MA vs PLTR: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Mastercard Incorporated and Palantir Technologies Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-05-13.
Mastercard Incorporated · Financial Services
$499.81
+5.0% upside to fair value
Grade B+
High Quality
VS
Palantir Technologies Inc. · Technology
$133.79
-41.7% upside to fair value
Grade C
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
MA has more upside to fair value
(+5.0%).
MA trades at a lower forward P/E
(28.6x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MA |
PLTR |
| Current Price |
$499.81 |
$133.79 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$525.00 |
$78.04 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+5.0%
|
-41.7%
|
| Market Cap |
$441.6B |
$306.6B |
| Forward P/E |
28.6x
|
140.4x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
21.3x
|
151.4x
|
| Price / Sales |
13.0x
|
58.7x
|
| Price / FCF |
24.9x
|
114.0x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+15.8%
|
+84.7%
|
| Gross Margin |
83.0%
|
84.1%
|
| Operating Margin |
59.4%
|
38.1%
|
| Return on Equity |
206.1%
|
32.2%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.6% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
4.01%
|
0.88%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Mastercard is one of two global payment network duopolists alongside Visa, with structurally high margins (83% gross, 59% operating, 46% net), powerful network effects, and durable secular tailwinds from the ongoing cash-to-card and card-to-digital migration. Q1 2026 results reported April 30 showed revenue of $8.40 billion (+15.8% YoY) and EPS of $4.35 (+20.8% YoY), driven by continued cross-bor…
Palantir Technologies Inc. is a high-growth enterprise software company specializing in data analytics and intelligence platforms for government and commercial clients. The company benefits from a durable competitive moat through its established government contracts, proprietary platforms Gotham and Foundry, and expanding commercial footprint. Palantir's revenue grew 84.7% year-over-year in the m…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MA |
PLTR |
| Zone Low |
$393.75 |
$58.53 |
| Zone High |
$446.25 |
$66.33 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|