COF
Capital One Financial Corporation
COF's fundamentals are strong: revenue grew 31% and its operating margin rose 18 points to 21%. At 11x earnings, it's trading right at its usual valuation. Analysts expect that strong growth to continue.
COF Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| N/A | |
| N/A |
COF's revenue and profitability are currently healthy. Free cash flow and net leverage aren't meaningful measures for financial services companies like COF.
COF PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 5.4x | $96.85 | -50% |
| Forward | 8.4x | $194 | — |
| Fair | 11x | $195 | +0.7% |
| Current | 11x | $194 | — |
| Expensive | 45x | $817 | +322% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
COF's PE is in its fair range at 11x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 8.4x next year's earnings.
COF Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for COF, with profitability improving.
COF Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $22.94 | +27% |
| Q3 2026 | $18.01 | +660% |
| Q2 2026 | $17.23 | +784% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.92 | -67% |
| Q4 2025 | $4.03 | -65% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.37 | -78% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.95 | -82% |
| Q1 2025 | $11.91 | -6.7% |
| Q4 2024 | $11.59 | -3% |
COF's earnings per share have fallen from their peak: $18.01 over the past year, against $26.94 in late 2021.
COF Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $16.3B | +6.4% |
| Q2 2026 | $15.9B | +27% |
| Q1 2026 | $15.2B | +52% |
| Q4 2025 | $15.6B | +53% |
| Q3 2025 | $15.4B | +53% |
| Q2 2025 | $12.5B | +31% |
| Q1 2025 | $10B | +6.4% |
| Q4 2024 | $10.2B | +7.2% |
COF's revenue has grown year over year for 22 quarters in a row: $16.3B last quarter, up 6.4% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 28% | -0.6 points |
| Q2 2026 | 24% | +72 points |
| Q1 2026 | 18% | +0.4 points |
| Q4 2025 | 13% | -0.8 points |
| Q3 2025 | 29% | +6.4 points |
| Q2 2025 | -47% | -54 points |
| Q1 2025 | 17% | +0.5 points |
| Q4 2024 | 14% | +4.5 points |
COF's operating margin was 28% last quarter, down 0.6 points from the same quarter a year ago.
COF Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $5.3B | -39% |
| Q2 2026 | $8.1B | +43% |
| Q1 2026 | $5.5B | +27% |
| Q4 2025 | $7.4B | +253% |
| Q3 2025 | $8.8B | +43% |
| Q2 2025 | $5.7B | -4.8% |
| Q1 2025 | $4.3B | +56% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.1B | -69% |
COF's free cash flow was $26.3B over the past year, up 26% from the year before. Free cash flow isn't a meaningful measure for financial services companies like COF.
COF Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -1.9% | -11.6M shares |
| 1 year | -4.7% | -30M shares |
| 3 years | +59% | +226M shares |
| 5 years | +38% | +169M shares |
| Available history | +30% | +140M shares |
COF has 610M diluted shares, down 4.7% from a year ago, with $10.7B in buybacks over the past year.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2.7B |
| Q2 2026 | $2.7B |
| Q1 2026 | $2.8B |
| Q4 2025 | $2.5B |
| Q3 2025 | $1B |
| Q2 2025 | $167M |
| Q1 2025 | $375M |
| Q4 2024 | $161M |
COF spent $10.7B buying back its own shares over the past year, about six times what it spent the year before.
COF Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.3x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 2.1x | Moderate |
| Q1 2026 | 5.1x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 6.4x | High |
| Q3 2025 | 7.7x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 16.4x | High |
| Q1 2025 | 4.1x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 4.7x | High |
COF's net debt is about 2.3 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 7.7 years a year ago. Net leverage isn't a meaningful measure for financial services companies like COF.
COF Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 42.9 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 26.9 | Neutral |
COF's weekly RSI is 43 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 27 (neutral).
COF PE vs Financial Services Sector
| Metric | COF | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 11x | 13x | 17% below |
| PE % | 49 | 63 | 14 pts below |
COF is trading at 11x earnings, a 17% discount to the Financial Services sector's median of 13x.
COF Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $199.7 | 3.1% below |
| 20 week MA | $206.7 | 6.3% below |
| 50 week MA | $206.3 | 6.2% below |
| 100 week MA | $203.1 | 4.7% below |
| 200 week MA | $164.7 | 18% above |
COF has fallen below most of its moving averages, though it's still 18% above its 200-week average.
COF Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $103.0 | $97.3 | -5.5% |
| 2021 | $97.3 | $145.1 | +49% |
| 2022 | $145.1 | $90.7 | -37% |
| 2023 | $90.7 | $131.1 | +45% |
| 2024 | $131.1 | $180.2 | +37% |
| 2025 | $180.2 | $249.3 | +38% |
| 2026 YTD | $249.3 | $193.6 | -22% |
COF has finished higher in four of the last six years. It's down 22% so far in 2026.