ARCC
Ares Capital Corporation
ARCC has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
BLK
BlackRock, Inc.
BLK has the edge over ARCC overall, supported by stronger fundamentals and stronger valuation.
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.
BLK Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| N/A | |
| N/A |
BLK's revenue and profitability are currently healthy. Free cash flow and net leverage aren't meaningful measures for financial services companies like BLK.
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.
BLK PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 19x | $848 | -30% |
| Fair | 22x | $973 | -20% |
| Expensive | 26x | $1,149 | -5.5% |
| Current | 28x | $1,217 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
BLK 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.
BLK Forward outlook
There aren't enough analyst estimates for BLK to show an outlook.
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.
BLK Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $43.87 | +11% |
| Q2 2026 | $41.73 | -0.4% |
| Q1 2026 | $39.73 | -4.7% |
| Q4 2025 | $35.31 | -17% |
| Q3 2025 | $39.42 | -2.7% |
| Q2 2025 | $41.89 | +4% |
| Q1 2025 | $41.69 | +5.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $42.53 | +16% |
BLK 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% |
BLK has the stronger quarterly revenue trend. Revenue is down 61% for ARCC versus up 19% for BLK.
| 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.
BLK Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $7.8B | +19% |
| Q2 2026 | $7.1B | +31% |
| Q1 2026 | $6.7B | +27% |
| Q4 2025 | $7B | +23% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.5B | +25% |
| Q2 2025 | $5.4B | +13% |
| Q1 2025 | $5.3B | +12% |
| Q4 2024 | $5.7B | +23% |
BLK's revenue has grown year over year for 13 quarters in a row: $7.8B last quarter, up 19% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 30% | 0 points |
| Q2 2026 | 35% | +2.8 points |
| Q1 2026 | 42% | +9.8 points |
| Q4 2025 | 24% | -13 points |
| Q3 2025 | 30% | -8.6 points |
| Q2 2025 | 32% | -5.5 points |
| Q1 2025 | 32% | -3.6 points |
| Q4 2024 | 37% | +2.3 points |
BLK's operating margin was 30% last quarter, about level with the same quarter a year ago, near the bottom of its range since 2019.
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's free cash flow was $1.1B over the past year, against −$1.6B the year before. Free cash flow isn't a meaningful measure for financial services companies like ARCC.
BLK Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2.6B | +95% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.1B | -12% |
| Q1 2026 | -$1.1B | +$120M |
| Q4 2025 | $2.1B | -15% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.3B | -6.1% |
| Q1 2025 | -$1.2B | -$734M |
| Q4 2024 | $2.5B | +35% |
| Q2 2024 | $1.4B | +47% |
BLK's free cash flow was $4.8B over the past year, up 22% from the year before. Free cash flow isn't a meaningful measure for financial services companies like BLK.
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 | — |
BLK Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.1% | -148K shares |
| 1 year | -0.4% | -677K shares |
| 3 years | +9.3% | +14M shares |
| 5 years | +6.2% | +9.6M shares |
| Available history | +4.4% | +7M shares |
BLK has the edge over ARCC on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2025 | $396M |
| Q1 2025 | $657M |
| Q4 2024 | $386M |
| Q2 2024 | $519M |
| Q1 2024 | $634M |
| Q4 2023 | $384M |
| Q3 2023 | $396M |
| Q2 2023 | $383M |
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.
BLK Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.0x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q2 2024 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q1 2024 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q4 2023 | 0.1x | Very low |
BLK has more cash than debt. Net leverage isn't a meaningful measure for financial services companies like BLK.
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).
BLK Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 64.5 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 79.0 | Neutral |
BLK's weekly RSI is 64 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 79 (neutral).
ARCC PE vs Financial Services Sector
| Metric | ARCC | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 16x | 13x | 20% above |
| PE % | 87 | 63 | 24 pts above |
ARCC has the edge over BLK on valuation relative to its sector.
BLK PE vs Financial Services Sector
| Metric | BLK | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 28x | 13x | 113% above |
| PE % | 97 | 63 | 34 pts above |
BLK is trading at 28x earnings, a 113% premium to the Financial Services sector's median of 13x.
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.
BLK Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $1,128.0 | 7.9% above |
| 20 week MA | $1,108.9 | 9.7% above |
| 50 week MA | $1,071.6 | 14% above |
| 100 week MA | $1,051.1 | 16% above |
| 200 week MA | $914.1 | 33% above |
BLK has the edge over ARCC on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
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 finished lower in three of the last six years. It's down 5.4% so far in 2026.
BLK Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $503.0 | $707.2 | +41% |
| 2021 | $707.2 | $913.9 | +29% |
| 2022 | $913.9 | $703.9 | -23% |
| 2023 | $703.9 | $811.8 | +15% |
| 2024 | $811.8 | $1,044.2 | +29% |
| 2025 | $1,044.2 | $1,088.1 | +4.2% |
| 2026 YTD | $1,088.1 | $1,216.6 | +12% |
BLK has the edge over ARCC on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.