Capital One (COF)
Financials · $124B market cap · SEC CIK 0000927628
fundamentals score out of 100
Next reports on Oct 22, 2026, after the close, with analysts expecting $5.45 in earnings per share.
The case for COF
- Cheap on earnings at 11.8×, well under the market's usual 20×.
- Earnings per share up 522.0%.
- Trades at 1.09× book value, close to what the balance sheet says it owns.
- Pays a modest 2.3% dividend.
- Price/sales of 1.1× is lower than 90% of Financials companies.
The case against
- Profitability is weak (41/100): return on equity 9%, net margin 14.9%.
- The price trend is weak (39/100): -10.2% over a year, +1.7% over three months, 31% of the way up its 52-week range.
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Financials companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings, sales, assets and cash | 85 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 54 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 41 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 39 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 48 |
- Its one-year revenue change (+38%) is far out of line with its five-year trend (+4% a year). In the Financials sector that is usually interest income swinging with rates rather than growth, so only the five-year figure is used.
- Its debt and cash flow are not scored, as for every company in the Financials sector: for banks, insurers and brokers, borrowing is the business.
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 74 Financials companies.
Key numbers
| Price / earnings | 11.8× |
|---|---|
| Price / book | 1.09× |
| Price / sales | 1.1× |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +38.2% (not used: out of line with the five-year +4.4% a year) |
| EPS growth (YoY) | +522.0% |
| Gross margin | — |
| Operating margin | 18% |
| Net margin | 15% |
| Return on equity | 9% |
| Debt / equity | 0.39× |
| Current ratio | n/a |
| Dividend yield | 2.25% |
| Beta | 1.11 |
| 52-week range | $174.24 – $259.64 |
| Position in that range | 31% of the way up |
| 3-month return | +1.7% |
| 1-year return | -10.2% |
Five years of financials, as filed
Pulled from Capital One's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are derived from the rows above.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $8.1B | $5.9B | $5.6B | $5.4B | $4.8B |
| Net income | $2.5B | $4.8B | $4.9B | $7.4B | $12.4B |
| Operating cash flow | $27.7B | $18.2B | $20.6B | $13.8B | $12.3B |
| Capital expenditure | $1.6B | $1.2B | $961M | $934M | $698M |
| Total assets | $669B | $490B | $478B | $455B | $432B |
| Total liabilities | $555B | $429B | $420B | $403B | $371B |
| Shareholder equity | $114B | $60.8B | $58.1B | $52.6B | $61.0B |
| Cash | $62.1B | $43.7B | $43.8B | $31.3B | $22.1B |
| Free cash flow | $26.1B | $17.0B | $19.6B | $12.9B | $11.6B |
| Net margin | 30.4% | 80.3% | 86.6% | 135.9% | 259.2% |
| Diluted shares | 541M | 384M | 383M | 393M | 444M |
Share count is up 21.9% over 4 years. Your slice has been diluted.
What Capital One says it does
—Supervision and Regulation—Prudential Regulation of Banking—Capital and Stress Testing Regulation—Capital Buffer Requirements." Our capital and leverage ratios are calculated based on the Basel III standardized approach framework. We have elected to exclude certain elements of AOCI from our regulatory capital as permitted for a Category III institution. For information on the recognition of AOCI in regulatory capital under the proposed changes to the Basel III Capital Rules, see "Part I—Item 1. Business—Supervision and Regulation—Prudential Regulation of Banking—Capital and Stress Testing Regulation—Basel III Finalization Proposal." For additional information about the regulatory capital rules to which we are subject, including recent proposed amendments to these rules, see "Part I—Item 1. Business—Supervision and Regulation." The following table provides a comparison of our regulatory capital amounts and ratios under the Basel III…
Risk factors COF lists in its 10-K
- Three-Year Summary of Selected Financial Data
- (Dollars in millions, except per share data and as noted)
- Net income available to common stockholders
- (Dollars in millions, except as noted)
- Net Charge-Off and Delinquency Metrics
- Table 1: Average Balances, Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin
- Liabilities and stockholders’ equity
- Table 2: Rate/Volume Analysis of Net Interest Income
- from Discontinued Operations, Net of Tax
- Table 6: Funding Sources Composition
- Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities
- Business Segment Financial Performance
- Table 8: Credit Card Business Results
- Table 8.1: Domestic Card Business Results