MA vs V: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Mastercard Incorporated and Visa Inc. — 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
Visa Inc. · Financial Services
$304.36
+37.7% upside to fair value
High Conviction
Grade A-
QuantHub Verdict
V has more upside to fair value
(+37.7%).
V trades at a lower forward P/E
(23.7x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MA |
V |
| Current Price |
$498.66 |
$304.36 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$610.00 |
$419.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+22.3%
|
+37.7%
|
| Market Cap |
$445.0B |
$586.8B |
| Forward P/E |
25.5x
|
23.7x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
22.4x
|
22.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
13.6x
|
14.2x
|
| Price / FCF |
26.0x
|
25.6x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+16.4%
|
+11.3%
|
| Gross Margin |
83.4%
|
81.08%
|
| Operating Margin |
59.2%
|
59.18%
|
| Return on Equity |
198.4%
|
54.22%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.65% |
0.83% |
| FCF Yield |
3.84%
|
3.91%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
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…
Visa is the world's dominant payment network with $40B in net revenue (FY2025), 50%+ net margins, and a capital-light toll-booth model processing $14.2T in annual payment volume across 257.5B transactions. The business compounds at 10-12% revenue CAGR with operating leverage pushing EPS growth to 12-15% over a cycle, funded by $21.6B in annual free cash flow against only $1.5B in capex. At 28.0x …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MA |
V |
| Zone Low |
$460.00 |
$265.00 |
| Zone High |
$515.00 |
$300.00 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
No
|