MA vs SBUX: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Mastercard Incorporated and Starbucks Corporation — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-04-11.
Mastercard Incorporated · Financial Services
$498.66
+22.3% upside to fair value
High Conviction
Grade A-
VS
Starbucks Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$96.60
+19.0% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B+
QuantHub Verdict
MA has more upside to fair value
(+22.3%).
MA trades at a lower forward P/E
(25.5x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MA |
SBUX |
| Current Price |
$498.66 |
$96.60 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$610.00 |
$115.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+22.3%
|
+19.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$445.0B |
$110.1B |
| Forward P/E |
25.5x
|
42.2x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
22.4x
|
22.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
13.6x
|
3.0x
|
| Price / FCF |
26.0x
|
45.1x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+16.4%
|
+2.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
83.4%
|
24.2%
|
| Operating Margin |
59.2%
|
9.6%
|
| Return on Equity |
198.4%
|
-22.9%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.65% |
2.55% |
| FCF Yield |
3.84%
|
2.2%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Hold
|
Investment Thesis
Mastercard operates one of the world's two dominant payment networks, processing over $9 trillion in gross dollar volume annually across 220+ countries. The business generates 83% gross margins and 46% net margins with zero credit risk because Mastercard never lends money, only collecting tolls on every transaction. Value-Added Services (analytics, fraud prevention, cybersecurity) now comprise 41…
Starbucks is the world's largest specialty coffee retailer with over 39,000 stores across 86 markets, generating $37.2B in annual revenue. Under CEO Brian Niccol, now 19 months into his tenure after joining from Chipotle in September 2024, the company is executing the Back to Starbucks operational turnaround focused on service speed, menu simplification, and store experience reinvention. At P/S 2…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MA |
SBUX |
| Zone Low |
$460.00 |
$88.00 |
| Zone High |
$515.00 |
$98.00 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
Yes
|