ARMK vs CTAS vs GFAI Stock Comparison

Aramark, Cintas and Guardforce AI Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ARMK Aramark
$56.02 +2.9% 1M +43.3% 1Y
Market cap
$14.11B
P/E
36.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$19.85B
Div. yield
0.01%
Facility Services Industrials
4 wins
CTAS Cintas Corp
$218.07 +10.3% 1M +18.6% 1Y
Market cap
$88.02B
P/E
42.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$11.56B
Div. yield
0.01%
Facility Services Industrials
7 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Cintas leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Cintas 7, Aramark 4, Guardforce AI 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionARMKCTASGFAILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $14.11B $88.02B $3.84M CTAS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 36.8x 42.7x — ARMK
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.1x 37.3x 1.5x GFAI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +11.0% +9.5% — ARMK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 1.9% 17.8% — CTAS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.8% 28.2% — CTAS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 4.1x 0.7x — CTAS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.01% 0.00% ARMK
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +43.3% +18.6% -81.1% ARMK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +9.0%/yr +15.0%/yr -72.6%/yr CTAS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 26.5% 23.7% 93.8% CTAS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 45/100 61/100 — CTAS

Percentile Scorecard

ARMKCTASGFAI

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

AxisARMKCTASGFAI
Valuation 46 #62 of 113 21 #90 of 113 –
Growth 85 #15 of 96 73 #27 of 96 –
Profitability 44 #51 of 91 99 #2 of 91 –
Financial Health 19 #99 of 122 69 #38 of 122 93 #10 of 122
Shareholder Returns 32 #45 of 66 43 #38 of 66 –
Overall 45 61 –
  • ARMK ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • CTAS ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • GFAI ranked among 130 companies in Business Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodARMKCTASGFAISPY
1 month +2.9%+10.3%-40.6% +0.7%
3 months -2.2%+5.5%-38.7% +3.7%
6 months +22.6%+24.8%-66.6% +7.1%
Year to date +52.0%+16.0%-65.9% +12.8%
1 year +43.3%+18.6%-81.1% +11.9%
3 years +109.3%+73.5%-94.0% +85.2%
3 years, per year +27.9%+20.2%-60.9% +22.8%
5 years +53.6%+101.4%-99.8% +67.6%
5 years, per year +9.0%+15.0%-72.6% +10.9%
10 years +52.1%+723.4%— +262.0%
10 years, per year +4.3%+23.5%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureARMKCTASGFAISPY
Volatility, 1Y 26.5%23.7%93.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 23.4%23.9%93.1% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.630.102.53 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.630.78-0.86 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -46.4%-28.2%-99.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -10.2%-3.5%-81.1% -1.2%
52-week high $62.39$225.93$1.01 $779.14
52-week low $36.04$163.55$0.19 $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.

MultipleARMKCTASGFAI
P/E now vs peer median 38.6xmedian 21.9x 42.3xmedian 21.9x —median 21.9x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 0.9x 7.5xmedian 0.9x —median 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.7xmedian 11.9x 27.8xmedian 11.9x —median 11.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 34.1xmedian 14.4x 42.8xmedian 14.4x —median 14.4x
P/B now vs peer median 4.3xmedian 2.4x 16.7xmedian 2.4x 0.2xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median -3.29median 0.97 2.79median 0.97 —median 0.97

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 monthsARMKCTASGFAI
Revenue $19.85B $11.56B –
Gross profit $1.69B $5.89B –
Operating income $870.70M $2.70B –
Net income $382.71M $2.06B –
Free cash flow $432.81M $2.03B –
EPS (diluted) $1.43 $5.10 –
Cash & equivalents $499.43M $243.60M $21.30M
Total debt $6.13B $2.43B –
Shares (diluted) 268.54M 404.29M 21.92M
Enterprise value $12.06B $87.11B -$179.64M

