MA vs PANW: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Mastercard Incorporated and Palo Alto Networks, Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-09-26.
Mastercard Incorporated · Financial Services
$574.42
+25.0% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade A-
High Quality
VS
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. · Technology
$374.74
-5.2% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade C
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
MA has more upside to fair value
(+25.0%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MA |
PANW |
| Current Price |
$574.42 |
$374.74 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$718.00 |
$355.11 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+25.0%
|
-5.2%
|
| Market Cap |
$503.8B |
$305.4B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
23.4x
|
569.8x
|
| Price / Sales |
14.4x
|
26.6x
|
| Price / FCF |
30.8x
|
64.0x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+14.1%
|
+34.4%
|
| Gross Margin |
100%
|
70.4%
|
| Operating Margin |
59.8%
|
6.1%
|
| Return on Equity |
232.5%
|
1.7%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.59% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
3.25%
|
1.56%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Strong 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…
Palo Alto Networks is a global cybersecurity leader built around next-generation firewalls, the Panorama management platform, and a broad subscription portfolio spanning threat prevention, cloud security, secure access, and security analytics, sold to medium and large enterprises, service providers, and governments through direct and channel distribution. The business quality is genuinely high on…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MA |
PANW |
| Zone Low |
$538.50 |
$266.33 |
| Zone High |
$610.30 |
$301.84 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
No
|