SBUX vs TTD: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Starbucks Corporation and The Trade Desk, Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-09-18.
Starbucks Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$96.67
+12.3% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade C
VS
The Trade Desk, Inc. · Communication Services
$14.26
-1.8% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade C
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
SBUX has more upside to fair value
(+12.3%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
SBUX |
TTD |
| Current Price |
$96.67 |
$14.26 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$108.52 |
$14.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+12.3%
|
-1.8%
|
| Market Cap |
$110.2B |
$6.7B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
22.0x
|
7.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
2.9x
|
2.2x
|
| Price / FCF |
30.4x
|
7.8x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
-1.4%
|
+3.0%
|
| Gross Margin |
31.7%
|
83.0%
|
| Operating Margin |
9.4%
|
19.6%
|
| Return on Equity |
-24.3%
|
16.1%
|
| Dividend Yield |
2.57% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
3.29%
|
12.89%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Hold
|
Investment Thesis
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%, …
The Trade Desk operates a self-service, cloud-based demand-side platform that lets advertising agencies and their advertiser clients plan, buy and optimize data-driven digital campaigns across display, video, audio, native, social and connected TV, with 3,843 employees and a founder-led management team. Business quality is genuinely high on the unit economics: TTM gross margin of 83.0%, TTM opera…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
SBUX |
TTD |
| Zone Low |
$81.39 |
$10.50 |
| Zone High |
$92.24 |
$11.90 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|