AFYA vs BFAM Stock Comparison

Afya and Bright Horizons Family Solutions Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AFYA Afya Ltd
$10.64 -18.2% 1M -27.7% 1Y
Market cap
$979.85M
P/E
4.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.06B
Div. yield
–
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
9 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Afya leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (Afya 9, Bright Horizons Family Solutions 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAFYABFAMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $979.85M $3.62B BFAM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 4.3x 20.7x AFYA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 6.7x 13.9x AFYA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +71.8% +8.5% AFYA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 21.2% 5.8% AFYA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 36.4% 9.3% AFYA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 2.8x AFYA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -27.7% -27.0% BFAM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.9%/yr -14.4%/yr AFYA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.7% 47.7% AFYA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 83/100 51/100 AFYA

Percentile Scorecard

AFYABFAM

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

AxisAFYABFAM
Valuation 97 #2 of 33 31 #23 of 33
Growth 93 #3 of 30 52 #15 of 30
Profitability 100 #1 of 29 50 #15 of 29
Financial Health 84 #7 of 39 24 #30 of 39
Shareholder Returns 39 #9 of 14 100 #1 of 14
Overall 83 51
  • AFYA ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • BFAM ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAFYABFAMSPY
1 month -18.2%+11.8% -0.8%
3 months -25.1%-5.4% +3.5%
6 months -23.5%-9.4% +7.0%
Year to date -31.0%-27.4% +12.2%
1 year -27.7%-27.0% +13.0%
3 years -33.5%+2.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year -12.7%+0.7% +23.1%
5 years -37.1%-54.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year -8.9%-14.4% +11.0%
10 years —+9.9% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+1.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAFYABFAMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.7%47.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 61.2%55.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.23-0.29 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.59-0.57 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -52.4%-67.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -32.9%-32.6% -1.8%
52-week high $15.86$109.23 $779.14
52-week low $10.64$59.18 $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.

MultipleAFYABFAM
P/E now vs peer median 4.3xmedian 15.5x 21.7xmedian 15.5x
P/S now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 1.3x 1.2xmedian 1.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 10.1x 11.7xmedian 10.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 3.8xmedian 14.7x 15.4xmedian 14.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 2.0x 3.8xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 0.08median 0.35 0.49median 0.35

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 monthsAFYABFAM
Revenue $1.06B $3.03B
Gross profit $689.46M $711.35M
Operating income $356.83M $311.11M
Net income $169.05M $175.04M
Free cash flow $256.07M $235.93M
EPS (diluted) $2.48 $3.38
Cash & equivalents $194.24M $163.69M
Total debt $596.89M $1.29B
Shares (diluted) 91.27M 51.76M
Enterprise value -$198.05M $3.07B

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
MetricAFYABFAM
P/E 4.3x 21.7x
P/FCF 3.8x 15.4x
P/Operating cash flow 3.3x 10.9x
P/S 0.9x 1.2x
P/B 1.0x 3.8x
P/Tangible book -7.7x 4.8x
EV/EBITDA 1.9x 11.7x
EV/EBIT 2.2x 15.3x
EV/Revenue 0.7x 1.6x
EV/FCF 3.1x 20.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 2.7x 14.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.08 0.49

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAFYABFAM
Revenue growth (1Y) 71.8% 8.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 28.4% 10.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 72.4% 7.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 30.4% 12.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 77.9% 8.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 38.0% 26.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 26.4% -1.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 30.2% 39.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 86.9% 10.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 50.9% 44.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 9.2% 0.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 16.8% 11.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 1.5% -2.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 18.9% 14.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAFYABFAM
Gross margin 64.7% 23.5%
EBITDA margin 40.1% 13.5%
Operating margin 33.5% 10.3%
Pretax margin 24.1% 8.6%
Net margin 21.2% 5.8%
FCF margin 24.0% 7.8%
Operating cash flow margin 27.6% 11.0%
Return on equity 24.8% 16.8%
Return on assets 12.7% 4.6%
Return on invested capital 36.4% 9.3%
Return on capital employed 21.7% 11.0%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x 1.9x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAFYABFAM
Debt / assets 1.4% 34.0%
Debt / equity 0.0x 1.4x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 2.8x
Debt / FCF 0.1x 5.5x
Liabilities / assets 47.2% 75.1%
Equity / assets 52.8% 24.9%
Interest coverage 7.3x 6.2x
Current ratio 2.2x 0.5x
Quick ratio 2.1x 0.4x
Cash ratio 1.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 2.48 2.04

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAFYABFAM
Dividend yield 6.2% –
Net buyback yield -4.2% 17.5%
Shareholder yield 2.0% 17.5%
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.

ConsensusAFYABFAM
Forward P/E 6.7xFY2026 13.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.58FY2026 $5.31FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -11.2%FY2026 +16.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.5% +13.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $708.15MFY2026 $3.03BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +5.2%FY2026 +3.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.9% +2.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAFYABFAM
Held by institutions 12.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 54 384
Change in shares held, QoQ -5.2% -1.2%
Institutions buying 21 205
Institutions selling 19 150
Buyers to sellers 1.11 1.37

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.

AFYABFAM
AFYA 1.00 0.08
BFAM 0.08 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AFYA and BFAM?

Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Afya (AFYA) $979.85M, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) $3.62B.

Which stock is cheaper, AFYA and BFAM?

Afya (AFYA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Afya (AFYA) 4.3x, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 20.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Afya (AFYA) is cheapest (Afya (AFYA) 6.7x, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 13.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Afya (AFYA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Afya (AFYA) +71.8%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) +8.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Afya (AFYA) has the highest net margin (Afya (AFYA) 21.2%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 5.8%). On return on invested capital, Afya (AFYA) leads (Afya (AFYA) 36.4%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 9.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) returned the most: Afya (AFYA) -27.7%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) -27.0%. Over five years, Afya (AFYA) compounded fastest (Afya (AFYA) -8.9%/yr, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) -14.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Afya (AFYA) has been the steadiest (Afya (AFYA) 46.7%, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 47.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do AFYA and BFAM move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.08, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, AFYA and BFAM?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Afya (AFYA) leads on 9. 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.