SYF vs AFRM vs BCS Stock Comparison

Synchrony Financial, Affirm Holdings and Barclays Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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SYF Synchrony Financial
$74.99 +2.8% 1M +0.0% 1Y
Market cap
$23.81B
P/E
7.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$19.31B
Div. yield
0.02%
Consumer Lending Financial Services
5 wins
AFRM Affirm Holdings, Inc.
$72.68 +1.6% 1M -4.9% 1Y
Market cap
$24.04B
P/E
12.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.26B
Div. yield
–
Consumer Lending Financial Services
2 wins
BCS Barclays Plc
$22.45 -9.5% 1M +5.5% 1Y
Market cap
$80.07B
P/E
7.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$41.50B
Div. yield
–
Money Center Banks Financial Services
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Synchrony Financial leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Synchrony Financial 5, Barclays 4, Affirm Holdings 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSYFAFRMBCSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $23.81B $24.04B $80.07B BCS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 7.3x 12.5x 7.4x SYF
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 7.6x 38.9x 7.7x SYF
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +2.6% +32.2% +9.5% AFRM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 16.8% 45.3% 26.0% AFRM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 25.7% 5.6% — SYF
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.9x 2.3x — SYF
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +0.0% -4.9% +5.5% BCS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +9.9%/yr -14.8%/yr +14.9%/yr BCS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.6% 59.8% 31.0% BCS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 80/100 54/100 50/100 SYF

Percentile Scorecard

SYFAFRMBCS

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

AxisSYFAFRMBCS
Valuation 95 #10 of 169 31 #117 of 169 99 #6 of 360
Growth 50 #80 of 160 99 #3 of 160 71 #56 of 191
Profitability 90 #16 of 149 64 #54 of 149 19 #136 of 168
Financial Health 78 #36 of 158 61 #62 of 158 2 #172 of 175
Shareholder Returns 86 #20 of 136 13 #118 of 136 62 #132 of 341
Overall 80 54 50
  • SYF ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit
  • AFRM ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit
  • BCS ranked among 368 companies in Banking

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSYFAFRMBCSSPY
1 month +2.8%+1.6%-9.5% -0.2%
3 months -2.8%+0.4%-16.8% +3.9%
6 months -1.7%+15.1%-2.4% +8.2%
Year to date -10.1%-2.4%-11.8% +12.9%
1 year +0.0%-4.9%+5.5% +12.3%
3 years +167.0%+329.3%+259.8% +87.4%
3 years, per year +38.8%+62.6%+53.3% +23.3%
5 years +60.0%-55.1%+100.4% +67.9%
5 years, per year +9.9%-14.8%+14.9% +10.9%
10 years +159.1%—+142.2% +261.1%
10 years, per year +10.0%—+9.2% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureSYFAFRMBCSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.6%59.8%31.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.1%58.3%31.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.182.611.60 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.00-0.080.18 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -46.7%-94.7%-50.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -15.2%-15.3%-21.4% -1.2%
52-week high $88.47$85.78$28.56 $779.14
52-week low $63.78$42.53$20.07 $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.

MultipleSYFAFRMBCS
P/E now vs peer median 7.4xmedian 11.1x 12.6xmedian 11.1x 7.4xmedian 12.1x
P/S now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 2.6x 5.8xmedian 2.6x 1.9xmedian 3.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 1.8xmedian 13.5x 35.0xmedian 13.5x —median 5.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 7.0x 24.7xmedian 7.0x —median 10.9x
P/B now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 0.7x 4.5xmedian 0.7x 0.8xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.34median 0.32 0.23median 0.32 0.41median 1.34

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 monthsSYFAFRMBCS
Revenue $19.31B $4.26B $41.50B
Operating income – $416.98M –
Net income $3.33B $1.93B $10.83B
Free cash flow $9.56B $992.63M –
EPS (diluted) $10.06 $5.53 $2.95
Cash & equivalents $15.90B $1.63B $335.17B
Total debt $8.11B $10.58B $302.10B
Shares (diluted) 322.40M 348.85M 3.65B
Enterprise value -$43.81B $17.73B -$1.63T

