SLM vs AFRM vs CACC Stock Comparison

Slm, Affirm Holdings and Credit Acceptance Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SLM SLM Corp
$18.77 -20.7% 1M -34.0% 1Y
Market cap
$3.27B
P/E
5.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.79B
Div. yield
0.03%
Consumer Lending Financial Services
5 wins
AFRM Affirm Holdings, Inc.
$72.68 +1.6% 1M -4.9% 1Y
Market cap
$24.36B
P/E
12.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.26B
Div. yield
–
Consumer Lending Financial Services
3 wins
CACC Credit Acceptance Corp
$542.52 -2.4% 1M +7.8% 1Y
Market cap
$5.65B
P/E
11.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.33B
Div. yield
–
Consumer Lending Financial Services
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionSLMAFRMCACCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.27B $24.36B $5.65B AFRM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 5.9x 12.6x 11.3x SLM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 8.5x 38.9x 11.8x SLM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -6.7% +32.2% +2.6% AFRM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 30.9% 45.3% 21.5% AFRM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 16.6% 5.6% 10.7% SLM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.3x 2.3x 5.6x SLM
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.03% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -34.0% -4.9% +7.8% CACC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +0.7%/yr -14.8%/yr -2.1%/yr SLM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.1% 59.8% 37.6% CACC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 54/100 64/100 CACC

Percentile Scorecard

SLMAFRMCACC

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

AxisSLMAFRMCACC
Valuation 49 #87 of 169 31 #117 of 169 58 #71 of 169
Growth 30 #113 of 160 99 #3 of 160 56 #71 of 160
Profitability 54 #69 of 149 64 #54 of 149 93 #12 of 149
Financial Health 37 #100 of 158 61 #62 of 158 33 #107 of 158
Shareholder Returns 73 #37 of 136 13 #118 of 136 82 #26 of 136
Overall 49 54 64
  • SLM ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit
  • AFRM ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit
  • CACC ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSLMAFRMCACCSPY
1 month -20.7%+1.6%-2.4% -0.2%
3 months -25.5%+0.4%-2.9% +3.9%
6 months -19.9%+15.1%+5.0% +8.2%
Year to date -30.6%-2.4%+22.3% +12.9%
1 year -34.0%-4.9%+7.8% +12.3%
3 years +46.5%+329.3%+34.1% +87.4%
3 years, per year +13.6%+62.6%+10.3% +23.3%
5 years +3.5%-55.1%-10.0% +67.9%
5 years, per year +0.7%-14.8%-2.1% +10.9%
10 years +162.9%—+196.7% +261.1%
10 years, per year +10.1%—+11.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureSLMAFRMCACCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.1%59.8%37.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 51.2%58.3%39.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.052.611.27 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.81-0.080.21 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -45.8%-94.7%-45.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -39.2%-15.3%-17.4% -1.2%
52-week high $30.85$85.78$657.20 $779.14
52-week low $18.74$42.53$411.04 $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.

MultipleSLMAFRMCACC
P/E now vs peer median 6.3xmedian 11.1x 12.6xmedian 11.1x 11.3xmedian 11.1x
P/S now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 2.6x 5.8xmedian 2.6x 2.4xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 4.1xmedian 13.5x 35.0xmedian 13.5x 10.6xmedian 13.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median -9.0xmedian 7.0x 24.7xmedian 7.0x 4.6xmedian 7.0x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 0.7x 4.5xmedian 0.7x 3.5xmedian 0.7x
PEG now vs peer median 0.22median 0.32 0.23median 0.32 0.51median 0.32

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 monthsSLMAFRMCACC
Revenue $1.79B $4.26B $2.33B
Gross profit – – $2.26B
Operating income – $416.98M $1.10B
Net income $567.40M $1.93B $501.90M
Free cash flow -$381.64M $992.63M $1.22B
EPS (diluted) $2.98 $5.53 $46.76
Cash & equivalents $2.17B $1.63B $1.40M
Total debt $6.43B $10.58B $6.29B
Shares (diluted) 185.57M 348.85M 10.73M
Enterprise value -$13.07B $18.05B $5.58B

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
MetricSLMAFRMCACC
P/E 6.3x 12.6x 11.3x
P/FCF -9.0x 24.7x 4.6x
P/Operating cash flow -9.0x 19.9x 4.6x
P/S 1.9x 5.8x 2.4x
P/B 1.5x 4.5x 3.5x
P/Tangible book 1.5x 4.5x 3.5x
EV/EBITDA 4.1x 35.0x 10.6x
EV/EBIT 4.2x 62.9x 10.9x
EV/Revenue 4.3x 6.2x 5.1x
EV/FCF -20.1x 26.4x 9.8x
EV/Operating cash flow -20.1x 21.3x 9.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.22 0.23 0.51

