ARCC vs. TOST: Ares Capital vs. Toast Stock Comparison

Company Profile

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

Ares Capital (ARCC) has more than two decades of public-market history since October 5, 2004, whereas Toast (TOST) listed on September 22, 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

Toast (TOST) has an aggressive beta of 1.66, indicating higher sensitivity to broad-market moves, while Ares Capital (ARCC) is defensive at 0.59 and tends to be less market-sensitive — they sit on opposite ends of the beta spectrum.

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

Toast (TOST) at 25.58% sits in the top ROE quartile, while Ares Capital (ARCC) at 6.19% is closer to the peer norm — stronger capital efficiency for TOST.

Ares Capital (ARCC) at 28.35% retains a top-quartile share of revenue as profit, ahead of Toast (TOST) at 7.69%, which keeps about the industry-typical share.

Ares Capital (ARCC) at 72.74% carries a top-quartile operating margin, while Toast (TOST) at 8.63% operates in the bottom quartile.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Toast (TOST) at 24.05% is around its peer norm for revenue growth, while Ares Capital (ARCC) at -12.08% drops into the bottom quartile, signaling weaker demand or pricing momentum.

Toast (TOST) at 1,766.67% 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: Ares Capital (ARCC) in Financial Services and Toast (TOST) 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: Ares Capital (ARCC) in Financial Services and Toast (TOST) 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

Toast (TOST) 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; Toast (TOST) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%).

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

Ares Capital (ARCC) at 15.68 is near its industry’s usual P/E ratio, while Toast (TOST) at 38.10 sits in the richer quartile — TOST needs stronger growth or earnings quality to justify the premium.

On P/S ratio, both Ares Capital (ARCC) at 4.48 and Toast (TOST) at 2.82 are priced roughly in line with their industries — neither looks cheap nor rich on a sales basis.

Ares Capital (ARCC) at 0.99 sits near its industry’s typical P/B ratio, while Toast (TOST) at 8.79 prices above its benchmark range — TOST looks rich relative to book.

Valuation Metrics