NU vs PYPL vs MS Stock Comparison

Nu Holdings, PayPal Holdings and Morgan Stanley Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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
3 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
MS Morgan Stanley
$179.49 -9.5% 1M +12.7% 1Y
Market cap
$285.21B
P/E
14.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$78.04B
Div. yield
–
Money Center Banks Financial Services
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Morgan Stanley leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Morgan Stanley 5, PayPal Holdings 3, Nu Holdings 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNUPYPLMSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $60.77B $48.14B $285.21B MS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 16.8x 9.8x 14.6x PYPL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 16.8x 10.3x 13.2x PYPL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +50.5% +5.7% +18.0% NU
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 18.7% 14.4% 25.0% MS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 18.1% 15.9% 12.0% NU
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -2.0x 0.3x 2.9x NU
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -4.7% -18.1% +12.7% MS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — -25.0%/yr +12.0%/yr MS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.2% 43.7% 28.5% MS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 39/100 69/100 39/100 PYPL

Percentile Scorecard

NUPYPLMS

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

AxisNUPYPLMS
Valuation 6 #338 of 361 91 #10 of 98 7 #337 of 361
Growth 79 #73 of 344 63 #35 of 94 88 #44 of 344
Profitability 30 #244 of 348 88 #12 of 90 25 #263 of 348
Financial Health 71 #101 of 340 39 #65 of 105 2 #332 of 340
Shareholder Returns 9 #320 of 352 67 #21 of 62 75 #88 of 352
Overall 39 69 39
  • NU ranked among 370 companies in Banking
  • PYPL ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • MS ranked among 370 companies in Banking

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNUPYPLMSSPY
1 month +11.2%+8.6%-9.5% -1.0%
3 months +7.5%+1.5%-16.3% +2.9%
6 months +4.4%+13.0%-4.6% +6.4%
Year to date -9.5%-2.3%+1.1% +11.4%
1 year -4.7%-18.1%+12.7% +13.1%
3 years +87.5%+5.1%+150.8% +79.4%
3 years, per year +23.3%+1.7%+35.9% +21.5%
5 years —-76.3%+76.3% +67.7%
5 years, per year —-25.0%+12.0% +10.9%
10 years —+29.2%+436.8% +255.2%
10 years, per year —+2.6%+18.3% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureNUPYPLMSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.2%43.7%28.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.7%48.4%29.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.541.031.42 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.11-0.410.45 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -72.1%-84.2%-35.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -19.2%-21.9%-21.5% -2.5%
52-week high $18.76$73.02$228.55 $779.14
52-week low $11.60$39.08$154.37 $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.

MultipleNUPYPLMS
P/E now vs peer median 20.3xmedian 12.5x 10.2xmedian 21.5x 14.3xmedian 12.5x
P/S now vs peer median 3.8xmedian 3.5x 1.4xmedian 2.2x 3.6xmedian 3.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.2xmedian 4.8x 7.4xmedian 15.7x 6.3xmedian 4.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median -53.7xmedian 11.4x 7.5xmedian 16.4x -15.2xmedian 11.4x
P/B now vs peer median 5.5xmedian 1.2x 2.5xmedian 1.9x 2.4xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.03median 1.48 0.68median 1.06 0.49median 1.48

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 monthsNUPYPLMS
Revenue $19.34B $34.13B $78.04B
Gross profit $7.97B – –
Operating income $4.39B $5.95B –
Net income $3.61B $4.90B $20.37B
Free cash flow -$1.36B $6.59B -$18.58B
R&D – $3.25B –
EPS (diluted) $0.74 $5.56 $12.46
Cash & equivalents $13.55B $8.31B $160.14B
Total debt $14.55B $13.40B $392.56B
Shares (diluted) 4.91B 882.00M 1.57B
Enterprise value $4.76B $6.36B -$223.89B

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
MetricNUPYPLMS
P/E 20.3x 10.2x 14.3x
P/FCF -53.7x 7.5x -15.2x
P/Operating cash flow -53.0x 6.6x -18.1x
P/S 3.8x 1.4x 3.6x
P/B 5.5x 2.5x 2.4x
P/Tangible book 5.9x 2.5x 2.5x
EV/EBITDA 14.2x 7.4x 6.3x
EV/EBIT 14.6x 8.6x 6.7x
EV/Revenue 3.3x 1.5x 6.6x
EV/FCF -47.1x 7.8x -27.7x
EV/Operating cash flow -46.5x 6.9x -33.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.03 0.68 0.49

