AFRM vs. ARCC: Affirm vs. Ares Capital Stock Comparison

Company Profile

Affirm (AFRM) and Ares Capital (ARCC) both fall under the Financial Services industry group, but AFRM is classified in Financial Services while ARCC is classified in Capital Markets.

Ares Capital (ARCC) has more than two decades of public-market history since October 5, 2004, whereas Affirm (AFRM) listed on January 13, 2021 and has a much shorter record to draw on.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Affirm (AFRM) has a highly aggressive beta of 3.70, indicating much higher sensitivity to broad-market moves, while Ares Capital (ARCC) is defensive at 0.59 and tends to be less market-sensitive — a wide gap in beta profiles.

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

Affirm (AFRM) at 44.49% sits in the top ROE quartile, while Ares Capital (ARCC) at 6.19% is closer to the peer norm — stronger capital efficiency for AFRM.

For every dollar of sales, both Affirm (AFRM) at 43.86% and Ares Capital (ARCC) at 28.35% retain more as net profit than most peers, landing in the top net margin quartile of their industries.

Ares Capital (ARCC) at 72.74% operates in the top operating margin quartile, ahead of Affirm (AFRM) at 14.82%, which runs around its industry’s norm.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Affirm (AFRM) at 32.15% sits in the top revenue growth quartile, while Ares Capital (ARCC) at -12.08% is in the bottom quartile, showing a clear gap in revenue momentum.

Affirm (AFRM) at 3,586.67% clears its industry range for EPS growth, a much stronger earnings trajectory than Ares Capital (ARCC) at -23.77%, which is closer to a typical peer reading.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

current ratio doesn’t apply on either side: Affirm (AFRM) in Financial Services and Ares Capital (ARCC) in Financial Services both report balance sheets without a current/non-current split, so their short-term liquidity is better judged through regulatory and funding measures.

debt-to-equity ratio is set aside for both: Affirm (AFRM) in Financial Services and Ares Capital (ARCC) in Financial Services run businesses where balance-sheet leverage is part of the model, so capital-adequacy and funding measures are the better gauges of balance-sheet risk.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

Affirm (AFRM) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Ares Capital (ARCC) reports a yield of 9.92%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Ares Capital (ARCC) reports payout ratio above 100% at 157.38%, meaning dividends exceeded current-period earnings; Affirm (AFRM) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%).

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

Both Affirm (AFRM) at 11.80 and Ares Capital (ARCC) at 15.68 land around their industries’ usual P/E ratio levels — neither is getting a clear earnings-multiple discount or premium versus peers.

Ares Capital (ARCC) at 4.48 is priced about in line with its industry on P/S ratio, while Affirm (AFRM) at 5.03 sits in the pricier quartile — AFRM costs more per dollar of sales.

Ares Capital (ARCC) at 0.99 is valued about in line with its industry on P/B ratio, while Affirm (AFRM) at 4.01 carries an above-peer premium to book — AFRM is pricier on assets.

Valuation Metrics