Stocks · Financial Services · Asset Management
Ares Capital Corporation ARCC
$18.86 -1.57% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $13.54B
Next earnings report: Oct 27, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- The shares trade at 14.0× trailing earnings, higher than 90% of the company's own readings over the past five years.
- Net debt is 9.4× EBITDA, a high level of leverage.
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $1.35, down 34.1% year over year.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Financial Services sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 44%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 16%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 22%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 23%
- Revenue growth accelerationTop 15%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 1%
- Gross marginTop 46%
- Operating marginTop 4%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 45%
- Accruals (lower is better)Top 48%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 14%
- Interest coverTop 32%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 45%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 50%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 45%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 7%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Bottom 14%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthBottom 27%
- 6-month returnBottom 47%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Bottom 26%
- Distance from 52-week highBottom 49%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 27%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 26%
- Consecutive EPS beatsBottom 17%
- Share of analysts rating BuyTop 17%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 12%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 28%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 43%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Bottom 44%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 14%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | -1.6% | 4.9% | ↑ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -20.5% | -34.1% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 68.3% | 67.0% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 63.6% | 62.9% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | 57.9% | 46.0% | ↓ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 4.9% | -1.6% | ↑ | Bottom 44% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | -34.1% | -20.5% | ↓ | Bottom 16% |
| Gross margin | 67.0% | 68.3% | ↓ | Top 46% |
| Operating margin | 62.9% | 63.6% | ↓ | Top 4% |
| Net margin | 41.5% | 61.4% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 46.0% | 57.9% | ↓ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 1526.5% | — | Top 1% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 23.3% | — | Top 23% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 1.11×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -0.3%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.0%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -7.1 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 9.43×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 1.8×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 9.81%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- -1.67%
- Shareholder yield
- 8.15%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +3.3%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +8.2%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 29, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 0
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 0 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- -1.0%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -0.5%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 4 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $19.00
- Target vs current price
- +0.7%
- Analysts with a rating
- 32
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 75%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2026 | -0.7% | -1.7% | +3.2% | +4.7% | — |
| Apr 28, 2026 | -2.6% | +1.7% | +3.1% | +1.1% | +0.0% |
| Feb 4, 2026 | +0.0% | +2.2% | +4.3% | +0.0% | +0.2% |
| Oct 28, 2025 | -0.6% | +1.2% | +0.4% | -0.8% | +2.3% |
| Jul 29, 2025 | -1.2% | -0.7% | -1.3% | -2.7% | -12.3% |
| Apr 29, 2025 | -5.7% | -2.7% | -3.4% | +3.4% | +8.4% |
| Feb 5, 2025 | -5.2% | -3.0% | -4.6% | -5.0% | -14.6% |
| Oct 30, 2024 | -3.3% | -1.1% | -2.6% | +2.0% | +9.1% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2026 | $0.47 | $0.47 | -0.7% | $768.0M |
| Apr 28, 2026 | $0.47 | $0.48 | -2.6% | $763.0M |
| Feb 4, 2026 | $0.50 | $0.50 | +0.0% | $793.0M |
| Oct 28, 2025 | $0.50 | $0.50 | -0.6% | $655.0M |
| Jul 29, 2025 | $0.50 | $0.51 | -1.2% | $579.0M |
| Apr 29, 2025 | $0.50 | $0.53 | -5.7% | $446.0M |
| Feb 5, 2025 | $0.55 | $0.58 | -5.2% | $759.0M |
| Oct 30, 2024 | $0.58 | $0.60 | -3.3% | $613.0M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 14.0× | 9.0× | 90th | Top 45% |
| P/E (forward) | 9.9× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 17.7× | — | — | Bottom 45% |
| EV / Sales | 12.51× | — | — | Bottom 7% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 7.85% | — | — | Bottom 50% |
| Earnings yield | 7.16% | — | — | Top 45% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 5.2× – 15.3× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- -6.3%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- -34.1%
- Change in P/E multiple
- +26.0%
Most of the move came from earnings growth.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✗ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- +1.6%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- -0.5%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -3.5%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -1.7%
- RSI (14)
- 35.8
- Relative volume
- 1.06×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 16.7%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 45th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.75
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.58
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -10.3%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -26.7%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 4, 2025 | Mar 27, 2026 | -26.7% | 287 days | Not yet recovered |
| Feb 8, 2022 | Sep 29, 2022 | -25.4% | 161 days | 575 days (Jan 15, 2025) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $13.54B
- P/E (TTM)
- 14.0
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $1.35
- Revenue (TTM)
- $2.31B
- Dividend yield
- 10.18%
- 52-week range
- $17.40 – $21.14
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $2.05B | $1.20B | $2.17B | $2.37B | $2.24B |
| Gross profit | $1.68B | $741.0M | $1.64B | $1.71B | $1.51B |
| Operating income | $1.60B | $655.0M | $1.54B | $1.59B | $1.40B |
| Net income | $1.57B | $600.0M | $1.52B | $1.52B | $1.30B |
| EPS (diluted) | $3.51 | $1.19 | $2.68 | $2.44 | $1.86 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $613.0M | $567.0M | $446.0M | $579.0M | $655.0M | $540.0M | $349.0M | $768.0M |
| Net income | $394.0M | $357.0M | $241.0M | $361.0M | $404.0M | $293.0M | $92.0M | $171.0M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.62 | $0.55 | $0.36 | $0.52 | $0.57 | $0.41 | $0.13 | $0.24 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $935.0M | $746.0M | $1.00B | $1.28B | $1.14B |
| Capital expenditure | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Free cash flow | $935.0M | $746.0M | $1.00B | $1.28B | $1.14B |
| Dividends paid | -$694.0M | -$912.0M | -$1.03B | -$1.14B | -$1.26B |
| Net share buybacks | $819.0M | $1.00B | $1.16B | $1.36B | $928.0M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $383.0M
- Total assets
- $30.50B
- Total liabilities
- $16.61B
- Total debt
- $15.77B
- Net debt
- $15.39B
- Shareholders’ equity
- $13.89B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 29, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2026 | $0.48 | Sep 30, 2026 |
| Jun 15, 2026 | $0.48 | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Mar 13, 2026 | $0.48 | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Dec 15, 2025 | $0.48 | Dec 30, 2025 |
| Sep 15, 2025 | $0.48 | Sep 30, 2025 |
| Jun 13, 2025 | $0.48 | Jun 30, 2025 |
| Mar 14, 2025 | $0.48 | Mar 31, 2025 |
| Dec 13, 2024 | $0.48 | Dec 30, 2024 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 41,885,150
- Days to cover
- 9.33
- Change vs previous report
- +1.6%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.