The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) — Fundamental Analysis & Key Financial Ratios

Kaplio's reading: The Charles Schwab Corporation

Updated on October 16, 2026 · accounts published on October 15, 2026

Reading of October 15, 2026: A highly profitable, lightly leveraged financial firm with fast-growing earnings

Charles Schwab trades at a P/E of 17.1×, 34 % below its ten-year median, with a 36 % operating margin and debt at only 0.14 times equity.

• Is Charles Schwab expensive or cheap? Its P/E of 17.1× is 34 % below its ten-year median but 28 % above the sector median.
• How is the business doing? EPS rose 56 % over the last 12 months on 6.4 % revenue growth, with a 36 % operating margin.
• How strong is the balance sheet? Debt is 0.14 times equity over the last 12 months, and the dividend took only 26 % of fiscal 2025 earnings.
• What to expect from the next earnings? Next results on January 20, 2027: analysts expect EPS of $1.78, and it has beaten estimates in 8 of the last 8 quarters.
• Is it a scalable business with little leverage? Revenue per share grew 13 % a year in fiscal 2020-2025, more than double the 6 % healthy mark for its sector.

Is Charles Schwab expensive or cheap?

Charles Schwab trades at a P/E of 17.1× over the last 12 months, 34 % below its ten-year median of 25.8×. Over the past decade the multiple has ranged from 10.9× to 41.4×, and it has been lower than today only 24 % of the time. Measured against its own five-year average of 25.3×, the stock sits in the cheap band. The sector gives a different answer. The median P/E across 472 financial services companies is 13.3×, so Charles Schwab still trades at a 28 % premium. The shares are up 1 % over 12 months and sit 17 % below their 52-week high of $113.65.

How is the business doing?

Over the last 12 months revenue grew 6.4 % while EPS jumped 56 %, so profits are rising much faster than sales. Profitability is high: a 40 % net margin and a 28 % return on equity over the same period. The operating margin of 36 % over the last 12 months is slightly below its 2014-2025 average of 37 % and below the 41 % of fiscal 2025. The most recent quarters have been a little less profitable than last fiscal year, while still in line with the company's long-run level.

How strong is the balance sheet?

Charles Schwab carries debt equal to 0.14 times its equity over the last 12 months, well under the 0.5 considered prudent for financial services firms. The dividend yields 1.3 % over the last 12 months and took 26 % of earnings in fiscal 2025, so most of the profit stays in the company. Free cash flow equal to 99 % of net income in fiscal 2025 means those earnings arrive as cash, which leaves the payout easily covered. The modest yield comes from a low payout ratio, and the balance sheet shows no sign of strain.

What to expect from the next earnings?

Charles Schwab has beaten EPS estimates in 8 of the last 8 quarters. The latest report, on October 15, 2026, showed EPS of $1.69 against $1.65 expected, a 2.4 % beat. For the quarter due on January 20, 2027, analysts expect $1.78, above that latest result. Over the last 30 days the 2026 EPS consensus barely moved, from $6.50 to $6.47 across 16 analysts, and the revenue forecast is just as stable. Of the 51 analysts covering the company, 29 recommend buying, 19 holding and 3 selling.

Is it a scalable business with little leverage?

Brokers, asset managers and exchanges are judged differently from banks. What counts is how fast revenue grows, how much of it becomes operating profit and whether earnings arrive as cash. Charles Schwab passes all five tests. Revenue per share grew 13 % a year from fiscal 2020 to 2025, against a healthy mark of 6 %. The fiscal 2025 operating margin of 41 % clears the 30 % threshold, and return on equity of 28 % over the last 12 months is close to double the 15 % bar. Free cash flow reached 99 % of net income, just above the 90 % line.

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.