MA vs MCD: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Mastercard Incorporated and McDonald's Corporation — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-09-16.
Mastercard Incorporated · Financial Services
$574.42
+25.0% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade A-
High Quality
VS
McDonald's Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$252.78
+40.7% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade A
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
MCD has more upside to fair value
(+40.7%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MA |
MCD |
| Current Price |
$574.42 |
$252.78 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$718.00 |
$355.71 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+25.0%
|
+40.7%
|
| Market Cap |
$503.8B |
$179.6B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
23.4x
|
15.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
14.4x
|
6.5x
|
| Price / FCF |
30.8x
|
23.1x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+14.1%
|
+3.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
100%
|
57.4%
|
| Operating Margin |
59.8%
|
45.8%
|
| Return on Equity |
232.5%
|
-561.2%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.59% |
2.94% |
| FCF Yield |
3.25%
|
4.32%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Buy
|
Investment Thesis
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 acce…
McDonald's operates a globally scaled, approximately 95% franchised restaurant system with 46,028 restaurants in more than 100 countries, combining a powerful consumer brand, real-estate-backed franchise economics, supplier scale and digital loyalty reach. Business quality is high despite meaningful leverage: TTM gross, operating and net margins are 57.4%, 45.8% and 31.7%, respectively, while loy…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MA |
MCD |
| Zone Low |
$538.50 |
$266.78 |
| Zone High |
$610.30 |
$302.35 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
Yes
|