CRCL vs NU vs PYPL Stock Comparison

Circle Internet, Nu Holdings and PayPal Holdings Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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NU Nu Holdings Ltd.
$15.15 +11.2% 1M -4.7% 1Y
Market cap
$60.77B
P/E
16.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$19.34B
Div. yield
–
Money Center Banks Financial Services
7 wins
PYPL PayPal Holdings, Inc.
$57.02 +8.6% 1M -18.1% 1Y
Market cap
$48.14B
P/E
9.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$34.13B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
3 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Nu Holdings leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Nu Holdings 7, PayPal Holdings 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCRCLNUPYPLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $19.79B $60.77B $48.14B NU
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 43.9x 16.8x 9.8x PYPL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 83.4x 16.8x 10.3x PYPL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +37.2% +50.5% +5.7% NU
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.5% 18.7% 14.4% NU
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.2% 18.1% 15.9% NU
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -2.0x 0.3x NU
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -33.9% -4.7% -18.1% NU
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — — -25.0%/yr –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 95.2% 42.2% 43.7% NU
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 46/100 39/100 69/100 PYPL

Percentile Scorecard

CRCLNUPYPL

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

AxisCRCLNUPYPL
Valuation 46 #53 of 97 6 #338 of 361 91 #10 of 98
Growth 96 #4 of 69 79 #73 of 344 63 #35 of 94
Profitability 42 #41 of 70 30 #244 of 348 88 #12 of 90
Financial Health 29 #72 of 101 71 #101 of 340 39 #65 of 105
Shareholder Returns 15 #34 of 40 9 #320 of 352 67 #21 of 62
Overall 46 39 69
  • CRCL ranked among 112 companies in Capital Markets
  • NU ranked among 370 companies in Banking
  • PYPL ranked among 109 companies in Fintech

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCRCLNUPYPLSPY
1 month -6.3%+11.2%+8.6% -1.0%
3 months +37.7%+7.5%+1.5% +2.9%
6 months -13.8%+4.4%+13.0% +6.4%
Year to date +8.3%-9.5%-2.3% +11.4%
1 year -33.9%-4.7%-18.1% +13.1%
3 years —+87.5%+5.1% +79.4%
3 years, per year —+23.3%+1.7% +21.5%
5 years ——-76.3% +67.7%
5 years, per year ——-25.0% +10.9%
10 years ——+29.2% +255.2%
10 years, per year ——+2.6% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCRCLNUPYPLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 95.2%42.2%43.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 91.4%43.7%48.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.871.541.03 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.36-0.11-0.41 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -80.9%-72.1%-84.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -40.1%-19.2%-21.9% -2.5%
52-week high $143.29$18.76$73.02 $779.14
52-week low $50.23$11.60$39.08 $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.

MultipleCRCLNUPYPL
P/E now vs peer median 47.2xmedian 29.4x 20.3xmedian 12.5x 10.2xmedian 21.5x
P/S now vs peer median 6.9xmedian 2.8x 3.8xmedian 3.5x 1.4xmedian 2.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 57.1xmedian 12.8x 14.2xmedian 4.8x 7.4xmedian 15.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.3xmedian 15.9x -53.7xmedian 11.4x 7.5xmedian 16.4x
P/B now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 2.5x 5.5xmedian 1.2x 2.5xmedian 1.9x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.51 0.03median 1.48 0.68median 1.06

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 monthsCRCLNUPYPL
Revenue $2.91B $19.34B $34.13B
Gross profit $1.18B $7.97B –
Operating income $215.57M $4.39B $5.95B
Net income $451.26M $3.61B $4.90B
Free cash flow $761.52M -$1.36B $6.59B
R&D – – $3.25B
EPS (diluted) $1.68 $0.74 $5.56
Cash & equivalents $1.73B $13.55B $8.31B
Total debt $185.92M $14.55B $13.40B
Shares (diluted) 268.64M 4.91B 882.00M
Enterprise value $13.67B $4.76B $6.36B

