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The Charles Schwab vs Stifel Financial: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

The Charles Schwab holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across profitability and growth. Stifel Financial does not offset that deficit through any equally strong structural edge elsewhere. 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.

Updated 2026-04-05

The clearest separation starts in profitability, but growth adds another real layer to the result. The overall score gap is 43 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. SCHW and SF share the same industry classification.

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

Peer-Relative Score
SCHW
The Charles Schwab Corporation
82
Peer-Score
Signal qualityMedium
vs
SF
Stifel Financial Corp.
39
Peer-Score
Signal qualityLow

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: SCHW vs SF Profitability 100 12 Stability 57 34 Valuation 68 69 Growth 100 41 SCHW SF
Gap Ranking
#1 Profitability +88
#2 Growth +59
#3 Stability +23
#4 Valuation +1
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for SCHW and SF Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer SCHWSF Relative valuation Structural strength

The setup stays mixed because structure and the price setup do not align cleanly in one direction.

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

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Profitability
The Charles Schwab Corporation ranks near the top of the group on profitability; Stifel Financial Corp. sits in the weaker half.
Growth
On growth, the same pattern holds: both are strong, but The Charles Schwab Corporation still leads clearly.
Profitability — Dominant Gap
SCHW
100
SF
12
Gap+88in favour of SCHW

The profitability lead is mainly driven by a 22.3-point operating margin advantage.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

Stifel Financial Corp. still shows lower market-fundamental divergence, which keeps the wider picture mixed rather than completely one-sided.

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 SCHW vs SF comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

Explore full breakdown →
Similar profitability-and-growth comparisons

Explore how SCHW and SF 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.

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.