Affirm Holdings, Inc. vs SLM Corp, two Credit Services stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Net margin tells the story: SLM (Sallie Mae) at 49.8% against Affirm's 9.6%, private student lending's fat spreads against BNPL's thin merchant economics. SLM earns 30.7% on equity to Affirm's 10.1% and trades at 7.1 times earnings against Affirm's 71, a tenfold multiple gap on the reverse of the return ranking. SLM pays a 2% dividend; its negative free-cash figure is loan-book growth. Both carry heavy leverage, 2.53 and 2.35 turns. Two consumer lenders sit a generation apart in maturity; SLM's proven student-loan spreads earn five times Affirm's margin at a tenth the multiple, while Affirm's price bets merchant-integrated BNPL eventually earns like a real lender.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | AFRM | SLM |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $79.46 | $25.47 |
| Market cap | $27.7B | $5.0B |
| Sector | Financial Services | Financial Services |
| Stage | Growth | Mature |
| P/E | 71.0 | 7.1 |
| P/B | 7.31 | 2.07 |
| P/S | 6.96 | 3.35 |
| EV/EBITDA | 57.2 | 1397.9 |
| Revenue growth | +32.2% | +2.3% |
| Operating margin | 8.5% | — |
| Net margin | 9.6% | 49.8% |
| Return on equity | 10.1% | 30.7% |
| Return on assets | 2.9% | 2.5% |
| Dividend yield | — | 2.0% |
| Debt / equity | 2.35 | 2.53 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 1.81 | 0.40 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 8 / 9 | 6 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.