1.92% 0.65%
FCF Yield 3.61% 3.84%
Analyst Consensus Buy Strong Buy
Investment Thesis
HON โ€” Honeywell International Inc.
Honeywell is a diversified industrial conglomerate in the final stages of a transformative three-way separation into Honeywell Aerospace, Solstice Advanced Materials, and a retained Automation entity, targeting Q3 2026 completion. The business generated 33% ROE and $5.4B in free cash flow on $37.4B revenue in FY2025, supported by a record $37B backlog with 23% organic order growth in Q4. At $235 โ€ฆ
MA โ€” Mastercard Incorporated
Mastercard operates one of the world's two dominant payment networks, processing over $9 trillion in gross dollar volume annually across 220+ countries. The business generates 83% gross margins and 46% net margins with zero credit risk because Mastercard never lends money, only collecting tolls on every transaction. Value-Added Services (analytics, fraud prevention, cybersecurity) now comprise 41โ€ฆ
Accumulation Zones
Metric HON MA
Zone Low $158.80 $460.00
Zone High $179.97 $515.00
In Buy Zone? No Yes
โ† HON Research    MA Research โ†’    All Research