NU vs PYPL vs SAN Stock Comparison

Nu Holdings, PayPal Holdings and Banco Santander Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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NU Nu Holdings Ltd.
$12.59 -7.3% 1M -20.5% 1Y
Market cap
$60.85B
P/E
16.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$19.34B
Div. yield
–
Money Center Banks Financial Services
2 wins
PYPL PayPal Holdings, Inc.
$54.99 -0.1% 1M -21.2% 1Y
Market cap
$47.40B
P/E
9.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$34.13B
Div. yield
1.02%
Payment Processing Technology
2 wins
SAN Banco Santander, S.A.
$12.38 -14.1% 1M +28.0% 1Y
Market cap
$181.85B
P/E
9.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$70.35B
Div. yield
2.26%
Money Center Banks Financial Services
8 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Banco Santander leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Banco Santander 8, PayPal Holdings 2, Nu Holdings 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNUPYPLSANLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $60.85B $47.40B $181.85B SAN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 16.9x 9.8x 9.7x SAN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 14.0x 9.9x 11.3x PYPL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +50.5% +5.7% +7.4% NU
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 18.7% 14.4% 26.9% SAN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 18.1% 15.9% — NU
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -2.0x 0.3x -103.6x SAN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 1.02% 2.26% SAN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -20.5% -21.2% +28.0% SAN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — -25.2%/yr +26.7%/yr SAN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.2% 44.0% 34.3% SAN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 42/100 70/100 14/100 PYPL

Percentile Scorecard

NUPYPLSAN

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

AxisNUPYPLSAN
Valuation 10 #327 of 362 92 #9 of 99 8 #335 of 362
Growth 81 #42 of 221 63 #35 of 94 18 #181 of 221
Profitability 35 #131 of 200 88 #12 of 90 12 #176 of 200
Financial Health 72 #57 of 203 39 #65 of 105 0 #203 of 203
Shareholder Returns 11 #305 of 342 67 #21 of 61 34 #226 of 342
Overall 42 70 14
  • NU ranked among 370 companies in Banking
  • PYPL ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • SAN ranked among 370 companies in Banking

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNUPYPLSANSPY
1 month -7.3%-0.1%-14.1% -0.8%
3 months -13.4%-1.9%-11.5% +3.5%
6 months -14.0%+10.5%+3.2% +7.0%
Year to date -24.8%-5.8%+5.5% +12.2%
1 year -20.5%-21.2%+28.0% +13.0%
3 years +57.2%+9.1%+242.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +16.3%+3.0%+50.8% +23.1%
5 years —-76.6%+226.6% +68.6%
5 years, per year —-25.2%+26.7% +11.0%
10 years —+29.9%+169.7% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+2.7%+10.4% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureNUPYPLSANSPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.2%44.0%34.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 51.3%48.4%33.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.471.011.71 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.44-0.480.82 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -72.1%-83.5%-42.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -32.9%-24.7%-17.6% -1.8%
52-week high $18.76$73.02$15.03 $779.14
52-week low $11.60$39.08$9.87 $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.

MultipleNUPYPLSAN
P/E now vs peer median 16.9xmedian 12.1x 9.8xmedian 20.6x 9.7xmedian 12.1x
P/S now vs peer median 3.1xmedian 3.4x 1.4xmedian 2.3x 2.6xmedian 3.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.5xmedian 5.0x 7.2xmedian 15.4x -107.0xmedian 5.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -44.7xmedian 11.0x 7.2xmedian 16.4x -4.2xmedian 11.0x
P/B now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 1.2x 2.4xmedian 1.9x 17.7xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.03median 1.36 0.66median 1.05 0.36median 1.36

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 monthsNUPYPLSAN
Revenue $19.34B $34.13B $70.35B
Gross profit $7.97B – -$52.97B
Operating income $4.39B $5.95B -$95.63B
Net income $3.61B $4.90B $20.36B
Free cash flow -$1.36B $6.59B -$42.89B
R&D – $3.25B –
EPS (diluted) $0.74 $5.56 $1.27
Cash & equivalents $13.55B $8.31B $157.63B
Total debt $14.55B $13.40B $27.02T
Shares (diluted) 4.91B 882.00M 14.98B
Enterprise value $4.83B $5.63B -$492.66B

