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Houlihan Lokey vs The Charles Schwab: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

The Charles Schwab holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across profitability and growth. Houlihan Lokey still has the edge on stability, which keeps the comparison from looking entirely one-sided. The market setup broadly confirms the structural lead — The Charles Schwab holds the more constructive position. That puts structure and market broadly in agreement — The Charles Schwab's lead looks more confirmed than conflicted.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the Russell 1000 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-08-16

The clearest separation starts in profitability, but growth adds another real layer to the result. The overall score gap is 29 points in favour of The Charles Schwab Corporation.

INDUSTRY COMPARISON

Both operate in: Capital Markets

This comparison is based on industry proximity, not on functional trajectory similarity. HLI and SCHW share the same industry classification.

For a similarity-based comparison, see how Houlihan Lokey and The Charles Schwab each position within their functional peer groups in AssetNext.

Peer-Relative Score
HLI
Houlihan Lokey, Inc.
43
Peer-Score
Signal qualityMedium
Peer basis: Russell 1000
vs
SCHW
The Charles Schwab Corporation
72
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000

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 SCHW Profitability 27 100 Stability 76 51 Valuation 65 68 Growth 0 58 HLI SCHW
Gap Ranking
#1 Profitability +73
#2 Growth +58
#3 Stability +25
#4 Valuation +3
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for HLI and SCHW Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer HLISCHW Relative valuation Structural strength

The Charles Schwab Corporation looks stronger both structurally and on relative valuation.

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

Entry today — historical context

Where HLI and SCHW 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 SCHW Elevated · near norm 0th 50th 100th 68th 99th
Today HLI sits in the upper-middle of its own 5-year history (68th percentile), while SCHW 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 SCHW. 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
Profitability
On profitability, The Charles Schwab Corporation ranks near the top of the group; Houlihan Lokey, Inc. sits in the weaker half.
Growth
The Charles Schwab Corporation sits in the stronger part of the group on growth, while Houlihan Lokey, Inc. is closer to mid-pack.
Profitability — Dominant Gap
HLI
27
SCHW
100
Gap+73in favour of SCHW

The profitability lead is mainly driven by a 30-point operating margin advantage.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. still carries lower volatility exposure — that difference is real enough to prevent the comparison from becoming one-sided.

What this means for the comparison

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

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

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

Explore full breakdown →
Other comparisons with conflicting dimension signals

Explore how HLI and SCHW 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.