DLX
Deluxe Corporation
DLX's outlook is improving, though it still trails on the overall score.
META
Meta Platforms, Inc.
META has the edge over DLX overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger valuation.
DLX Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Weak |
DLX's profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, and its revenue is stable, but its balance sheet is weak.
META Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Stable | |
| Healthy |
META's revenue, profitability and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its cash flow is stable.
DLX PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 6.6x | $26.69 | — |
| Cheap | 12x | $20.65 | -23% |
| Current | 16x | $26.69 | — |
| Fair | 17x | $29.15 | +9.2% |
| Expensive | 28x | $48.18 | +81% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
DLX has the edge over META in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
META PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 19x | $624 | — |
| Cheap | 21x | $613 | -1.7% |
| Current | 21x | $624 | — |
| Fair | 27x | $803 | +29% |
| Expensive | 32x | $934 | +50% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
META's PE is in its cheap range at 21x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 19x next year's earnings.
DLX Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
DLX has the edge over META on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
META Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly weakening | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for META, but weaker profitability. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
DLX Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $4.05 | +137% |
| Q3 2026 | $1.71 | -6.6% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.17 | +68% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.26 | +81% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.80 | +53% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.83 | +48% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.29 | +50% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.25 | +62% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.18 | +100% |
DLX has the edge over META on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
META Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $32.16 | +9.7% |
| Q3 2026 | $29.32 | +30% |
| Q2 2026 | $26.54 | -3.7% |
| Q1 2026 | $27.50 | +7.5% |
| Q4 2025 | $23.49 | -1.6% |
| Q3 2025 | $22.58 | +6.5% |
| Q2 2025 | $27.56 | +41% |
| Q1 2025 | $25.58 | +47% |
| Q4 2024 | $23.86 | +60% |
META earned $29.32 per share over the past year, up 30% from the year before.
DLX Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $553.9M | +2.5% |
| Q2 2026 | $499.3M | -4.2% |
| Q1 2026 | $538.1M | +0.3% |
| Q4 2025 | $535.2M | +2.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $540.2M | +2.2% |
| Q2 2025 | $521.3M | -3.1% |
| Q1 2025 | $536.5M | +0.3% |
| Q4 2024 | $520.5M | -3.1% |
DLX's revenue grew through 2021 and has held roughly level since: $554M last quarter, up 2.5% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 9.5% | -4.5 points |
| Q2 2026 | 11% | -0.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | 13% | +4.4 points |
| Q4 2025 | 8.9% | -0.1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 14% | +6.2 points |
| Q2 2025 | 12% | +0.6 points |
| Q1 2025 | 9% | +0.7 points |
| Q4 2024 | 9% | -0.4 points |
DLX's operating margin was 9.5% last quarter, down 4.5 points from the same quarter a year ago.
META Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $64.6B | +26% |
| Q2 2026 | $60.8B | +28% |
| Q1 2026 | $56.3B | +33% |
| Q4 2025 | $59.9B | +24% |
| Q3 2025 | $51.2B | +26% |
| Q2 2025 | $47.5B | +22% |
| Q1 2025 | $42.3B | +16% |
| Q4 2024 | $48.4B | +21% |
META has the edge over DLX on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 20% | -20 points |
| Q2 2026 | 31% | -12 points |
| Q1 2026 | 41% | -0.9 points |
| Q4 2025 | 41% | -7 points |
| Q3 2025 | 40% | -2.7 points |
| Q2 2025 | 43% | +5 points |
| Q1 2025 | 41% | +3.6 points |
| Q4 2024 | 48% | +7.4 points |
META has the edge over DLX on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
DLX Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $49M | +12% |
| Q2 2026 | $58.6M | +111% |
| Q1 2026 | $27.3M | +12% |
| Q4 2025 | $79.3M | +32% |
| Q3 2025 | $43.9M | -6.2% |
| Q2 2025 | $27.8M | +143% |
| Q1 2025 | $24.3M | +295% |
| Q4 2024 | $60.2M | -28% |
DLX has the edge over META on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
META Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$1.2B | -110% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.7B | -81% |
| Q1 2026 | $13.2B | +19% |
| Q4 2025 | $14.8B | +9.3% |
| Q3 2025 | $11.2B | -32% |
| Q2 2025 | $9B | -19% |
| Q1 2025 | $11.1B | -14% |
| Q4 2024 | $13.6B | +16% |
META usually generates cash, though not every quarter: the latest was −$1.2B, but it generated $28.6B over the past year.