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
MetricNUPYPLSAN
P/E 16.9x 9.8x 9.7x
P/FCF -44.7x 7.2x -4.2x
P/Operating cash flow -44.0x 6.3x -4.2x
P/S 3.1x 1.4x 2.6x
P/B 4.6x 2.4x 17.7x
P/Tangible book 4.9x 2.4x 47.6x
EV/EBITDA 11.5x 7.2x -107.0x
EV/EBIT 11.8x 8.3x -99.9x
EV/Revenue 2.7x 1.5x 80.5x
EV/FCF -38.0x 7.5x -132.0x
EV/Operating cash flow -37.5x 6.6x -132.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.03 0.66 0.36

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNUPYPLSAN
Revenue growth (1Y) 50.5% 5.7% 7.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 45.8% 6.1% 6.9%
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% 28.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 260.8% 6.4% 20.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 56.2% 16.1% -83.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 603.5% 15.0% 26.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -135.1% 23.2% -199.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -39.0% 20.1% -96.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -134.5% 24.5% -199.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -38.6% 21.7% -96.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNUPYPLSAN
Gross margin 41.2% – -75.3%
EBITDA margin 23.4% 20.2% -75.2%
Operating margin 22.7% 17.4% -135.9%
Pretax margin 22.7% 17.2% 32.4%
Net margin 18.7% 14.4% 26.9%
FCF margin -7.0% 19.3% -61.0%
Operating cash flow margin -7.1% 21.9% -61.0%
Return on equity 24.5% 24.6% 246.8%
Return on assets 4.0% 6.0% 0.9%
Return on invested capital 18.1% 15.9% –
Return on capital employed – 17.9% –
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.4x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.4x 1.5x -2.1x
Stock comp / revenue 1.8% 2.9% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNUPYPLSAN
Debt / assets 5.7% 16.2% 256.5%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.7x 558.7x
Net debt / EBITDA -2.0x 0.3x -103.6x
Debt / FCF -3.4x 2.0x -133.5x
Liabilities / assets 84.0% 76.0% 99.5%
Equity / assets 16.0% 24.0% 0.5%
Interest coverage 1.2x – -0.8x
Current ratio – 1.3x –
Quick ratio – 0.4x –
Cash ratio – 0.2x –
Altman Z-score – 1.89 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNUPYPLSAN
Dividend yield – 1.0% 2.3%
Net buyback yield 0.0% 12.7% –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 13.7% 2.3%
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.

ConsensusNUPYPLSAN
Forward P/E 14.0xFY2026 9.9xFY2026 11.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.90FY2026 $5.55FY2026 $1.10FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +55.2%FY2026 +4.5%FY2026 +3.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.6% -3.1% +22.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $24.04BFY2026 $33.55BFY2026 $76.25BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +52.4%FY2026 +1.1%FY2026 +3.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +23.9% +5.1% -2.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNUPYPLSAN
Held by institutions 59.8% 74.2% 3.4%
Institutions holding 854 1,378 659
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.3% +0.8% +2.8%
Institutions buying 442 521 402
Institutions selling 305 671 149
Buyers to sellers 1.45 0.78 2.70

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.

NUPYPLSAN
NU 1.00 0.23 0.45
PYPL 0.23 1.00 0.25
SAN 0.45 0.25 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NU, PYPL and SAN?

Banco Santander (SAN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Nu Holdings (NU) $60.85B, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) $47.40B, Banco Santander (SAN) $181.85B.

Which stock is cheaper, NU, PYPL and SAN?

Banco Santander (SAN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Nu Holdings (NU) 16.9x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 9.8x, Banco Santander (SAN) 9.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) is cheapest (Nu Holdings (NU) 14.0x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 9.9x, Banco Santander (SAN) 11.3x). 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: Nu Holdings (NU) +50.5%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) +5.7%, Banco Santander (SAN) +7.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Banco Santander (SAN) has the highest net margin (Nu Holdings (NU) 18.7%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 14.4%, Banco Santander (SAN) 26.9%). On return on invested capital, Nu Holdings (NU) leads (Nu Holdings (NU) 18.1%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 15.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Banco Santander (SAN) returned the most: Nu Holdings (NU) -20.5%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) -21.2%, Banco Santander (SAN) +28.0%. Over five years, Banco Santander (SAN) compounded fastest (PayPal Holdings (PYPL) -25.2%/yr, Banco Santander (SAN) +26.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Banco Santander (SAN) has the highest dividend yield: PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 1.02%, Banco Santander (SAN) 2.26%. Nu Holdings (NU) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Banco Santander (SAN) has been the steadiest (Nu Holdings (NU) 46.2%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 44.0%, Banco Santander (SAN) 34.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Banco Santander (SAN) leads on 8. 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.