Stocks · Financial Services · Financial - Credit Services
SLM Corporation SLM
$22.75 +0.62% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $4.28B
Inexpensive vs sector
Next earnings report: Oct 22, 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
- Operating margin widened to 32.0% from 19.3% a year earlier.
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $3.57, up 79.4% year over year.
- The diluted share count fell 9.9% in a year, mainly through buybacks.
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 46%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Top 15%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRBottom 29%
- Revenue growth accelerationTop 23%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 19%
- Gross marginBottom 28%
- Operating marginTop 25%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 33%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 28%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 49%
- Interest coverBottom 46%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 6%
- Free-cash-flow yieldTop 18%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 9%
- Sales / enterprise valueTop 23%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 22%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthBottom 23%
- 6-month returnBottom 49%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Bottom 17%
- Distance from 52-week highBottom 18%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 27%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 28%
- Consecutive EPS beatsBottom 17%
- Share of analysts rating BuyTop 19%
- Upside to consensus price targetTop 24%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Bottom 28%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsBottom 20%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Bottom 30%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 49%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 2.3% | 5.4% | ↑ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 29.5% | 79.4% | ↑ |
| Gross margin | 41.4% | 54.9% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 19.3% | 32.0% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | -13.5% | 21.2% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 5.4% | 2.3% | ↑ | Bottom 46% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | 79.4% | 29.5% | ↑ | Top 15% |
| Gross margin | 54.9% | 41.4% | ↑ | Bottom 28% |
| Operating margin | 32.0% | 19.3% | ↑ | Top 25% |
| Net margin | 24.0% | 15.2% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 21.2% | -13.5% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 8.5% | — | Top 19% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 9.5% | — | Bottom 29% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 0.88×
- 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.
- 0.1%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- +1140.9 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 1.26×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 0.9×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 16.26%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 13.12%
- Shareholder yield
- 29.39%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -9.9%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -7.4%
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 23, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 0
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 3 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- -0.4%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -0.3%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 5 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $28.75
- Target vs current price
- +26.4%
- Analysts with a rating
- 25
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 72%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 23, 2026 | -33.4% | -4.1% | +1.9% | +5.4% | — |
| Apr 23, 2026 | +35.1% | +1.4% | -0.5% | -4.7% | +9.7% |
| Jan 22, 2026 | +17.9% | +1.0% | -0.2% | -11.4% | -14.3% |
| Oct 23, 2025 | -21.0% | -1.0% | -0.1% | +0.6% | -3.7% |
| Jul 24, 2025 | -34.7% | -3.1% | -3.6% | -7.1% | -23.7% |
| Apr 24, 2025 | +17.6% | +3.6% | +6.5% | +20.8% | +20.5% |
| Jan 23, 2025 | -10.7% | +0.8% | -1.3% | +10.1% | -7.9% |
| Oct 23, 2024 | -483.3% | -1.0% | -3.8% | +3.6% | +24.1% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 23, 2026 | $0.29 | $0.44 | -33.4% | $401.1M |
| Apr 23, 2026 | $1.54 | $1.14 | +35.1% | $560.0M |
| Jan 22, 2026 | $1.12 | $0.95 | +17.9% | $454.1M |
| Oct 23, 2025 | $0.63 | $0.80 | -21.0% | $830.3M |
| Jul 24, 2025 | $0.32 | $0.49 | -34.7% | $683.5M |
| Apr 24, 2025 | $1.40 | $1.19 | +17.6% | $862.1M |
| Jan 23, 2025 | $0.50 | $0.56 | -10.7% | $689.2M |
| Oct 23, 2024 | -$0.23 | $0.06 | -483.3% | $677.2M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 6.4× | 7.5× | 24th | Top 6% |
| P/E (forward) | 7.3× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 5.5× | — | — | Top 9% |
| EV / Sales | 1.80× | — | — | Top 23% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 15.19% | — | — | Top 18% |
| Earnings yield | 15.69% | — | — | Top 6% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 5.0× – 16.1× 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
- -17.0%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- +79.4%
- Change in P/E multiple
- -57.9%
Most of the move came from a change in the valuation multiple.
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)
- -0.9%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- -1.5%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -11.9%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -5.8%
- RSI (14)
- 31.1
- Relative volume
- 1.79×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 30.0%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 35th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.87
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.38
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -26.3%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -45.5%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2021 | Mar 24, 2023 | -46.3% | 435 days | 236 days (Mar 4, 2024) |
| Jul 7, 2025 | Feb 27, 2026 | -45.5% | 163 days | Not yet recovered |
| Feb 18, 2025 | Apr 8, 2025 | -23.7% | 35 days | 23 days (May 12, 2025) |
| Jul 16, 2024 | Aug 6, 2024 | -15.9% | 15 days | 65 days (Nov 6, 2024) |
| Jan 20, 2021 | Jan 27, 2021 | -12.7% | 5 days | 4 days (Feb 2, 2021) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $4.28B
- P/E (TTM)
- 6.4
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $3.57
- Revenue (TTM)
- $3.07B
- Dividend yield
- 2.29%
- 52-week range
- $17.77 – $31.06
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $2.41B | $2.37B | $2.84B | $2.99B | $3.11B |
| Gross profit | $2.06B | $1.19B | $1.46B | $1.44B | $1.65B |
| Operating income | $1.54B | $630.7M | $778.3M | $798.6M | $992.6M |
| Net income | $1.16B | $469.0M | $581.4M | $608.3M | $744.8M |
| EPS (diluted) | $3.61 | $1.76 | $2.41 | $2.68 | $3.46 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $677.2M | $689.2M | $862.1M | $683.5M | $830.3M | $733.9M | $833.9M | $670.3M |
| Net income | -$45.2M | $111.6M | $304.5M | $71.3M | $135.8M | $233.2M | $308.0M | $58.5M |
| EPS (diluted) | -$0.23 | $0.50 | $1.40 | $0.32 | $0.63 | $1.11 | $1.54 | $0.29 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | -$49.5M | $5.0M | -$144.6M | -$329.4M | $575.5M |
| Capital expenditure | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Free cash flow | -$49.5M | $5.0M | -$144.6M | -$329.4M | $575.5M |
| Dividends paid | -$60.5M | -$113.0M | -$101.2M | -$99.2M | -$700.0M |
| Net share buybacks | -$1.53B | -$713.2M | -$350.3M | -$248.0M | -$368.7M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $4.64B
- Total assets
- $28.58B
- Total liabilities
- $26.10B
- Total debt
- $5.84B
- Net debt
- $1.26B
- Shareholders’ equity
- $2.47B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 23, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 4, 2026 | $0.13 | Sep 15, 2026 |
| Jun 4, 2026 | $0.13 | Jun 15, 2026 |
| Mar 5, 2026 | $0.13 | Mar 16, 2026 |
| Dec 4, 2025 | $0.13 | Dec 15, 2025 |
| Sep 4, 2025 | $0.13 | Sep 15, 2025 |
| Jun 5, 2025 | $0.13 | Jun 16, 2025 |
| Mar 5, 2025 | $0.13 | Mar 17, 2025 |
| Dec 5, 2024 | $0.13 | Dec 16, 2024 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 17,944,299
- Days to cover
- 11.48
- Change vs previous report
- +2.9%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- May 1, 2014
- 1,399-for-500
- Jun 23, 2003
- 3-for-1
- Jan 5, 1998
- 7-for-2
- Jul 3, 1989
- 5-for-2