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNUPYPLMS
Revenue growth (1Y) 50.5% 5.7% 18.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 45.8% 6.1% 13.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 42.8% – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 48.4% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 38.6% 1.4% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 132.2% 9.8% –
Net income growth (1Y) 56.9% 4.8% 36.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 260.8% 6.4% 26.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 56.2% 16.1% 40.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 603.5% 15.0% 29.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -135.1% 23.2% 11.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -39.0% 20.1% 27.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -134.5% 24.5% 11.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -38.6% 21.7% 25.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNUPYPLMS
Gross margin 41.2% – –
EBITDA margin 23.4% 20.2% 104.2%
Operating margin 22.7% 17.4% –
Pretax margin 22.7% 17.2% 33.5%
Net margin 18.7% 14.4% 25.0%
FCF margin -7.0% 19.3% -23.8%
Operating cash flow margin -7.1% 21.9% -20.0%
Return on equity 24.5% 24.6% 17.5%
Return on assets 4.0% 6.0% 1.3%
Return on invested capital 18.1% 15.9% 12.0%
Return on capital employed – 17.9% –
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.4x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.4x 1.5x -0.8x
Stock comp / revenue 1.8% 2.9% 2.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNUPYPLMS
Debt / assets 5.7% 16.2% 23.4%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.7x 3.3x
Net debt / EBITDA -2.0x 0.3x 2.9x
Debt / FCF -3.4x 2.0x -21.1x
Liabilities / assets 84.0% 76.0% 93.0%
Equity / assets 16.0% 24.0% 7.0%
Interest coverage 1.2x – 1.5x
Current ratio – 1.3x –
Quick ratio – 0.4x –
Cash ratio – 0.2x –
Altman Z-score – 1.90 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNUPYPLMS
Dividend yield – 1.0% 2.3%
Net buyback yield 0.0% 12.2% 2.6%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 13.2% 4.9%
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.

ConsensusNUPYPLMS
Forward P/E 16.8xFY2026 10.3xFY2026 13.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.90FY2026 $5.55FY2026 $13.63FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +55.2%FY2026 +4.5%FY2026 +33.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.6% -3.1% -4.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $24.04BFY2026 $33.55BFY2026 $79.95BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +52.4%FY2026 +1.1%FY2026 +13.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +23.8% +5.1% +13.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNUPYPLMS
Held by institutions 59.8% 74.2% 85.7%
Institutions holding 854 1,378 2,740
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.3% +0.8% +1.5%
Institutions buying 442 521 1,466
Institutions selling 305 671 939
Buyers to sellers 1.45 0.78 1.56

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.

NUPYPLMS
NU 1.00 0.22 0.33
PYPL 0.22 1.00 0.11
MS 0.33 0.11 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NU, PYPL and MS?

Morgan Stanley (MS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Nu Holdings (NU) $60.77B, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) $48.14B, Morgan Stanley (MS) $285.21B.

Which stock is cheaper, NU, PYPL and MS?

PayPal Holdings (PYPL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Nu Holdings (NU) 16.8x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 9.8x, Morgan Stanley (MS) 14.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) is cheapest (Nu Holdings (NU) 16.8x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 10.3x, Morgan Stanley (MS) 13.2x). 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: Nu Holdings (NU) +50.5%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) +5.7%, Morgan Stanley (MS) +18.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Morgan Stanley (MS) has the highest net margin (Nu Holdings (NU) 18.7%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 14.4%, Morgan Stanley (MS) 25.0%). On return on invested capital, Nu Holdings (NU) leads (Nu Holdings (NU) 18.1%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 15.9%, Morgan Stanley (MS) 12.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Morgan Stanley (MS) returned the most: Nu Holdings (NU) -4.7%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) -18.1%, Morgan Stanley (MS) +12.7%. Over five years, Morgan Stanley (MS) compounded fastest (PayPal Holdings (PYPL) -25.0%/yr, Morgan Stanley (MS) +12.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Morgan Stanley (MS) has been the steadiest (Nu Holdings (NU) 42.2%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 43.7%, Morgan Stanley (MS) 28.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Morgan Stanley (MS) leads on 5. 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.