MA vs UNH: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Mastercard Incorporated and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated — 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
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated · Healthcare
$375.21
+28.2% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
UNH has more upside to fair value
(+28.2%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MA |
UNH |
| Current Price |
$574.42 |
$375.21 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$718.00 |
$481.06 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+25.0%
|
+28.2%
|
| Market Cap |
$503.8B |
$340.7B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
23.4x
|
15.0x
|
| Price / Sales |
14.4x
|
0.8x
|
| Price / FCF |
30.8x
|
14.4x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+14.1%
|
+0.4%
|
| Gross Margin |
100%
|
22.5%
|
| Operating Margin |
59.8%
|
4.8%
|
| Return on Equity |
232.5%
|
14.6%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.59% |
2.41% |
| FCF Yield |
3.25%
|
6.95%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Strong 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…
UnitedHealth Group is the largest diversified healthcare enterprise in the United States, operating UnitedHealthcare insurance plans alongside Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx, with 390,000 employees and a market capitalization of $340.74 billion. The business quality is high: a 14.6% return on equity, $26.07 in free cash flow per share, and a P/FCF of 14.39 demonstrate strong cash gener…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MA |
UNH |
| Zone Low |
$538.50 |
$360.80 |
| Zone High |
$610.30 |
$408.90 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
Yes
|