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
MetricSYFAFRMBCS
P/E 7.4x 12.6x 7.4x
P/FCF 2.4x 24.7x –
P/Operating cash flow 2.4x 19.9x –
P/S 1.2x 5.8x 1.9x
P/B 1.4x 4.5x 0.8x
P/Tangible book 1.4x 4.5x 0.8x
EV/EBITDA 1.8x 35.0x –
EV/EBIT 1.9x 62.9x 16.9x
EV/Revenue 0.8x 6.2x -1.5x
EV/FCF 1.6x 26.4x –
EV/Operating cash flow 1.6x 21.3x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.34 0.23 0.41

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSYFAFRMBCS
Revenue growth (1Y) 2.6% 32.2% 9.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.6% 39.0% 9.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – 577.8% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 32.9% –
Net income growth (1Y) -6.8% 3,598% 19.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 12.0% 58.2% 10.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 6.5% 3,515% 29.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 21.7% 54.1% 17.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -2.0% 55.1% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.6% 365.8% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -2.0% 65.0% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.6% 123.3% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSYFAFRMBCS
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 45.8% 17.6% –
Operating margin – 9.8% –
Pretax margin 22.6% 11.6% 33.1%
Net margin 16.8% 45.3% 26.0%
FCF margin 49.5% 23.3% –
Operating cash flow margin 49.5% 28.9% –
Return on equity 19.9% 41.6% 10.4%
Return on assets 2.7% 13.3% 0.5%
Return on invested capital 25.7% 5.6% –
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.3x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.9x 0.6x –
Stock comp / revenue – 7.2% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSYFAFRMBCS
Debt / assets 6.6% 21.1% 13.1%
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.6x 2.9x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.9x 2.3x –
Debt / FCF 0.8x 3.4x –
Liabilities / assets 86.5% 65.3% 95.5%
Equity / assets 13.5% 34.7% 4.5%
Interest coverage 2.1x 0.9x –
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSYFAFRMBCS
Dividend yield 1.7% – 2.8%
Net buyback yield 16.5% -0.6% –
Shareholder yield 18.1% -0.6% 2.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 12.6% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 4.4% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 0.5% – –
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.

ConsensusSYFAFRMBCS
Forward P/E 7.6xFY2026 38.9xFY2027 7.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $9.82FY2026 $1.87FY2027 $2.91FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +5.8%FY2026 -66.2%FY2027 +26.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.3% +44.4% +12.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.69BFY2026 $5.23BFY2027 $42.91BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.7%FY2026 +22.7%FY2027 +7.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.5% +24.0% -4.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSYFAFRMBCS
Held by institutions 100.0% 77.1% 8.5%
Institutions holding 1,002 658 556
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.8% +8.1% +2.9%
Institutions buying 526 401 306
Institutions selling 345 173 161
Buyers to sellers 1.52 2.32 1.90

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.

SYFAFRMBCS
SYF 1.00 0.50 0.50
AFRM 0.50 1.00 0.35
BCS 0.50 0.35 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SYF, AFRM and BCS?

Barclays (BCS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Synchrony Financial (SYF) $23.81B, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) $24.04B, Barclays (BCS) $80.07B.

Which stock is cheaper, SYF, AFRM and BCS?

Synchrony Financial (SYF) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Synchrony Financial (SYF) 7.3x, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 12.5x, Barclays (BCS) 7.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Synchrony Financial (SYF) is cheapest (Synchrony Financial (SYF) 7.6x, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 38.9x, Barclays (BCS) 7.7x). 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: Synchrony Financial (SYF) +2.6%, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) +32.2%, Barclays (BCS) +9.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Affirm Holdings (AFRM) has the highest net margin (Synchrony Financial (SYF) 16.8%, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 45.3%, Barclays (BCS) 26.0%). On return on invested capital, Synchrony Financial (SYF) leads (Synchrony Financial (SYF) 25.7%, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 5.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Barclays (BCS) returned the most: Synchrony Financial (SYF) +0.0%, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) -4.9%, Barclays (BCS) +5.5%. Over five years, Barclays (BCS) compounded fastest (Synchrony Financial (SYF) +9.9%/yr, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) -14.8%/yr, Barclays (BCS) +14.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Synchrony Financial (SYF) 0.02%, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 0.00%, Barclays (BCS) 0.00%. Affirm Holdings (AFRM) and Barclays (BCS) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Barclays (BCS) has been the steadiest (Synchrony Financial (SYF) 31.6%, Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 59.8%, Barclays (BCS) 31.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SYF, AFRM and BCS?

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