KO vs MA: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of The Coca-Cola Company and Mastercard Incorporated — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-07-17.
The Coca-Cola Company · Consumer Defensive
$84.92
-10.2% 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.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
KO |
MA |
| Current Price |
$84.92 |
$543.60 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$76.30 |
$788.22 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-10.2%
|
+45.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$365.4B |
$480.3B |
| Forward P/E |
26.6x
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
20.7x
|
23.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
7.4x
|
14.2x
|
| Price / FCF |
29.1x
|
27.1x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+12.1%
|
+15.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
61.7%
|
83.0%
|
| Operating Margin |
29.3%
|
59.4%
|
| Return on Equity |
43.6%
|
206.1%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0.62% |
| FCF Yield |
3.44%
|
3.69%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
Investment Thesis
The Coca-Cola Company is a leading global beverage company specializing in non-alcoholic drinks with a durable competitive moat driven by its strong brand and extensive distribution network. The business quality is high, evidenced by a 43.6% return on equity, robust gross margin of 61.7%, and solid revenue and earnings growth of 12.1% and 17.8% respectively in the most recent quarter. Despite the…
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 |
KO |
MA |
| Zone Low |
$57.22 |
$591.16 |
| Zone High |
$64.85 |
$669.99 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|