SYF vs BCS vs FCFS Stock Comparison

Synchrony Financial, Barclays and FirstCash Holdings Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SYF Synchrony Financial
$76.83 +7.0% 1M +3.3% 1Y
Market cap
$23.89B
P/E
7.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$19.31B
Div. yield
1.61%
Consumer Lending Financial Services
3 wins
BCS Barclays Plc
$22.63 -4.5% 1M +5.3% 1Y
Market cap
$78.45B
P/E
7.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$41.50B
Div. yield
2.74%
Money Center Banks Financial Services
6 wins
FCFS FirstCash Holdings, Inc.
$193.71 -7.9% 1M +22.2% 1Y
Market cap
$8.31B
P/E
20.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.29B
Div. yield
0.87%
Consumer Lending Financial Services
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Barclays leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Barclays 6, FirstCash Holdings 3, Synchrony Financial 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSYFBCSFCFSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $23.89B $78.45B $8.31B BCS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 7.6x 7.4x 20.5x BCS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 7.8x 7.8x 16.9x BCS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +2.6% +9.5% +22.9% FCFS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 16.8% 26.0% 9.5% BCS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 25.7% — 8.7% SYF
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.9x — 3.3x SYF
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.61% 2.74% 0.87% BCS
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +3.3% +5.3% +22.2% FCFS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +9.8%/yr +15.2%/yr +17.4%/yr FCFS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.8% 31.4% 36.8% BCS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 80/100 47/100 58/100 SYF

Percentile Scorecard

SYFBCSFCFS

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

AxisSYFBCSFCFS
Valuation 95 #10 of 169 99 #5 of 359 45 #93 of 169
Growth 49 #85 of 164 67 #112 of 340 76 #41 of 164
Profitability 91 #15 of 154 13 #298 of 343 77 #36 of 154
Financial Health 79 #35 of 163 3 #328 of 338 65 #57 of 163
Shareholder Returns 85 #21 of 137 54 #163 of 351 29 #98 of 137
Overall 80 47 58
  • SYF ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit
  • BCS ranked among 368 companies in Banking
  • FCFS 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

PeriodSYFBCSFCFSSPY
1 month +7.0%-4.5%-7.9% -2.3%
3 months -1.3%-18.7%-7.5% -0.7%
6 months +3.5%-1.0%-12.6% +4.8%
Year to date -7.9%-11.1%+21.5% +10.3%
1 year +3.3%+5.3%+22.2% +10.3%
3 years +154.8%+233.8%+77.6% +73.0%
3 years, per year +36.6%+49.5%+21.1% +20.1%
5 years +59.4%+103.0%+122.8% +61.9%
5 years, per year +9.8%+15.2%+17.4% +10.1%
10 years +170.3%+154.0%+320.2% +258.6%
10 years, per year +10.5%+9.8%+15.4% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureSYFBCSFCFSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.8%31.4%36.8% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.4%32.4%41.0% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.181.610.77 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.100.170.60 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -46.7%-50.0%-31.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.2%-20.8%-18.1% -3.5%
52-week high $88.47$28.56$236.43 $779.14
52-week low $63.78$20.07$148.05 $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.

MultipleSYFBCSFCFS
P/E now vs peer median 7.6xmedian 11.6x 7.4xmedian 12.7x 20.5xmedian 11.6x
P/S now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 2.7x 1.9xmedian 3.5x 1.9xmedian 2.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 1.8xmedian 13.1x —median 4.9x 15.4xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 6.0x —median 11.4x 16.0xmedian 6.0x
P/B now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 0.7x 0.8xmedian 1.2x 3.7xmedian 0.7x
PEG now vs peer median 0.35median 0.34 0.42median 1.46 0.90median 0.34

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 monthsSYFBCSFCFS
Revenue $19.31B $41.50B $4.29B
Gross profit – – $2.15B
Operating income – – $553.59M
Net income $3.33B $10.83B $406.49M
Free cash flow $9.56B – $518.18M
EPS (diluted) $10.06 $2.95 $9.38
Cash & equivalents $15.90B $335.17B $203.16M
Total debt $8.11B $302.10B $2.45B
Shares (diluted) 322.40M 3.65B 43.34M
Enterprise value -$43.73B -$1.63T $7.68B

