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 2026-09-18.
Mastercard Incorporated · Financial Services
$574.42
+25.0% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade A-
High Quality
VS
Starbucks Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$96.67
+12.3% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade C
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 |
SBUX |
| Current Price |
$574.42 |
$96.67 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$718.00 |
$108.52 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+25.0%
|
+12.3%
|
| Market Cap |
$503.8B |
$110.2B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
23.4x
|
22.0x
|
| Price / Sales |
14.4x
|
2.9x
|
| Price / FCF |
30.8x
|
30.4x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+14.1%
|
-1.4%
|
| Gross Margin |
100%
|
31.7%
|
| Operating Margin |
59.8%
|
9.4%
|
| Return on Equity |
232.5%
|
-24.3%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.59% |
2.57% |
| FCF Yield |
3.25%
|
3.29%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
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…
Starbucks is the world's largest specialty coffee retailer, operating company-owned and licensed coffeehouses across North America, International, and Channel Development segments, with a brand that has historically supported premium pricing and global scale. The business quality is currently strained: revenue declined 1.4% year over year in the most recent quarter, TTM operating margin is 9.4%, …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MA |
SBUX |
| Zone Low |
$538.50 |
$81.39 |
| Zone High |
$610.30 |
$92.24 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
No
|