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSLMAFRMCACC
Revenue growth (1Y) -6.7% 32.2% 2.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 1.6% 39.0% 8.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – 2.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 8.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 577.8% 8.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 32.9% 19.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -9.0% 3,598% 18.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 19.1% 58.2% 14.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 3.4% 3,515% 29.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 28.7% 54.1% 22.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -15.8% 55.1% 10.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -47.7% 365.8% 0.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -15.8% 65.0% 10.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -47.7% 123.3% 0.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSLMAFRMCACC
Gross margin – – 97.0%
EBITDA margin 104.4% 17.6% 48.1%
Operating margin – 9.8% 47.0%
Pretax margin 41.2% 11.6% 27.9%
Net margin 30.9% 45.3% 21.5%
FCF margin -21.3% 23.3% 52.4%
Operating cash flow margin -21.3% 28.9% 52.6%
Return on equity 24.0% 41.6% 32.3%
Return on assets 1.9% 13.3% 5.8%
Return on invested capital 16.6% 5.6% 10.7%
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.3x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.7x 0.6x 2.4x
Stock comp / revenue 2.6% 7.2% 1.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSLMAFRMCACC
Debt / assets 21.6% 21.1% 72.9%
Debt / equity 2.9x 0.6x 4.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.3x 2.3x 5.6x
Debt / FCF -16.9x 3.4x 5.1x
Liabilities / assets 92.4% 65.3% 81.6%
Equity / assets 7.6% 34.7% 18.4%
Interest coverage 1.7x 0.9x 2.5x
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSLMAFRMCACC
Dividend yield 2.8% – –
Net buyback yield 15.9% -0.6% 9.1%
Shareholder yield 18.7% -0.6% 9.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 17.7% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) -26.3% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) -7.9% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -1.1% – –

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.

ConsensusSLMAFRMCACC
Forward P/E 8.5xFY2026 38.9xFY2027 11.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.20FY2026 $1.87FY2027 $45.85FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -36.4%FY2026 -66.2%FY2027 +16.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +30.5% +44.4% +20.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.85BFY2026 $5.23BFY2027 $2.32BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -6.7%FY2026 +22.7%FY2027 -0.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.3% +24.0% +1.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSLMAFRMCACC
Held by institutions 100.0% 77.1% 72.5%
Institutions holding 387 658 298
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.4% +8.1% +11.5%
Institutions buying 193 401 174
Institutions selling 135 173 88
Buyers to sellers 1.43 2.32 1.98

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.

SLMAFRMCACC
SLM 1.00 0.38 0.32
AFRM 0.38 1.00 0.35
CACC 0.32 0.35 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SLM, AFRM and CACC?

Affirm Holdings (AFRM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Slm (SLM) $3.27B, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) $24.36B, Credit Acceptance (CACC) $5.65B.

Which stock is cheaper, SLM, AFRM and CACC?

Slm (SLM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Slm (SLM) 5.9x, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 12.6x, Credit Acceptance (CACC) 11.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Slm (SLM) is cheapest (Slm (SLM) 8.5x, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 38.9x, Credit Acceptance (CACC) 11.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Affirm Holdings (AFRM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Slm (SLM) -6.7%, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) +32.2%, Credit Acceptance (CACC) +2.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Affirm Holdings (AFRM) has the highest net margin (Slm (SLM) 30.9%, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 45.3%, Credit Acceptance (CACC) 21.5%). On return on invested capital, Slm (SLM) leads (Slm (SLM) 16.6%, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 5.6%, Credit Acceptance (CACC) 10.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Credit Acceptance (CACC) returned the most: Slm (SLM) -34.0%, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) -4.9%, Credit Acceptance (CACC) +7.8%. Over five years, Slm (SLM) compounded fastest (Slm (SLM) +0.7%/yr, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) -14.8%/yr, Credit Acceptance (CACC) -2.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Slm (SLM) 0.03%, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 0.00%, Credit Acceptance (CACC) 0.00%. Affirm Holdings (AFRM) and Credit Acceptance (CACC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Credit Acceptance (CACC) has been the steadiest (Slm (SLM) 42.1%, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 59.8%, Credit Acceptance (CACC) 37.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SLM, AFRM and CACC?

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