Stocks · Financial Services · Asset Management
StepStone Group Inc. STEP
$45.27 +1.25% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $5.84B
Weak trendExpensive vs sectorHigh risk
Next earnings report: Nov 5, 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 narrowed to -58.2% from -26.7% a year earlier.
- Revenue over the last four quarters was $2.01B, up 48.5% from a year earlier, slowing from 69.7% a quarter earlier.
- The stock is in a downtrend: below its 200-day average, with the 50-day average below the 200-day.
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)Top 7%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 1%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 9%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalBottom 3%
- Gross marginBottom 39%
- Operating marginBottom 4%
- Accruals (lower is better)Top 24%
- Interest coverBottom 2%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldBottom 6%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 10%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 4%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 42%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthBottom 10%
- 6-month returnBottom 15%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Bottom 10%
- Distance from 52-week highBottom 9%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 9%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 43%
- Consecutive EPS beatsBottom 17%
- Share of analysts rating BuyTop 7%
- Upside to consensus price targetTop 15%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Bottom 10%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsBottom 18%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Bottom 5%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 69.7% | 48.5% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | -0.4% | 60.9% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | -26.7% | -58.2% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | 4.1% | -21.9% | ↓ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 48.5% | 69.7% | ↓ | Top 7% |
| Gross margin | 60.9% | -0.4% | ↑ | Bottom 39% |
| Operating margin | -58.2% | -26.7% | ↓ | Bottom 4% |
| Net margin | -30.5% | -17.1% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | -21.9% | 4.1% | ↓ | — |
| Return on invested capital | -17.4% | — | Bottom 3% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -2.3%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 86.1%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -142.3 pp
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- -63.9×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 2.33%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 0.26%
- Shareholder yield
- 2.59%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +5.3%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +7.6%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 7, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 0
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 4 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +6.0%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -1.5%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 2 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $63.88
- Target vs current price
- +41.1%
- Analysts with a rating
- 8
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 88%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | -4.8% | +1.0% | -3.5% | +1.4% | — |
| May 20, 2026 | +9.2% | -1.0% | -0.4% | -12.7% | -4.0% |
| Feb 5, 2026 | +8.3% | -7.5% | -7.3% | -25.6% | -17.5% |
| Nov 6, 2025 | +11.3% | -0.7% | +0.2% | -0.4% | +0.6% |
| Aug 7, 2025 | -6.2% | -1.6% | +6.9% | +5.6% | +6.2% |
| May 22, 2025 | +54.2% | +0.8% | +5.1% | -5.7% | +5.9% |
| Feb 6, 2025 | -6.4% | -1.3% | -7.7% | -17.0% | -15.8% |
| Nov 7, 2024 | -4.3% | -1.9% | -3.0% | -5.8% | -1.9% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | $0.48 | $0.50 | -4.8% | $300.6M |
| May 20, 2026 | $0.57 | $0.52 | +9.2% | $305.8M |
| Feb 5, 2026 | $0.65 | $0.60 | +8.3% | $494.5M |
| Nov 6, 2025 | $0.54 | $0.49 | +11.3% | $282.3M |
| Aug 7, 2025 | $0.40 | $0.43 | -6.2% | $237.5M |
| May 22, 2025 | $0.68 | $0.44 | +54.2% | $295.9M |
| Feb 6, 2025 | $0.44 | $0.47 | -6.4% | $243.9M |
| Nov 7, 2024 | $0.45 | $0.47 | -4.3% | $208.8M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (forward) | 18.3× | — | — | — |
| EV / Sales | 3.59× | — | — | Bottom 42% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | -7.52% | — | — | Bottom 10% |
| Earnings yield | -17.05% | — | — | Bottom 6% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 6.7× – 142.4× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
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)
- +4.1%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- -2.9%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -5.2%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -12.7%
- RSI (14)
- 44.9
- Relative volume
- 1.08×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 49.5%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 85th percentile · High for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 1.67
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.61
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -40.6%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -48.2%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 15, 2021 | May 4, 2023 | -61.6% | 368 days | 345 days (Sep 18, 2024) |
| Jan 16, 2026 | Jun 26, 2026 | -48.2% | 110 days | Not yet recovered |
| Nov 11, 2024 | Apr 8, 2025 | -38.8% | 100 days | 187 days (Jan 6, 2026) |
| Dec 31, 2020 | Mar 12, 2021 | -23.4% | 48 days | 83 days (Jul 12, 2021) |
| Sep 2, 2021 | Oct 8, 2021 | -15.8% | 25 days | 22 days (Nov 9, 2021) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $5.84B
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- -$7.72
- Revenue (TTM)
- $2.01B
- Dividend yield
- 3.80%
- 52-week range
- $38.85 – $77.80
| FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.37B | -$67.6M | $711.6M | $1.17B | $1.99B |
| Gross profit | $576.8M | $171.6M | $381.4M | -$89.5M | $1.02B |
| Operating income | $452.4M | -$497,000 | $171.8M | -$250.7M | -$1.02B |
| Net income | $193.9M | -$18.4M | $58.1M | -$179.6M | -$521.4M |
| EPS (diluted) | $3.84 | -$0.30 | $0.91 | -$2.52 | -$6.70 |
| Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | Q4 2026 | Q1 2027 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $271.7M | $339.0M | $377.7M | $364.3M | $454.2M | $586.5M | $588.6M | $378.9M |
| Net income | $17.6M | -$192.0M | -$18.5M | -$38.4M | -$366.1M | -$123.5M | -$7.8M | -$115.8M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.26 | -$2.61 | -$0.24 | -$0.49 | -$4.66 | -$1.55 | -$0.10 | -$1.41 |
| FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $214.3M | $151.2M | $161.5M | $64.9M | $66.5M |
| Capital expenditure | -$2.1M | -$5.6M | -$19.6M | -$5.1M | -$2.6M |
| Free cash flow | $212.2M | $145.6M | $141.9M | $59.8M | $63.9M |
| Dividends paid | -$23.9M | -$50.0M | -$68.5M | -$75.8M | -$117.8M |
| Net share buybacks | $0 | $0 | $12.5M | $22.1M | -$3.7M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $201.2M
- Total assets
- $7.77B
- Total liabilities
- $6.53B
- Total debt
- $1.57B
- Net debt
- $1.37B
- Shareholders’ equity
- -$539.2M
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 7, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 31, 2026 | $0.33 | Sep 15, 2026 |
| Jun 15, 2026 | $0.83 | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Feb 27, 2026 | $0.28 | Mar 13, 2026 |
| Nov 28, 2025 | $0.28 | Dec 15, 2025 |
| Aug 29, 2025 | $0.28 | Sep 15, 2025 |
| Jun 13, 2025 | $0.64 | Jun 30, 2025 |
| Feb 28, 2025 | $0.24 | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Nov 29, 2024 | $0.24 | Dec 13, 2024 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 5,336,780
- Days to cover
- 4.92
- Change vs previous report
- -13.9%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.