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
MetricCRCLNUPYPL
P/E 47.2x 20.3x 10.2x
P/FCF 26.3x -53.7x 7.5x
P/Operating cash flow 25.8x -53.0x 6.6x
P/S 6.9x 3.8x 1.4x
P/B 5.7x 5.5x 2.5x
P/Tangible book 6.5x 5.9x 2.5x
EV/EBITDA 57.1x 14.2x 7.4x
EV/EBIT 85.0x 14.6x 8.6x
EV/Revenue 6.3x 3.3x 1.5x
EV/FCF 24.1x -47.1x 7.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 23.6x -46.5x 6.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.03 0.68

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCRCLNUPYPL
Revenue growth (1Y) 37.2% 50.5% 5.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 45.8% 6.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 47.0% 42.8% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 48.4% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 228.3% 38.6% 1.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 132.2% 9.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 231.5% 56.9% 4.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 260.8% 6.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 152.6% 56.2% 16.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 603.5% 15.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 48.5% -135.1% 23.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -39.0% 20.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 52.0% -134.5% 24.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -38.6% 21.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCRCLNUPYPL
Gross margin 40.5% 41.2% –
EBITDA margin 11.0% 23.4% 20.2%
Operating margin 7.4% 22.7% 17.4%
Pretax margin 13.8% 22.7% 17.2%
Net margin 15.5% 18.7% 14.4%
FCF margin 26.2% -7.0% 19.3%
Operating cash flow margin 26.7% -7.1% 21.9%
Return on equity 13.0% 24.5% 24.6%
Return on assets 0.6% 4.0% 6.0%
Return on invested capital 6.2% 18.1% 15.9%
Return on capital employed 4.1% – 17.9%
Asset turnover 0.0x 0.2x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x -0.4x 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue 7.7% 1.8% 2.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCRCLNUPYPL
Debt / assets – 5.7% 16.2%
Debt / equity – 0.4x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA – -2.0x 0.3x
Debt / FCF – -3.4x 2.0x
Liabilities / assets 95.5% 84.0% 76.0%
Equity / assets 4.5% 16.0% 24.0%
Interest coverage – 1.2x –
Current ratio 1.0x – 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.0x – 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.0x – 0.2x
Altman Z-score 0.23 – 1.90

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCRCLNUPYPL
Dividend yield – – 1.0%
Net buyback yield -2.7% 0.0% 12.2%
Shareholder yield -2.7% 0.0% 13.2%
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.

ConsensusCRCLNUPYPL
Forward P/E 83.4xFY2026 16.8xFY2026 10.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.03FY2026 $0.90FY2026 $5.55FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +55.2%FY2026 +4.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +47.6% +15.6% -3.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.22BFY2026 $24.04BFY2026 $33.55BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +16.9%FY2026 +52.4%FY2026 +1.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +24.3% +23.8% +5.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCRCLNUPYPL
Held by institutions 52.3% 59.8% 74.2%
Institutions holding 562 854 1,378
Change in shares held, QoQ +11.4% +0.3% +0.8%
Institutions buying 380 442 521
Institutions selling 120 305 671
Buyers to sellers 3.17 1.45 0.78

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.

CRCLNUPYPL
CRCL 1.00 0.22 0.26
NU 0.22 1.00 0.22
PYPL 0.26 0.22 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CRCL, NU and PYPL?

Nu Holdings (NU) is the largest by market capitalisation: Circle Internet (CRCL) $19.79B, Nu Holdings (NU) $60.77B, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) $48.14B.

Which stock is cheaper, CRCL, NU and PYPL?

PayPal Holdings (PYPL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Circle Internet (CRCL) 43.9x, Nu Holdings (NU) 16.8x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 9.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) is cheapest (Circle Internet (CRCL) 83.4x, Nu Holdings (NU) 16.8x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 10.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Nu Holdings (NU) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Circle Internet (CRCL) +37.2%, Nu Holdings (NU) +50.5%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) +5.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Nu Holdings (NU) has the highest net margin (Circle Internet (CRCL) 15.5%, Nu Holdings (NU) 18.7%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 14.4%). On return on invested capital, Nu Holdings (NU) leads (Circle Internet (CRCL) 6.2%, Nu Holdings (NU) 18.1%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 15.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nu Holdings (NU) returned the most: Circle Internet (CRCL) -33.9%, Nu Holdings (NU) -4.7%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) -18.1%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Nu Holdings (NU) has been the steadiest (Circle Internet (CRCL) 95.2%, Nu Holdings (NU) 42.2%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 43.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CRCL, NU and PYPL?

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