ARCC vs BX vs GBDC Stock Comparison

Ares Capital, Blackstone and Golub Capital Bdc Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ARCC Ares Capital Corp
$18.61 -3.1% 1M -7.3% 1Y
Market cap
$13.33B
P/E
13.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.11B
Div. yield
–
Business Development Companies Financial Services
4 wins
BX Blackstone Inc.
$119.08 +0.6% 1M -23.0% 1Y
Market cap
$93.48B
P/E
26.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$16.11B
Div. yield
0.07%
Alternative Asset Managers Financial Services
4 wins
GBDC GOLUB CAPITAL BDC, Inc.
$12.12 -2.7% 1M -14.6% 1Y
Market cap
$3.22B
P/E
18.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$800.71M
Div. yield
0.10%
Business Development Companies Financial Services
2 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Blackstone leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Blackstone 4, Ares Capital 4, Golub Capital Bdc 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionARCCBXGBDCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $13.33B $93.48B $3.22B BX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 13.9x 26.6x 18.7x ARCC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 10.4x 19.6x 9.2x GBDC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.2% +17.2% -8.7% BX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 30.9% 21.8% 21.4% ARCC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 21.6% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.07% 0.10% GBDC
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -7.3% -23.0% -14.6% ARCC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -2.9%/yr -2.7%/yr -5.3%/yr BX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 19.1% 37.4% 20.4% ARCC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 35/100 68/100 67/100 BX

Percentile Scorecard

ARCCBXGBDC

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

AxisARCCBXGBDC
Valuation 19 #138 of 170 75 #46 of 184 63 #64 of 170
Growth 37 #102 of 160 83 #20 of 113 70 #49 of 160
Profitability 35 #98 of 149 81 #26 of 130 92 #13 of 149
Financial Health 59 #66 of 158 54 #77 of 167 55 #72 of 158
Shareholder Returns 27 #99 of 135 45 #42 of 76 58 #57 of 135
Overall 35 68 67
  • ARCC ranked among 175 companies in Lending and Credit
  • BX ranked among 212 companies in Asset and Wealth Management
  • GBDC ranked among 175 companies in Lending and Credit

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodARCCBXGBDCSPY
1 month -3.1%+0.6%-2.7% -0.8%
3 months -1.5%-10.2%-5.9% +3.5%
6 months 0.0%-1.1%-9.6% +7.0%
Year to date -8.0%-22.7%-10.7% +12.2%
1 year -7.3%-23.0%-14.6% +13.0%
3 years -0.3%+32.9%-14.3% +86.3%
3 years, per year -0.1%+9.9%-5.0% +23.1%
5 years -13.7%-12.8%-23.7% +68.6%
5 years, per year -2.9%-2.7%-5.3% +11.0%
10 years +19.7%+369.2%-32.2% +258.0%
10 years, per year +1.8%+16.7%-3.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureARCCBXGBDCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 19.1%37.4%20.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.8%37.6%21.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.621.340.51 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.38-0.61-0.72 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -26.7%-51.5%-31.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -11.5%-27.2%-15.7% -1.8%
52-week high $21.03$163.50$14.37 $779.14
52-week low $17.45$102.12$11.97 $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.

MultipleARCCBXGBDC
P/E now vs peer median 13.9xmedian 11.0x 27.1xmedian 33.6x 18.4xmedian 11.0x
P/S now vs peer median 4.3xmedian 2.6x 5.6xmedian 4.9x 3.9xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 13.1x —median 11.5x —median 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median -19.6xmedian 6.9x 16.3xmedian 13.2x 3.4xmedian 6.9x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 0.7x 4.3xmedian 1.8x 0.9xmedian 0.7x
PEG now vs peer median -2.73median 0.32 0.70median 0.91 -1.52median 0.32

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 monthsARCCBXGBDC
Revenue $3.11B $16.11B $800.71M
Net income $960.00M $6.83B $171.75M
Free cash flow -$680.00M $5.49B $919.64M
EPS (diluted) $1.34 $4.40 $0.66
Cash & equivalents $383.00M $2.51B –
Total debt $15.77B $50.92B $4.54B
Shares (diluted) 718.00M 799.90M 260.45M
Enterprise value $10.77B $83.46B $3.22B

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
MetricARCCBXGBDC
P/E 13.9x 27.1x 18.4x
P/FCF -19.6x 16.3x 3.4x
P/Operating cash flow -19.6x 16.0x 3.4x
P/S 4.3x 5.6x 3.9x
P/B 1.0x 4.3x 0.9x
P/Tangible book 1.0x 4.3x 0.9x
EV/EBITDA – – –
EV/EBIT – 11.7x –
EV/Revenue 9.3x 6.2x 9.6x
EV/FCF -42.3x 18.3x 8.4x
EV/Operating cash flow -42.3x 17.9x 8.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -2.73 0.70 -1.52