DLX Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.2% | +100K shares |
| 1 year | +2% | +904K shares |
| 3 years | +6.5% | +2.8M shares |
| 5 years | +8.1% | +3.5M shares |
| Available history | +8.1% | +3.5M shares |
DLX has 47M diluted shares, up 2% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2021 | — |
| Q3 2021 | — |
| Q2 2021 | — |
| Q1 2021 | — |
| Q4 2020 | — |
| Q3 2020 | — |
| Q2 2020 | — |
| Q1 2020 | $14M |
META Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.3% | +7M shares |
| 1 year | 0% | +1M shares |
| 3 years | -2.6% | -68M shares |
| 5 years | -10% | -286M shares |
| Available history | -11% | -303M shares |
META has the edge over DLX on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | — |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | $3.3B |
| Q2 2025 | $10.2B |
| Q1 2025 | $12.8B |
| Q4 2024 | — |
META hasn't bought back shares in the past year.
DLX Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 5.0x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 3.4x | Elevated |
| Q1 2026 | 3.5x | Elevated |
| Q4 2025 | 3.8x | Elevated |
| Q3 2025 | 3.8x | Elevated |
| Q2 2025 | 4.2x | High |
| Q1 2025 | 4.1x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 4.1x | High |
DLX's net debt is about 5.0 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from 3.8 years a year ago.
META Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.0x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | -0.2x | Net Cash |
META has the edge over DLX on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
DLX Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 59.6 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 53.1 | Neutral |
DLX's weekly RSI is 60 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 53 (neutral).
META Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 48.2 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 33.7 | Neutral |
META's weekly RSI is 48 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 34 (neutral).
DLX PE vs Communication Services Sector
| Metric | DLX | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 16x | 16x | 5.3% below |
| PE % | 45 | 26 | 19 pts above |
DLX has the edge over META on valuation relative to its sector.
META PE vs Communication Services Sector
| Metric | META | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 21x | 16x | 29% above |
| PE % | 18 | 26 | 8 pts below |
META is trading at 21x earnings, a 29% premium to the Communication Services sector's median of 16x.
DLX Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $24.1 | 11% above |
| 20 week MA | $24.3 | 9.7% above |
| 50 week MA | $25.0 | 6.6% above |
| 100 week MA | $21.5 | 24% above |
| 200 week MA | $20.5 | 30% above |
DLX has the edge over META on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
META Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $674.9 | 7.6% below |
| 20 week MA | $634.5 | 1.7% below |
| 50 week MA | $630.8 | 1.1% below |
| 100 week MA | $647.8 | 3.7% below |
| 200 week MA | $517.5 | 21% above |
META has fallen below most of its moving averages, though it's still 21% above its 200-week average.
DLX Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $50.1 | $26.1 | -48% |
| 2021 | $26.1 | $31.6 | +21% |
| 2022 | $31.6 | $17.0 | -46% |
| 2023 | $17.0 | $21.5 | +26% |
| 2024 | $21.5 | $22.4 | +4.6% |
| 2025 | $22.4 | $22.7 | +1.1% |
| 2026 YTD | $22.7 | $26.7 | +18% |
DLX has the edge over META on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
META Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $208.1 | $267.4 | +28% |
| 2021 | $267.4 | $335.2 | +25% |
| 2022 | $335.2 | $118.0 | -65% |
| 2023 | $118.0 | $354.0 | +200% |
| 2024 | $354.0 | $599.8 | +69% |
| 2025 | $599.8 | $663.3 | +11% |
| 2026 YTD | $663.3 | $623.6 | -6% |
META's yearly returns have swung widely, from +200% in 2023 to −65% in 2022. It's down 6% so far in 2026.