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 2026-05-13.
Mastercard Incorporated · Financial Services
$499.81
+5.0% upside to fair value
Grade B+
High Quality
VS
Starbucks Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$96.60
-12.3% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B+
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 |
SBUX |
| Current Price |
$499.81 |
$96.60 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$525.00 |
$84.75 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+5.0%
|
-12.3%
|
| Market Cap |
$441.6B |
$110.1B |
| Forward P/E |
28.6x
|
42.2x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
21.3x
|
22.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
13.0x
|
3.0x
|
| Price / FCF |
24.9x
|
45.1x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+15.8%
|
+2.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
83.0%
|
24.2%
|
| Operating Margin |
59.4%
|
9.6%
|
| Return on Equity |
206.1%
|
-22.9%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.6% |
2.55% |
| FCF Yield |
4.01%
|
2.2%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Hold
|
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…
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 |
$393.75 |
$63.56 |
| Zone High |
$446.25 |
$72.04 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|