Capital One Financial Corporation (COF) — Fundamental Analysis & Key Financial Ratios

Kaplio's reading: Capital One Financial Corporation

Updated on October 21, 2026 · accounts published on October 20, 2026

Revenue is growing fast and margins have recovered from their weakest year in over a decade

Capital One Financial trades at a P/E of 12.1 over the last 12 months, 7 % below its sector median, after revenue grew 28 % year on year.

• Is Capital One Financial expensive or cheap? Its P/E of 12.1 is 7 % below the sector median but higher than in 71 % of the last decade.
• How is the business doing? Revenue grew 28 % over the last 12 months and the operating margin is back to 21 %, from 3.3 % in fiscal 2025.
• How strong is the balance sheet? Debt-to-equity is 0.40 over the last 12 months, below the 0.5 the sector treats as prudent.
• What to expect from the next earnings? Next results are due January 28, 2027, with analysts expecting EPS of $4.78 after a 22 % beat on October 20, 2026.
• Is it a scalable business with little leverage? Revenue per share grew 13 % a year in fiscal 2020-2025, double the 6 % the sector calls healthy, with debt at 0.40 of equity.

Is Capital One Financial expensive or cheap?

Over the last 12 months Capital One Financial trades at a P/E of 12.1. That is below the 13.0 median of 470 financial services companies. Its own history gives a different picture. The ten-year median P/E is 10.9, so today's multiple is 14 % above it, and the stock traded cheaper 71 % of the time over the decade, within a range of 3.6 to 20.1. The five-year average of 19.4 looks generous, probably because the weak profits of fiscal 2025 pushed it up. At 1.1× book value, the market pays only a little more than net assets. The shares are down 5 % over 12 months and sit 20 % below their 52-week high of $257.94.

How is the business doing?

Revenue rose 28 % year on year over the last 12 months. EPS fell 65 % over the same period, so the growth has not yet reached the bottom line. The margins point to a recovery. The operating margin is 21 % over the last 12 months, in line with its 20 % average for fiscal 2014-2025, after only 3.3 % in fiscal 2025, the lowest of those 12 years. The net margin is 13 %. ROE of 9.3 % is still below the 15 % the sector treats as healthy. The open question is whether the recovered margin lasts long enough to show up in full-year EPS.

How strong is the balance sheet?

Leverage is contained. Debt-to-equity of 0.40 over the last 12 months stays under the 0.5 ceiling used for financial services. Shareholder returns are steady but modest. The dividend yields 1.6 % over the last 12 months, and the dividend per share has risen for 3 consecutive fiscal years through 2025. The weak spot is coverage: the dividend took 72 % of fiscal 2025 earnings, a high share in a year when profits were thin. If the recovered margin holds, the payout should look less stretched. Another year like fiscal 2025 would leave little room for further raises.

What to expect from the next earnings?

On October 20, 2026 Capital One Financial reported EPS of $6.69 against $5.50 expected, a 22 % beat. It has topped EPS estimates in 6 of the last 8 quarters. Over the last 30 days, 14 analysts nudged the fiscal 2026 EPS consensus up 0.8 %, from $20.36 to $20.53, while the revenue consensus barely moved. The bar for the January 28, 2027 report is EPS of $4.78, well below the latest quarter, so missing it would take a clear setback. Of the 57 analysts covering the stock, 36 rate it a buy, 17 a hold and 4 a sell.

Is it a scalable business with little leverage?

Financial services firms such as asset managers, brokers and exchanges are judged on revenue growth, fees and the quality of their cash. Their profits depend on the volume that flows through the business more than on physical assets. Capital One Financial passes on growth: revenue per share rose 13 % a year in fiscal 2020-2025, against a 6 % bar. It also passes on leverage, with debt-to-equity of 0.40 against a 0.5 ceiling. It fails on profitability, with a 3.3 % operating margin in fiscal 2025 against a 30 % threshold and a 9.3 % ROE against 15 %. Free cash flow reached 1,066 % of net income in fiscal 2025, so far above the 90 % bar that it mostly shows how thin that year's profit was.

How this was prepared: the data comes from companies' official filings, collected by a professional provider, and from Kaplio's analysis engine (trailing-12-month ratios, 10 years of history and sector medians computed across US-listed companies). The text is written from that data alone, every figure is checked against it before publication, and it is reviewed when the company reports results. This is not investment advice.