KO vs MA: Which Is the Better Buy?

Side-by-side comparison of The Coca-Cola Company and Mastercard Incorporated โ€” fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals. Updated 2026-09-16.
The Coca-Cola Company ยท Consumer Defensive
$88.71
+15.5% upside to fair value
Med Conviction Grade C High Quality
VS
Mastercard Incorporated ยท Financial Services
$574.42
+25.0% upside to fair value
Med Conviction Grade A- High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
MA has more upside to fair value (+25.0%). These are model outputs โ€” not personalized investment advice. See all research โ†’
Valuation & Fundamentals
Metric KO MA
Current Price $88.71 $574.42
Fair Value Estimate $102.44 $718.00
Upside to Fair Value +15.5% +25.0%
Market Cap $381.7B $503.8B
Forward P/E โ€” โ€”
EV / EBITDA 20.8x 23.4x
Price / Sales 7.6x 14.4x
Price / FCF 26.7x 30.8x
Revenue Growth YoY +6.7% +14.1%
Gross Margin 61.9% 100%
Operating Margin 29.6% 59.8%
Return on Equity 43.0% 232.5%
Dividend Yield 2.37% 0.59%
FCF Yield 3.75% 3.25%
Analyst Consensus Strong Buy Strong Buy
Investment Thesis
KO โ€” The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is a global non-alcoholic beverage concentrate, brand-management and bottling-system business with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories, supported by powerful trademarks, 2.2 billion daily servings and an entrenched distribution network. Business quality is high: TTM gross, operating and net margins are 61.9%, 29.6% and 28.6%, respectively, ROE is 43.0%, โ€ฆ
MA โ€” Mastercard Incorporated
Mastercard operates a global payments network that connects issuers, acquirers, merchants and consumers across more than 200 countries and territories, monetizing payment volumes, cross-border activity and higher-growth value-added services. Business quality is high because its two-sided network, trusted authorization-clearing-settlement infrastructure, brand, security capabilities and broad acceโ€ฆ
Accumulation Zones
Metric KO MA
Zone Low $76.83 $538.50
Zone High $87.07 $610.30
In Buy Zone? No Yes
โ† KO Research    MA Research โ†’    All Research