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Stock Comparison · Industry comparison · Banks - Regional

Key vs SouthState Bank: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

SouthState Bank holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across profitability and growth. KeyCorp does not offset that deficit through any equally strong structural edge elsewhere. In the market, KeyCorp carries the stronger setup — intact trend against SouthState Bank's broken trend. That leaves a split case: the structural lead stays with SouthState Bank, but the market is not currently confirming it.

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 2026-04-26

The lead is spread across profitability and growth, rather than sitting in one isolated gap. SouthState Bank Corporation leads by 31 points on the overall comparison score.

INDUSTRY COMPARISON

Both operate in: Banks - Regional

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

For a similarity-based comparison, see how KeyCorp and SouthState Bank each position within their functional peer groups in AssetNext.

Peer-Relative Score
KEY
KeyCorp
47
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000
vs
SSB
SouthState Bank Corporation
78
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: KEY vs SSB Profitability 20 87 Stability 38 62 Valuation 72 75 Growth 60 87 KEY SSB
Gap Ranking
#1 Profitability +67
#2 Growth +27
#3 Stability +24
#4 Valuation +3
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for KEY and SSB Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer KEYSSB Relative valuation Structural strength

The setup is mixed: neither company clearly combines the stronger profile with the more supportive price setup.

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

Entry today — historical context

Where KEY and SSB each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY KEY Elevated · near norm 0th 50th 100th 15 pct gap SSB Elevated · below norm 0th 50th 100th 98th 84th
Today SSB sits in the upper portion of its own 5-year history (84th percentile), while KEY sits higher in its own history (98th). Within each stock's own 5-year context, SSB is at a historically more favourable entry position than KEY. 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
SouthState Bank Corporation ranks near the top of the group on profitability; KeyCorp sits in the weaker half.
Growth
On growth, the edge is clear — both rank well, but SouthState Bank Corporation sits noticeably higher.
Profitability — Dominant Gap
KEY
20
SSB
87
Gap+67in favour of SSB

The profitability lead is mainly driven by a 15-point operating margin advantage.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

On the market side, KeyCorp carries the stronger trend while SouthState Bank's trend has broken — the market setup does not confirm the structural advantage.

What this means for the comparison

The lead is built on both profitability and growth, making it broader than a single-dimension result.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the KEY vs SSB comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

Explore full breakdown →
Similar profitability-driven comparisons

Explore how KEY and SSB 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.