AAPL vs MA vs META Stock Comparison

Apple, Mastercard and Meta Platforms Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AAPL Apple Inc.
$343.91 +0.8% 1M +30.9% 1Y
Market cap
$5.09T
P/E
39.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$466.82B
Div. yield
–
Smartphones and Wearables Technology
6 wins
MA Mastercard Inc
$613.59 +8.1% 1M +7.0% 1Y
Market cap
$538.39B
P/E
33.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.08B
Div. yield
–
Payment Networks Financial Services
2 wins
META Meta Platforms, Inc.
$630.56 -16.1% 1M -14.6% 1Y
Market cap
$1.58T
P/E
21.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$241.61B
Div. yield
–
Social Media Technology
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Apple leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Apple 6, Meta Platforms 3, Mastercard 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAAPLMAMETALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.09T $538.39B $1.58T AAPL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 39.5x 33.1x 21.0x META
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 37.3x 29.2x 22.0x META
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.2% +16.0% +27.5% META
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 27.6% 46.3% — MA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 66.9% 59.0% — AAPL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.1x 0.6x — AAPL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +30.9% +7.0% -14.6% AAPL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +18.2%/yr +12.8%/yr +15.1%/yr AAPL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 24.2% 22.7% 42.9% MA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 54/100 52/100 50/100 AAPL

Percentile Scorecard

AAPLMAMETA

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAAPLMAMETA
Valuation 24 #85 of 111 14 #815 of 947 33 #112 of 167
Growth 65 #38 of 108 66 #238 of 691 66 #52 of 153
Profitability 95 #6 of 104 99 #8 of 673 68 #49 of 153
Financial Health 33 #78 of 115 50 #379 of 754 60 #73 of 179
Shareholder Returns 55 #37 of 81 34 #474 of 713 23 #73 of 94
Overall 54 52 50
  • AAPL ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • MA ranked among 1,011 companies in Financial Services
  • META ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAAPLMAMETASPY
1 month +0.8%+8.1%-16.1% -0.8%
3 months +2.1%+11.2%+6.2% +3.5%
6 months +28.5%+21.2%-7.1% +7.0%
Year to date +26.5%+7.5%-4.5% +12.2%
1 year +30.9%+7.0%-14.6% +13.0%
3 years +104.4%+68.5%+112.5% +86.3%
3 years, per year +26.9%+19.0%+28.6% +23.1%
5 years +131.0%+82.8%+102.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year +18.2%+12.8%+15.1% +11.0%
10 years +1,090.1%+494.4%+381.2% +258.0%
10 years, per year +28.1%+19.5%+17.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAAPLMAMETASPY
Volatility, 1Y 24.2%22.7%42.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.8%22.6%43.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.550.261.54 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.280.31-0.34 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.4%-28.6%-74.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.2%-3.0%-18.9% -1.8%
52-week high $348.22$632.81$777.59 $779.14
52-week low $246.63$471.55$525.72 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAAPLMAMETA
P/E now vs peer median 39.1xmedian 32.0x 33.3xmedian 13.1x 21.3xmedian 17.5x
P/S now vs peer median 10.8xmedian 2.8x 15.2xmedian 3.2x 6.6xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 30.0xmedian 19.4x 22.7xmedian 6.9x —median 14.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 36.8xmedian 29.0x 32.0xmedian 10.9x 45.9xmedian 12.1x
P/B now vs peer median 46.7xmedian 2.9x 95.2xmedian 1.2x 5.9xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 2.92median 1.13 1.70median 0.88 0.57median 0.41

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAAPLMAMETA
Revenue $466.82B $35.08B $241.61B
Gross profit $227.12B – –
Operating income $154.86B $20.47B $79.38B
Net income $128.93B $16.26B $75.25B
Free cash flow $136.68B $16.70B –
R&D $42.90B – $76.54B
EPS (diluted) $8.76 $18.41 $29.33
Cash & equivalents $39.54B $11.29B $12.54B
Total debt $84.34B $81.59B –
Shares (diluted) 14.71B 883.00M 2.57B
Enterprise value $4.84T $498.31B $1.58T

