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Originates and services private student loans for undergraduate and graduate students in the US.
Originates and services private student loans for undergraduate and graduate students in the US.
Lends to students and their cosigners through Sallie Mae Bank, funds the loans with online deposits and earns the interest spread, so credit performance and the cost of funds drive results. Since the 2014 separation from Navient, the company has been a bank focused solely on new private loans, with federal loan servicing left with Navient.
Moat: narrow (brand, scale, distribution). Sallie Mae brand recognition and school-channel distribution relationships built over decades.
Headquarters: Newark, Delaware, US · Founded: 1972 · Employees: 1,788
Size SLM (SLM) is a United States Financials company (Finance/Rental/Leasing) with a market value of $3.10B, the 1524th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $16.94 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares fell 24.6%, against -7.7% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 5th lowest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue fell 6.2% over the last twelve months (peer median +9.0%); the operating margin is 36.4% (peer median 28.5%).
Valuation It trades at 1.55× book value against a peer median of 1.40× (10th most expensive of 21).
Price implies The share price implies a return on equity of about 13.8%; SLM delivers 24.7%, so the price asks less than the business earns today.
Credit SLM has 2 bonds outstanding ($1.00B), rated BB+ by the agencies and trading like BB- at a weighted spread of 244 bp.
Short interest Short interest is 9.5% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 27 Jan 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $2.90B | $3.13B | $3.03B | $2.89B | $2.37B |
| Revenue growth | — | +3% | +5% | +22% | — |
| Gross profit | $2.09B | $2.30B | $2.12B | $1.99B | $1.98B |
| EBITDA | $1.38B | $1.68B | $1.53B | $1.48B | $1.47B |
| Net income | $567M | $745M | $608M | $581M | $469M |
| Free cash flow | -$382M | -$404M | -$322M | -$145M | $8.55M |
| Capital expenditure | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total debt | $6.43B | $5.86B | $6.44B | $5.23B | $5.24B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | ROE | Price / book | Implied ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SLM SLM | $3.10B | -25% | -6% | 25% | 1.55× | 13.8% |
| DFS Furniture DFS.L | $420M | +12% | +3% | 13% | 1.08× | 16.9% |
| Navient NAVI | $790M | -1% | -17% | -2% | 0.33× | 5.6% |
| Nelnet NNI | $4.67B | +7% | -7% | 8% | 1.24× | 10.1% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | SLM | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | -25.3% | +2.7% | lowest of 21 |
| 6-month return | -24.6% | -7.7% | 5th lowest of 21 |
| Return on equity | 24.7% | 13.1% | highest of 21 |
| Price / book | 1.55× | 1.40× | 10th most expensive of 21 |
| Trailing P/E | 6.2× | 10.5× | 3rd cheapest of 19 |
| ROE the price implies | 13.8% | 12.7% | 10th most demanding of 21 |
| ROE delivered | 24.7% | 13.3% | highest of 18 |
| Bond spread | 244 bp | 245 bp | 4th tightest of 7 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | ROE | Price / book | Implied ROE | Delivered ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SLM SLM | United States | $3.10B | -25% | -6% | 25% | 1.55× | 13.8% | 24.7% |
| Marui 8252.T | Japan | $3.09B | -7% | +8% | 12% | 2.12× | 7.1% | 12.4% |
| LIC Housing Finance LICHSGFIN.NS | India | $3.12B | -9% | -1% | 14% | 0.67× | 11.6% | 14.3% |
| Hercules Capital HTGC | United States | $3.06B | 0% | +40% | 16% | 1.32× | 10.4% | 15.7% |
| McGrath RentCorp MGRC | United States | $3.05B | +9% | +2% | 13% | 2.38× | 13.2% | 12.9% |
| PNB Housing Finance PNBHOUSING.NS | India | $3.03B | +5% | +11% | 12% | 1.42× | 19.4% | 12.3% |
| Manappuram Finance MANAPPURAM.NS | India | $3.23B | +3% | +5% | 7% | 1.90× | 33.0% | n/a |
| Samsung Card 029780.KS | South Korea | $3.30B | -21% | +11% | 7% | 0.51× | 4.2% | n/a |
| Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency IREDA.NS | India | $3.31B | -18% | +17% | 14% | 2.18× | 42.4% | 14.4% |
| Cholamandalam Financial CHOLAHLDNG.NS | India | $2.89B | -17% | +18% | 17% | 1.77× | 26.2% | n/a |
| IIFL Finance IIFL.NS | India | $2.83B | +35% | +36% | 18% | 1.73× | 23.7% | 17.6% |
| Housing & Urban Development HUDCO.NS | India | $3.39B | -30% | +22% | 22% | 1.39× | 31.5% | 21.7% |
| PennyMac Financial Services PFSI | United States | $3.41B | -28% | +4% | 6% | 0.78× | 10.2% | 5.6% |
| WillScot WSC | United States | $3.42B | -33% | -3% | -7% | 3.75× | 35.8% | -7.1% |
| Far East Horizon 3360.HK | Hong Kong | $3.44B | -25% | +1% | 8% | 0.45× | 4.5% | 7.6% |
| China Development Bank Financial Leasing 1606.HK | Hong Kong | $2.66B | +4% | -5% | 13% | 0.40× | 4.5% | 12.6% |
| Credit Saison 8253.T | Japan | $3.62B | -10% | +10% | 9% | 0.73× | 6.3% | 9.2% |
| Sixt SIX2.DE | Germany | $3.67B | +4% | +7% | 15% | 1.67× | 15.8% | 15.0% |
| Bread Financial BFH | United States | $3.87B | +17% | +2% | 16% | 1.13× | 12.2% | 15.9% |
| Mizuho Leasing 8425.T | Japan | $2.45B | -13% | +16% | 13% | 0.77× | 6.0% | 13.3% |
| Capri Global Capital CGCL.NS | India | $2.44B | +20% | +53% | 18% | 2.90× | 21.5% | 17.9% |
SLM has 2 bonds outstanding with $1.00B face value. The agencies rate it BB+; its bonds trade like BB-. Weighted yield 6.99%, a spread of 244 bp over government bonds.