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
MetricSYFBCSFCFS
P/E 7.6x 7.4x 20.5x
P/FCF 2.5x – 16.0x
P/Operating cash flow 2.5x – 12.2x
P/S 1.2x 1.9x 1.9x
P/B 1.4x 0.8x 3.7x
P/Tangible book 1.5x 0.8x 4.0x
EV/EBITDA 1.8x – 15.4x
EV/EBIT 1.9x -1.8x 19.1x
EV/Revenue 0.8x -1.5x 2.5x
EV/FCF 1.7x – 20.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 1.7x – 15.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.35 0.42 0.90

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSYFBCSFCFS
Revenue growth (1Y) 2.6% 9.5% 22.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.6% 9.8% 12.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – 23.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 14.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) – – 33.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – 22.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -6.8% 19.1% 31.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 12.0% 10.5% 20.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 6.5% 29.0% 34.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 21.7% 17.8% 22.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -2.0% – 17.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.6% – 13.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -2.0% – 14.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.6% – 8.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSYFBCSFCFS
Gross margin – – 50.2%
EBITDA margin 45.8% – 16.0%
Operating margin – – 12.9%
Pretax margin 22.6% 33.1% 12.9%
Net margin 16.8% 26.0% 9.5%
FCF margin 49.5% – 12.1%
Operating cash flow margin 49.5% – 15.8%
Return on equity 19.9% 10.4% 17.7%
Return on assets 2.7% 0.5% 7.4%
Return on invested capital 25.7% – 8.7%
Return on capital employed – – 10.9%
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.0x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.9x – 1.7x
Stock comp / revenue – – 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSYFBCSFCFS
Debt / assets 6.6% 13.1% 44.0%
Debt / equity 0.5x 2.9x 1.1x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.9x – 3.3x
Debt / FCF 0.8x – 4.7x
Liabilities / assets 86.5% 95.5% 59.1%
Equity / assets 13.5% 4.5% 40.9%
Interest coverage 2.1x 1.6x 3.9x
Current ratio – – 4.8x
Quick ratio – – 0.5x
Cash ratio – – 0.5x
Altman Z-score – – 3.45

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSYFBCSFCFS
Dividend yield 1.6% 2.7% 0.9%
Net buyback yield 16.1% – 3.3%
Shareholder yield 17.7% 2.7% 4.2%
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.

ConsensusSYFBCSFCFS
Forward P/E 7.8xFY2026 7.8xFY2026 16.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $9.82FY2026 $2.91FY2026 $11.43FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +5.8%FY2026 +26.0%FY2026 +30.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.3% +12.7% +8.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.69BFY2026 $42.91BFY2026 $4.25BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.7%FY2026 +7.7%FY2026 +16.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.5% -4.3% +2.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSYFBCSFCFS
Held by institutions 100.0% 8.5% 97.2%
Institutions holding 1,004 558 502
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.8% +2.9% +2.9%
Institutions buying 527 306 255
Institutions selling 346 163 166
Buyers to sellers 1.52 1.88 1.54

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.

SYFBCSFCFS
SYF 1.00 0.50 0.23
BCS 0.50 1.00 0.27
FCFS 0.23 0.27 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SYF, BCS and FCFS?

Barclays (BCS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Synchrony Financial (SYF) $23.89B, Barclays (BCS) $78.45B, FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) $8.31B.

Which stock is cheaper, SYF, BCS and FCFS?

Barclays (BCS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Synchrony Financial (SYF) 7.6x, Barclays (BCS) 7.4x, FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) 20.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Barclays (BCS) is cheapest (Synchrony Financial (SYF) 7.8x, Barclays (BCS) 7.8x, FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) 16.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Synchrony Financial (SYF) +2.6%, Barclays (BCS) +9.5%, FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) +22.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Barclays (BCS) has the highest net margin (Synchrony Financial (SYF) 16.8%, Barclays (BCS) 26.0%, FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) 9.5%). On return on invested capital, Synchrony Financial (SYF) leads (Synchrony Financial (SYF) 25.7%, FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) 8.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) returned the most: Synchrony Financial (SYF) +3.3%, Barclays (BCS) +5.3%, FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) +22.2%. Over five years, FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) compounded fastest (Synchrony Financial (SYF) +9.8%/yr, Barclays (BCS) +15.2%/yr, FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) +17.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Barclays (BCS) has the highest dividend yield: Synchrony Financial (SYF) 1.61%, Barclays (BCS) 2.74%, FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) 0.87%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Barclays (BCS) has been the steadiest (Synchrony Financial (SYF) 31.8%, Barclays (BCS) 31.4%, FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) 36.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Barclays (BCS) leads on 6. 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.