Growth

14 metrics
MetricARCCBXGBDC
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.2% 17.2% -8.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.5% 32.3% 12.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – – –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – –
Net income growth (1Y) -29.0% 19.2% -54.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 2.7% 46.7% 1.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -31.3% 20.2% -53.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -5.1% 38.8% -12.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 47.9% 65.6% 258.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -50.4% 14.0% 46.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 47.9% 67.2% 258.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -50.4% 16.0% 46.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricARCCBXGBDC
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin – – –
Operating margin – – –
Pretax margin – 50.1% –
Net margin 30.9% 21.8% 21.4%
FCF margin -21.9% 34.1% 114.9%
Operating cash flow margin -21.9% 34.7% 114.9%
Return on equity – 33.2% –
Return on assets – 13.9% –
Return on invested capital – 21.6% –
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.3x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.7x 0.8x 5.4x
Stock comp / revenue – 9.7% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricARCCBXGBDC
Debt / assets 51.7% 26.4% 54.4%
Debt / equity 1.1x 0.6x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA – – –
Debt / FCF -23.2x 2.4x 4.9x
Liabilities / assets 54.5% 57.8% 55.6%
Equity / assets 45.5% 42.2% 44.4%
Interest coverage – 16.0x –
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricARCCBXGBDC
Dividend yield 10.3% 4.4% 11.4%
Net buyback yield -1.7% 0.3% 2.6%
Shareholder yield 8.6% 4.7% 14.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 93.6% 183.3%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 116.4% 34.2%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 22.0% -25.0%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 7.9% 21.5%

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.

ConsensusARCCBXGBDC
Forward P/E 10.4xFY2026 19.6xFY2026 9.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.79FY2026 $6.07FY2026 $1.32FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -10.9%FY2026 +9.0%FY2026 -15.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +5.0% +25.5% -8.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.89BFY2026 $15.03BFY2026 $746.93MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -5.1%FY2026 +14.9%FY2026 -14.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.8% +27.3% -4.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersARCCBXGBDC
Held by institutions 33.7% 67.3% 46.6%
Institutions holding 780 2,129 318
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.8% +2.8% +2.9%
Institutions buying 379 1,132 156
Institutions selling 254 716 105
Buyers to sellers 1.49 1.58 1.49

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.

ARCCBXGBDC
ARCC 1.00 0.56 0.77
BX 0.56 1.00 0.47
GBDC 0.77 0.47 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ARCC, BX and GBDC?

Blackstone (BX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ares Capital (ARCC) $13.33B, Blackstone (BX) $93.48B, Golub Capital Bdc (GBDC) $3.22B.

Which stock is cheaper, ARCC, BX and GBDC?

Ares Capital (ARCC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ares Capital (ARCC) 13.9x, Blackstone (BX) 26.6x, Golub Capital Bdc (GBDC) 18.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Golub Capital Bdc (GBDC) is cheapest (Ares Capital (ARCC) 10.4x, Blackstone (BX) 19.6x, Golub Capital Bdc (GBDC) 9.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Blackstone (BX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ares Capital (ARCC) +3.2%, Blackstone (BX) +17.2%, Golub Capital Bdc (GBDC) -8.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ares Capital (ARCC) has the highest net margin (Ares Capital (ARCC) 30.9%, Blackstone (BX) 21.8%, Golub Capital Bdc (GBDC) 21.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ares Capital (ARCC) returned the most: Ares Capital (ARCC) -7.3%, Blackstone (BX) -23.0%, Golub Capital Bdc (GBDC) -14.6%. Over five years, Blackstone (BX) compounded fastest (Ares Capital (ARCC) -2.9%/yr, Blackstone (BX) -2.7%/yr, Golub Capital Bdc (GBDC) -5.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Golub Capital Bdc (GBDC) has the highest dividend yield: Ares Capital (ARCC) 0.00%, Blackstone (BX) 0.07%, Golub Capital Bdc (GBDC) 0.10%. Ares Capital (ARCC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ares Capital (ARCC) has been the steadiest (Ares Capital (ARCC) 19.1%, Blackstone (BX) 37.4%, Golub Capital Bdc (GBDC) 20.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ARCC, BX and GBDC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Blackstone (BX) leads on 4. 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.