BRIGHT HORIZONS FAMILY SOLUTIONS INC. vs SERVICE CORPORATION INTERNATIONAL, two Personal Services stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Bright Horizons runs childcare centers; Service Corporation runs funeral homes and cemeteries, two very different life-stage services. Service Corp earns the higher return, 33.79% on equity against Bright Horizons's 16.51%, and a fatter margin, 16.61% against 6.35%, though it carries far more debt, 3.29 turns against 0.78. Both trade near 20 to 21 times earnings. Bright Horizons converts more free cash, 7.17% against 5.42%. The pair sets a childcare provider against a death-care operator: Service Corp earns richer margins on its pre-need funeral model with heavy leverage, Bright Horizons runs a cleaner balance sheet on employer-sponsored childcare demand.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | BFAM | SCI |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $73.28 | $77.44 |
| Market cap | $4.0B | $10.8B |
| Sector | Personal Services | Personal Services |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | -4.0% | -3.7% |
| P/E | 22.1 | 20.4 |
| P/B | 3.50 | 6.84 |
| P/S | 1.35 | 3.36 |
| EV/EBITDA | 11.6 | 15.4 |
| Revenue growth | +9.2% | +0.4% |
| Gross margin | 22.9% | 26.1% |
| Operating margin | 9.1% | 22.2% |
| Net margin | 6.3% | 16.6% |
| Return on equity | 16.5% | 33.8% |
| Return on assets | 5.0% | 2.9% |
| Return on invested capital | 10.0% | 10.7% |
| FCF yield | 6.9% | 5.3% |
| Dividend yield | — | 1.7% |
| Debt / equity | 0.78 | 3.29 |
| Current ratio | 0.46 | 0.57 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 1.96 | 6.23 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 6 / 9 |
Each week boothcheck ranks the stocks whose prices are betting on the most. Read the most stretched bets archive →
boothcheck is also on Android. Get the app on Google Play →
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.