BFAM vs TAL Stock Comparison

Bright Horizons Family Solutions and TAL Education Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
TAL TAL Education Group
$10.23 -14.8% 1M -18.8% 1Y
Market cap
$5.75B
P/E
6.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.19B
Div. yield
–
Education Services Consumer Discretionary
9 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

TAL Education leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (TAL Education 9). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBFAMTALLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.74B $5.75B TAL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.3x 6.3x TAL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.9x 7.0x TAL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.5% +32.4% TAL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.8% 28.4% TAL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.3% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.8x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -27.0% -18.8% TAL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -14.4%/yr +19.0%/yr TAL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 47.7% 44.3% TAL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 87/100 TAL

Percentile Scorecard

BFAMTAL

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

AxisBFAMTAL
Valuation 31 #23 of 33 88 #5 of 33
Growth 52 #15 of 30 100 #1 of 30
Profitability 50 #15 of 29 86 #5 of 29
Financial Health 24 #30 of 39 74 #11 of 39
Shareholder Returns 100 #1 of 14 –
Overall 51 87
  • BFAM ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services
  • TAL ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodBFAMTALSPY
1 month +11.8%-14.8% -0.8%
3 months -5.4%-3.1% +3.5%
6 months -9.4%-4.5% +7.0%
Year to date -27.4%-6.2% +12.2%
1 year -27.0%-18.8% +13.0%
3 years +2.0%+10.7% +86.3%
3 years, per year +0.7%+3.5% +23.1%
5 years -54.0%+138.5% +68.6%
5 years, per year -14.4%+19.0% +11.0%
10 years +9.9%-20.9% +258.0%
10 years, per year +1.0%-2.3% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureBFAMTALSPY
Volatility, 1Y 47.7%44.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 55.0%41.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.290.62 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.57-0.42 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -67.2%-67.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -32.6%-20.8% -1.8%
52-week high $109.23$12.91 $779.14
52-week low $59.18$8.95 $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.

MultipleBFAMTAL
P/E now vs peer median 21.7xmedian 15.5x 6.4xmedian 15.5x
P/S now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 1.3x 2.0xmedian 1.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.7xmedian 10.1x —median 10.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.4xmedian 14.7x 8.6xmedian 14.7x
P/B now vs peer median 3.8xmedian 2.0x 1.5xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 0.49median 0.35 0.06median 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 monthsBFAMTAL
Revenue $3.03B $3.19B
Gross profit $711.35M $1.79B
Operating income $311.11M $398.90M
Net income $175.04M $906.86M
Free cash flow $235.93M $731.92M
EPS (diluted) $3.38 $1.57
Cash & equivalents $163.69M $1.64B
Total debt $1.29B –
Shares (diluted) 51.76M 578.78M
Enterprise value $3.18B -$7.23B

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
MetricBFAMTAL
P/E 21.7x 6.4x
P/FCF 15.4x 8.6x
P/Operating cash flow 10.9x 8.6x
P/S 1.2x 2.0x
P/B 3.8x 1.5x
P/Tangible book 4.8x 1.6x
EV/EBITDA 11.7x –
EV/EBIT 15.3x 8.6x
EV/Revenue 1.6x 1.1x
EV/FCF 20.1x 4.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.3x 4.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.49 0.06

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBFAMTAL
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.5% 32.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.8% 43.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.7% 37.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 45.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.8% 1,299%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 26.2% 74.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -1.0% 770.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 39.1% 106.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 10.4% 824.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 44.4% 110.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 0.3% 46.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.1% 60.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -2.8% 46.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.2% 60.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBFAMTAL
Gross margin 23.5% 56.0%
EBITDA margin 13.5% –
Operating margin 10.3% 12.5%
Pretax margin 8.6% 28.0%
Net margin 5.8% 28.4%
FCF margin 7.8% 22.9%
Operating cash flow margin 11.0% 22.9%
Return on equity 16.8% 23.1%
Return on assets 4.6% 14.3%
Return on invested capital 9.3% –
Return on capital employed 11.0% 9.6%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.9x 0.8x
Stock comp / revenue 1.0% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBFAMTAL
Debt / assets 34.0% –
Debt / equity 1.4x –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.8x –
Debt / FCF 5.5x –
Liabilities / assets 75.1% 39.7%
Equity / assets 24.9% 60.3%
Interest coverage 6.2x –
Current ratio 0.5x 1.7x
Quick ratio 0.4x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.2x 1.3x
Altman Z-score 2.04 2.39

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBFAMTAL
Dividend yield – –
Net buyback yield 17.5% –
Shareholder yield 17.5% 0.0%
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.

ConsensusBFAMTAL
Forward P/E 13.9xFY2026 7.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.31FY2026 $1.46FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.7%FY2026 +47.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +13.6% -13.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.03BFY2026 $3.66BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.3%FY2026 +21.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.5% +15.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBFAMTAL
Held by institutions 100.0% 41.2%
Institutions holding 384 237
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.2% +11.9%
Institutions buying 205 116
Institutions selling 150 99
Buyers to sellers 1.37 1.17

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.

BFAMTAL
BFAM 1.00 0.00
TAL 0.00 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BFAM and TAL?

TAL Education (TAL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) $3.74B, TAL Education (TAL) $5.75B.

Which stock is cheaper, BFAM and TAL?

TAL Education (TAL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 21.3x, TAL Education (TAL) 6.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, TAL Education (TAL) is cheapest (Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 13.9x, TAL Education (TAL) 7.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

TAL Education (TAL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) +8.5%, TAL Education (TAL) +32.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

TAL Education (TAL) has the highest net margin (Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 5.8%, TAL Education (TAL) 28.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year TAL Education (TAL) returned the most: Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) -27.0%, TAL Education (TAL) -18.8%. Over five years, TAL Education (TAL) compounded fastest (Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) -14.4%/yr, TAL Education (TAL) +19.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, TAL Education (TAL) has been the steadiest (Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) 47.7%, TAL Education (TAL) 44.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do BFAM and TAL move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of -0.00, a negative relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, BFAM and TAL?

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