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
MetricARMKCTASGFAI
P/E 38.6x 42.3x –
P/FCF 34.1x 42.8x –
P/Operating cash flow 16.2x 35.8x –
P/S 0.7x 7.5x –
P/B 4.3x 16.7x 0.2x
P/Tangible book 10.0x 17.7x 0.2x
EV/EBITDA 14.7x 27.8x –
EV/EBIT 23.4x 33.1x –
EV/Revenue 1.0x 7.7x –
EV/FCF 47.1x 43.9x –
EV/Operating cash flow 22.4x 36.7x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.29 2.79 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricARMKCTASGFAI
Revenue growth (1Y) 11.0% 9.5% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 13.3% 8.7% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.6% 11.5% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 25.2% 11.2% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 9.8% 11.8% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 30.2% 13.2% –
Net income growth (1Y) 5.8% 11.3% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) -11.1% 14.3% –
EPS growth (1Y) 4.6% 12.7% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) -11.7% 15.2% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 18.7% 14.8% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 68.3% 14.4% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 54.2% 19.5% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 77.8% 17.4% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricARMKCTASGFAI
Gross margin 8.5% 51.0% –
EBITDA margin 7.0% 27.8% –
Operating margin 4.4% 23.4% –
Pretax margin 2.6% 22.5% –
Net margin 1.9% 17.8% –
FCF margin 2.2% 17.6% –
Operating cash flow margin 4.6% 21.1% –
Return on equity 11.5% 39.8% –
Return on assets 2.8% 19.5% –
Return on invested capital 6.8% 28.2% –
Return on capital employed 8.0% 34.2% –
Asset turnover 1.4x 1.1x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.4x 1.2x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 1.1% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricARMKCTASGFAI
Debt / assets 43.9% 22.8% –
Debt / equity 1.8x 0.5x –
Net debt / EBITDA 4.1x 0.7x –
Debt / FCF 14.2x 1.2x –
Liabilities / assets 75.7% 51.1% 30.7%
Equity / assets 24.3% 48.9% 69.3%
Interest coverage – 25.3x –
Current ratio 1.3x 1.5x 5.2x
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.7x 4.8x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.1x 3.8x
Altman Z-score 2.60 13.42 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricARMKCTASGFAI
Dividend yield 0.9% 0.9% –
Net buyback yield 0.3% 1.1% –
Shareholder yield 1.2% 2.0% –
Payout ratio (earnings) 32.0% 35.2% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 28.3% 35.6% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 12.9% 14.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 2.3% 15.5% –

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.

ConsensusARMKCTASGFAI
Forward P/E 26.1xFY2026 37.3xFY2026 1.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.15FY2026 $5.85FY2026 $0.13FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.8%FY2026 +18.4%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +21.9% +10.4% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $21.42BFY2026 $12.98BFY2026 $40.46MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +15.7%FY2026 +15.3%FY2026 +14.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.7% +6.8% +158.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersARMKCTASGFAI
Held by institutions 99.0% 67.6% –
Institutions holding 545 1,432 –
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.1% +6.4% –
Institutions buying 321 659 –
Institutions selling 157 576 –
Buyers to sellers 2.04 1.14 –

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.

ARMKCTASGFAI
ARMK 1.00 0.26 0.14
CTAS 0.26 1.00 0.04
GFAI 0.14 0.04 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ARMK, CTAS and GFAI?

Cintas (CTAS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Aramark (ARMK) $14.11B, Cintas (CTAS) $88.02B, Guardforce AI (GFAI) $3.84M.

Which stock is cheaper, ARMK, CTAS and GFAI?

Aramark (ARMK) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Aramark (ARMK) 36.8x, Cintas (CTAS) 42.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Guardforce AI (GFAI) is cheapest (Aramark (ARMK) 26.1x, Cintas (CTAS) 37.3x, Guardforce AI (GFAI) 1.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Aramark (ARMK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Aramark (ARMK) +11.0%, Cintas (CTAS) +9.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Cintas (CTAS) has the highest net margin (Aramark (ARMK) 1.9%, Cintas (CTAS) 17.8%). On return on invested capital, Cintas (CTAS) leads (Aramark (ARMK) 6.8%, Cintas (CTAS) 28.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Aramark (ARMK) returned the most: Aramark (ARMK) +43.3%, Cintas (CTAS) +18.6%, Guardforce AI (GFAI) -81.1%. Over five years, Cintas (CTAS) compounded fastest (Aramark (ARMK) +9.0%/yr, Cintas (CTAS) +15.0%/yr, Guardforce AI (GFAI) -72.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Aramark (ARMK) has the highest dividend yield: Aramark (ARMK) 0.01%, Cintas (CTAS) 0.01%, Guardforce AI (GFAI) 0.00%. Guardforce AI (GFAI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cintas (CTAS) has been the steadiest (Aramark (ARMK) 26.5%, Cintas (CTAS) 23.7%, Guardforce AI (GFAI) 93.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ARMK, CTAS and GFAI?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Cintas (CTAS) leads on 7. 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.