ARCC
Ares Capital Corporation
ARCC trails on the overall score without a compensating advantage in the available component scores.
BAC
Bank of America Corporation
BAC has the edge over ARCC overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger fundamentals.
ARCC Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Weak | |
| Healthy | |
| N/A | |
| N/A |
ARCC's profitability is currently healthy, but its revenue is weak. Free cash flow and net leverage aren't meaningful measures for financial services companies like ARCC.
BAC Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| N/A | |
| N/A |
BAC's revenue and profitability are currently healthy. Free cash flow and net leverage aren't meaningful measures for financial services companies like BAC.
ARCC PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 6.2x | $7.54 | -61% |
| Fair | 9.8x | $11.94 | -38% |
| Forward | 9.9x | $19.11 | — |
| Expensive | 15x | $17.95 | -6.1% |
| Current | 16x | $19.11 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
ARCC's PE is in its expensive range at 16x. On analysts' estimates for next year's earnings, today's price would be 9.9x, in its fair range.
BAC PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 9.4x | $39.50 | -22% |
| Forward | 10x | $50.51 | — |
| Current | 12x | $50.51 | — |
| Fair | 13x | $53.81 | +6.5% |
| Expensive | 15x | $62.23 | +23% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
BAC has the edge over ARCC in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
ARCC Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Strongly weakening | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect ARCC's profitability to weaken, with its earnings and revenue holding steady.
BAC Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
BAC has the edge over ARCC on the outlook, with more favorable earnings and revenue expectations.
ARCC Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $1.92 | +58% |
| Q3 2026 | $1.22 | -39% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.35 | -34% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.63 | -20% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.86 | -24% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.99 | -24% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.04 | -29% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.04 | -30% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.44 | -9% |
ARCC's earnings per share have fallen from their peak: $1.22 over the past year, against $3.89 in mid-2021.
BAC Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $4.92 | +17% |
| Q3 2026 | $4.19 | +14% |
| Q2 2026 | $4.34 | +27% |
| Q1 2026 | $4.02 | +20% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.81 | +19% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.66 | +33% |
| Q2 2025 | $3.41 | +20% |
| Q1 2025 | $3.35 | +16% |
| Q4 2024 | $3.21 | +4.2% |
BAC has the edge over ARCC on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
ARCC Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2022 | $230M | -61% |
| Q1 2022 | $375M | -27% |
| Q4 2021 | $505M | +6.1% |
| Q3 2021 | $444M | -17% |
| Q2 2021 | $585M | +59% |
| Q4 2020 | $476M | +61% |
BAC has the stronger quarterly revenue trend. Revenue is down 61% for ARCC versus up 6.7% for BAC.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2022 | 53% | -31 points |
| Q1 2022 | 60% | -14 points |
| Q4 2021 | 77% | -3.6 points |
| Q3 2021 | 76% | -7.3 points |
| Q2 2021 | 84% | +7 points |
| Q1 2021 | 73% | N/A |
| Q4 2020 | 81% | +11 points |
| Q3 2020 | 84% | N/A |
ARCC's operating margin was 53% last quarter, down 31 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the bottom of its range since 2019.
BAC Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $30B | +6.7% |
| Q2 2026 | $31.6B | +19% |
| Q1 2026 | $30.3B | +11% |
| Q4 2025 | $31.2B | +23% |
| Q3 2025 | $28.1B | +11% |
| Q2 2025 | $26.5B | +4.3% |
| Q1 2025 | $27.4B | +6% |
| Q4 2024 | $25.3B | +15% |
BAC's revenue has grown year over year for 10 quarters in a row: $30B last quarter, up 6.7% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 30% | -3.7 points |
| Q2 2026 | 37% | +7.6 points |
| Q1 2026 | 34% | +4.7 points |
| Q4 2025 | 40% | +12 points |
| Q3 2025 | 34% | +4.8 points |
| Q2 2025 | 29% | -0.7 points |
| Q1 2025 | 30% | +1.5 points |
| Q4 2024 | 28% | +14 points |
BAC's operating margin was 30% last quarter, down 3.7 points from the same quarter a year ago.
ARCC Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.1B | +$1.8B |
| Q2 2026 | $336M | +$554M |
| Q1 2026 | $184M | +$483M |
| Q4 2025 | -$427M | -$159M |
| Q3 2025 | -$773M | -$252M |
| Q2 2025 | -$218M | +$1.1B |
| Q1 2025 | -$299M | -$278M |
| Q4 2024 | -$268M | +$91M |
ARCC has the edge over BAC on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
BAC Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$6.5B | -114% |
| Q2 2026 | $29B | +$38.2B |
| Q1 2026 | $41.8B | +$44B |
| Q4 2025 | -$22.9B | -189% |
| Q3 2025 | $46.9B | +$84.2B |
| Q2 2025 | -$9.1B | -150% |
| Q1 2025 | -$2.2B | +$13.4B |
| Q4 2024 | $25.9B | -21% |
BAC's free cash flow was $41.4B over the past year, down 33% from the year before. Free cash flow isn't a meaningful measure for financial services companies like BAC.
