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Stock Comparison · Structural lead, mixed market

Houlihan Lokey vs Seagate Technology Holdings: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

Seagate Technology holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across growth and profitability. Houlihan Lokey still leads on valuation and stability, which keeps the comparison from looking entirely one-sided. On the market side, Seagate Technology is in better shape — its trend is intact while Houlihan Lokey's trend has broken down. That puts structure and market broadly in agreement — Seagate Technology's lead looks more confirmed than conflicted.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Peer scores are normalised within each company's primary universe (HLI: Russell 1000, STX: S&P 500).

Updated 2026-05-17

This is not just a one-metric split: both growth and profitability materially support the lead. The overall score gap is 9 points in favour of Seagate Technology Holdings plc.

Trajectory Similarity
0.66
Moderately similar
Peer-set rank: #3
within Houlihan Lokey, Inc.'s functional peer set

This pair is matched through long-term financial trajectory similarity within the selected peer universe.

The pair shares a valid long-term profile match, but the trajectories are not especially close.

The strongest overlap appears in investment intensity and operating margin level.

Similarity drivers
investment intensityoperating margin level
How to read the score
0.85–1.00 · Very similar0.70–0.84 · Similar0.55–0.69 · Moderately similarbelow 0.55 · Loose match
Peer-Relative Score
HLI
Houlihan Lokey, Inc.
43
Peer-Score
Signal qualityMedium
Peer basis: Russell 1000
vs
STX
Seagate Technology Holdings plc
52
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: S&P 500

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

The largest gaps do not all point in the same direction.

Dimension spread: HLI vs STX Profitability 27 86 Stability 76 40 Valuation 65 22 Growth 0 61 HLI STX
Gap Ranking
#1 Growth +61
#2 Profitability +59
#3 Valuation +43
#4 Stability +36
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for HLI and STX Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer HLISTX Relative valuation Structural strength

Seagate Technology Holdings plc still looks cheaper, even though Houlihan Lokey, Inc. remains structurally stronger.

Valuation position uses peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Entry today — historical context

Where HLI and STX each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY HLI Neutral · near norm 0th 50th 100th 31 pct gap STX Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 68th 99th
Today HLI sits in the upper-middle of its own 5-year history (68th percentile), while STX sits higher in its own history (99th). Within each stock's own 5-year context, HLI is at a historically more favourable entry position than STX. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger — peer-relative analysis is a separate question addressed above.

Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Growth
Seagate Technology Holdings plc sits in the stronger part of the group on growth, while Houlihan Lokey, Inc. is closer to mid-pack.
Profitability
On profitability, Seagate Technology Holdings plc ranks near the top of the group; Houlihan Lokey, Inc. sits in the weaker half.
Growth — Dominant Gap
HLI
0
STX
61
Gap+61in favour of STX

One company is still expanding while the other is contracting, which creates a very wide growth split.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

A meaningful counterforce remains in valuation, which keeps the comparison from looking completely one-sided.

What this means for the comparison

The lead is built on both growth and profitability — though valuation still provides a counterweight.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the HLI vs STX comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

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Other comparisons with conflicting dimension signals

Explore how HLI and STX each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.