MA vs MAR: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Mastercard Incorporated and Marriott International, Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-07-20.
Mastercard Incorporated · Financial Services
$543.60
+45.0% upside to fair value
High Conviction
Grade A
High Quality
VS
Marriott International, Inc. · Consumer Cyclical
$366.24
-3.4% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade C
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 |
MA |
MAR |
| Current Price |
$543.60 |
$366.24 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$788.22 |
$353.64 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+45.0%
|
-3.4%
|
| Market Cap |
$480.3B |
$96.6B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
23.3x
|
23.8x
|
| Price / Sales |
14.2x
|
3.7x
|
| Price / FCF |
27.1x
|
31.6x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+15.8%
|
+6.2%
|
| Gross Margin |
83.0%
|
21.4%
|
| Operating Margin |
59.4%
|
16.0%
|
| Return on Equity |
206.1%
|
-74.1%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.62% |
0.75% |
| FCF Yield |
3.69%
|
3.17%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Hold
|
Investment Thesis
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…
Marriott International is a global asset-light hotel franchisor, manager and licensor whose high-quality brands, nearly 283 million Bonvoy members, more than 9,900 properties across 146 countries and record 4,107-property development pipeline create meaningful network, distribution and brand advantages. Q1 2026 demonstrated resilient underlying fee economics: adjusted revenue excluding cost-reimb…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MA |
MAR |
| Zone Low |
$591.16 |
$265.23 |
| Zone High |
$669.99 |
$300.59 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
No
|