ARCC Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.3% | +2M shares |
| 1 year | +1.6% | +11M shares |
| 3 years | +24% | +138M shares |
| 5 years | +59% | +267M shares |
| Available history | +68% | +291M shares |
ARCC has 720M diluted shares, up 1.6% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2022 | — |
| Q1 2022 | — |
| Q4 2021 | — |
| Q3 2021 | — |
| Q2 2021 | — |
| Q1 2021 | — |
| Q4 2020 | — |
| Q3 2020 | — |
BAC Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -1% | -72M shares |
| 1 year | -5.3% | -405M shares |
| 3 years | -11% | -854M shares |
| 5 years | -15% | -1.3B shares |
| Available history | -24% | -2.2B shares |
BAC has the edge over ARCC on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $6B |
| Q2 2026 | $6B |
| Q1 2026 | $7.2B |
| Q4 2025 | $6.3B |
| Q3 2025 | $5.3B |
| Q2 2025 | $5.3B |
| Q1 2025 | $4.5B |
| Q4 2024 | $3.5B |
BAC spent $25.6B buying back its own shares over the past year, up 37% from the year before.
ARCC Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2022 | 10.9x | High |
| Q1 2022 | 6.9x | High |
| Q4 2021 | 6.8x | High |
| Q3 2021 | 5.6x | High |
| Q2 2021 | 5.3x | High |
| Q1 2021 | 5.2x | High |
| Q4 2020 | 16.6x | High |
| Q3 2020 | 23.1x | High |
ARCC's net debt is about 11 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from 5.3 years a year ago. Net leverage isn't a meaningful measure for financial services companies like ARCC.
BAC Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 6.4x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 6.7x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 7.1x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 7.7x | High |
| Q3 2025 | 8.3x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 8.8x | High |
| Q1 2025 | 8.6x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 9.0x | High |
BAC's net debt is about 6.4 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 8.3 years a year ago. Net leverage isn't a meaningful measure for financial services companies like BAC.
ARCC Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 49.4 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 42.5 | Neutral |
ARCC's weekly RSI is 49 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 42 (neutral).
BAC Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 37.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 4.9 | Oversold |
BAC's weekly RSI is 37 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 5 (oversold).
ARCC PE vs Financial Services Sector
| Metric | ARCC | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 16x | 13x | 20% above |
| PE % | 87 | 63 | 24 pts above |
ARCC is trading at 16x earnings, a 20% premium to the Financial Services sector's median of 13x.
BAC PE vs Financial Services Sector
| Metric | BAC | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 12x | 13x | 7.5% below |
| PE % | 40 | 63 | 23 pts below |
BAC has the edge over ARCC on valuation relative to its sector.
ARCC Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $18.9 | 1% above |
| 20 week MA | $19.2 | 0.6% below |
| 50 week MA | $19.2 | 0.5% below |
| 100 week MA | $20.5 | 6.6% below |
| 200 week MA | $20.2 | 5.4% below |
ARCC has bounced recently, but its long-term trend is still down: it's above its 8-week average, but 5.4% below its 200-week average.
BAC Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $52.1 | 3% below |
| 20 week MA | $57.8 | 13% below |
| 50 week MA | $54.7 | 7.7% below |
| 100 week MA | $50.5 | 0% below |
| 200 week MA | $42.5 | 19% above |
BAC has fallen below most of its moving averages, though it's still 19% above its 200-week average.
ARCC Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $18.6 | $16.4 | -12% |
| 2021 | $16.4 | $20.7 | +26% |
| 2022 | $20.7 | $18.7 | -9.6% |
| 2023 | $18.7 | $20.0 | +7.2% |
| 2024 | $20.0 | $22.0 | +9.9% |
| 2025 | $22.0 | $20.2 | -8.3% |
| 2026 YTD | $20.2 | $19.1 | -5.4% |
ARCC has the edge over BAC on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
BAC Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $35.4 | $30.0 | -15% |
| 2021 | $30.0 | $44.4 | +48% |
| 2022 | $44.4 | $32.5 | -27% |
| 2023 | $32.5 | $33.7 | +3.7% |
| 2024 | $33.7 | $44.3 | +32% |
| 2025 | $44.3 | $56.2 | +27% |
| 2026 YTD | $56.2 | $50.5 | -10% |
BAC has finished higher in four of the last six years. It's down 10% so far in 2026.