MA vs PYPL: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Mastercard Incorporated and PayPal Holdings, Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-05-05.
Mastercard Incorporated · Financial Services
$521.30
+95.4% upside to fair value
Grade B
High Quality
VS
PayPal Holdings, Inc. · Financial Services
$50.39
+110.0% upside to fair value
Grade B
QuantHub Verdict
PYPL has more upside to fair value
(+110.0%).
PYPL trades at a lower forward P/E
(9.0x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MA |
PYPL |
| Current Price |
$521.30 |
$50.39 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$1,018.59 |
$105.84 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+95.4%
|
+110.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$465.2B |
$45.3B |
| Forward P/E |
31.2x
|
9.0x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
23.4x
|
6.1x
|
| Price / Sales |
14.2x
|
1.4x
|
| Price / FCF |
27.2x
|
8.2x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+17.6%
|
+3.7%
|
| Gross Margin |
83.4%
|
46.6%
|
| Operating Margin |
59.2%
|
18.3%
|
| Return on Equity |
198.4%
|
25.9%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
3.67%
|
12.27%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Sell
|
Investment Thesis
Mastercard Incorporated operates a leading global payments network and value-added services platform, benefiting from strong secular growth in digital payments and cybersecurity. The company exhibits high business quality with a durable competitive moat supported by network effects, brand strength, and intangible assets. It has demonstrated robust earnings growth with a 21.5% increase in the most…
PayPal Holdings, Inc. operates as a leading digital payments platform offering transaction processing and value-added financial services such as consumer credit and BNPL products. The business quality is medium due to a narrowing competitive moat amid increasing pressure from big tech competitors and slowing growth in its core branded checkout segment. The stock is currently mispriced and cheap, …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MA |
PYPL |
| Zone Low |
$763.94 |
$79.38 |
| Zone High |
$865.80 |
$89.96 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
Yes
|