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAAPLMAMETA
P/E 39.1x 33.3x 21.3x
P/FCF 36.8x 32.0x 45.9x
P/Operating cash flow 34.2x 30.6x 12.1x
P/S 10.8x 15.2x 6.6x
P/B 46.7x 95.2x 5.9x
P/Tangible book 61.2x 3,685x 5.9x
EV/EBITDA 30.0x 22.7x –
EV/EBIT 32.6x 26.8x –
EV/Revenue 10.8x 15.6x 6.6x
EV/FCF 36.9x 32.8x –
EV/Operating cash flow 34.4x 31.4x 12.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.92 1.70 0.57

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAAPLMAMETA
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.2% 16.0% 27.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 6.7% 14.1% 23.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 19.1% – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 10.8% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 18.9% 21.3% -3.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 11.3% 16.1% 29.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 29.9% 19.7% 28.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 10.8% 16.7% 36.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 31.9% 23.2% 28.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.4% 19.5% 37.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 35.1% 2.9% 23.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 9.1% 14.6% 26.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 42.1% 0.9% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.6% 14.4% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAAPLMAMETA
Gross margin 48.7% – –
EBITDA margin 36.0% 68.6% –
Operating margin 33.2% 58.3% –
Pretax margin 33.4% 57.5% –
Net margin 27.6% 46.3% –
FCF margin 29.3% 47.6% –
Operating cash flow margin 31.4% 49.7% 55.1%
Return on equity 120.5% 263.6% 28.2%
Return on assets 34.2% 29.5% 16.2%
Return on invested capital 66.9% 59.0% –
Return on capital employed 68.0% 68.1% –
Asset turnover 1.2x 0.6x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 1.1x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue 2.9% 1.8% 11.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAAPLMAMETA
Debt / assets 22.0% 42.7% –
Debt / equity 0.8x 4.4x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.1x 0.6x –
Debt / FCF 0.6x 1.5x –
Liabilities / assets 71.9% 90.3% 43.1%
Equity / assets 28.1% 9.7% 56.9%
Interest coverage – 27.4x –
Current ratio 1.0x 1.1x 1.9x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.7x –
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.5x –
Altman Z-score 13.53 10.19 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAAPLMAMETA
Dividend yield 0.3% 0.6% 0.3%
Net buyback yield 1.6% 2.9% –
Shareholder yield 1.9% 3.5% 0.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAAPLMAMETA
Forward P/E 37.3xFY2026 29.2xFY2026 22.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $9.22FY2026 $20.99FY2026 $28.64FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +23.6%FY2026 +23.4%FY2026 +21.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +8.6% +14.7% +25.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $464.04BFY2026 $38.99BFY2026 $260.77BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +11.5%FY2026 +18.9%FY2026 +29.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +17.8% +0.4% +23.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAAPLMAMETA
Held by institutions 66.0% 88.6% 77.0%
Institutions holding 6,126 3,581 5,030
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.6% +0.6% +3.6%
Institutions buying 2,797 1,587 2,679
Institutions selling 2,926 1,526 1,896
Buyers to sellers 0.96 1.04 1.41

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AAPLMAMETA
AAPL 1.00 0.17 0.11
MA 0.17 1.00 0.20
META 0.11 0.20 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AAPL, MA and META?

Apple (AAPL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Apple (AAPL) $5.09T, Mastercard (MA) $538.39B, Meta Platforms (META) $1.58T.

Which stock is cheaper, AAPL, MA and META?

Meta Platforms (META) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Apple (AAPL) 39.5x, Mastercard (MA) 33.1x, Meta Platforms (META) 21.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Meta Platforms (META) is cheapest (Apple (AAPL) 37.3x, Mastercard (MA) 29.2x, Meta Platforms (META) 22.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Meta Platforms (META) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Apple (AAPL) +14.2%, Mastercard (MA) +16.0%, Meta Platforms (META) +27.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mastercard (MA) has the highest net margin (Apple (AAPL) 27.6%, Mastercard (MA) 46.3%). On return on invested capital, Apple (AAPL) leads (Apple (AAPL) 66.9%, Mastercard (MA) 59.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Apple (AAPL) returned the most: Apple (AAPL) +30.9%, Mastercard (MA) +7.0%, Meta Platforms (META) -14.6%. Over five years, Apple (AAPL) compounded fastest (Apple (AAPL) +18.2%/yr, Mastercard (MA) +12.8%/yr, Meta Platforms (META) +15.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mastercard (MA) has been the steadiest (Apple (AAPL) 24.2%, Mastercard (MA) 22.7%, Meta Platforms (META) 42.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AAPL, MA and META?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Apple (AAPL) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.