Slm Corporation (SLM)
NASDAQ:SLM
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SLM
(NASDAQ:SLM)
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Rating:64Neutral
Price Target:
$23.00
▲(1.59% Upside)
Action:Reiterated
Date:06/11/26
The score is driven by strong profitability/ROE but constrained by revenue volatility, leverage, and historically uneven cash generation. Valuation is a major positive (very low P/E plus a dividend), while technicals are currently weak with the stock below major moving averages. Earnings call signals were constructive with raised/tightened guidance and ongoing capital returns, with credit and expense/NIM headwinds to monitor.
Positive Factors
Strong Profitability & ROE
Sustained high net margins and ROE indicate the core lending franchise converts revenue to shareholder returns reliably. Durable profitability supports reinvestment, buybacks and dividends, and provides a buffer versus cyclical credit swings, underpinning long-term capital allocation flexibility.
Negative Factors
High Leverage
Elevated leverage amplifies earnings volatility and raises refinancing and interest-rate vulnerability. In stressed credit or higher-rate scenarios, leverage constrains strategic options and increases the risk that capital actions or asset sales are needed to preserve ratios.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Strong Profitability & ROE
Sustained high net margins and ROE indicate the core lending franchise converts revenue to shareholder returns reliably. Durable profitability supports reinvestment, buybacks and dividends, and provides a buffer versus cyclical credit swings, underpinning long-term capital allocation flexibility.
Read all positive factors
SLM (SLM) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$4.22B
Dividend Yield1.88%
Average Volume (3M)2.20M
Price to Earnings (P/E)5.8
Beta (1Y)0.95
Revenue Growth1.73%
EPS Growth28.93%
CountryUS
Employees1,710
SectorFinancial
Sector Strength70
IndustryFinancial - Credit Services
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)3.65
Shares Outstanding188,582,800
10 Day Avg. Volume3,002,511
30 Day Avg. Volume2,198,451
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio0.26
Price to Book (P/B)2.29
Price to Sales (P/S)1.80
P/FCF Ratio9.74
Enterprise Value/Market Cap1.23
Enterprise Value/Revenue1.68
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit3.11
Enterprise Value/Ebitda5.16
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$27.75Price Target Upside22.57% Upside
Rating ConsensusModerate Buy
Number of Analyst Covering8
EPS Forecast (FY)3.15
Revenue Forecast (FY)$1.93B
SLM Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Operating primarily in the United States, SLM Corporation specializes in the provision and administration of private educational loans, assisting students and their families in financing their academic pursuits. Beyond these core lending activitie...
How the Company Makes Money
SLM primarily makes money by originating and holding private student loans and earning net interest income—the spread between interest income received from borrowers and the company’s funding costs. Revenue is also generated from fees associated w...
SLM Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Apr 23, 2026
(Q1-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Jul 29, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call presented a predominantly positive tone: management reported EPS and originations growth, achieved meaningful loan-sale gains and accelerated capital returns, improved new-origin credit metrics, and maintained strong liquidity and capital ratios. These positives were tempered by modestly higher net charge-offs, elevated noninterest expenses to fund growth (which may temporarily pressure efficiency), and some near-term NIM moderation and balance-sheet shrinkage due to incremental loan sales and buybacks. Management reiterated confident execution plans for the large Grad PLUS opportunity while acknowledging early-stage uncertainty and the need for more seasoning data.Positive Updates
Reserve Release and Provision Impact
Recorded an $11 million negative provision for Q1 driven primarily by a $131 million release of reserves associated with loan sales and loans held for sale, which favorably impacted reported results.
Negative Updates
Net Charge-Offs
Net charge-offs of $89 million for the quarter, described as modestly ahead of management's expectations and noted as a key credit datapoint to monitor.
Read all updates
Q1-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Reserve Release and Provision Impact
Recorded an $11 million negative provision for Q1 driven primarily by a $131 million release of reserves associated with loan sales and loans held for sale, which favorably impacted reported results.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
SLM reaffirmed and tightened its 2026 outlook, now expecting diluted EPS of $3.10–$3.20 for the year, an increase that assumes full utilization of the $500M share‑repurchase authorization (including a $200M ASR and ~12M shares repurchased YTD, ~6% of shares at YE‑2025 at an average $21.50) and roughly $1B of incremental loan sales beyond the initial plan; the company noted Q1 performance that underpins the guidance—Q1 diluted EPS $1.54, originations $2.9B (up 5% YoY), net interest income $375M and NIM 5.29% (expected to moderate modestly as liquidity rises after the March loan sale), net charge‑offs $89M, a negative provision of $11M (including a $131M reserve release) with a reserve rate of 6.05%, Q1 noninterest expense $171M and efficiency ratio 30.6%—and pointed to $3.3B in Q1 loan sales that generated $146M of gains (including a $2B seasoned sale and $1.3B of new‑origination sales), liquidity of 21.2% of assets, total risk‑based capital 13.7% and CET1 12.4%; management reiterated other elements of 2026 guidance (originations growth, net charge‑offs, net interest expense) and expects to deploy partnerships/loan‑sale capacity to support growth.SLM Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
64
Positive
Balance Sheet
58
Neutral
Cash Flow
49
Neutral
| Breakdown | TTM | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 3.08B | 3.11B | 2.99B | 2.84B | 2.37B | 2.41B |
| Gross Profit | 1.67B | 1.65B | 1.44B | 1.46B | 1.19B | 2.06B |
| EBITDA | 1.00B | 995.32M | 816.29M | 796.11M | 648.06M | 1.56B |
| Net Income | 748.26M | 744.85M | 608.33M | 581.39M | 469.01M | 1.16B |
Balance Sheet | ||||||
| Total Assets | 29.41B | 29.75B | 30.07B | 29.17B | 28.81B | 29.22B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 5.75B | 4.29B | 6.69B | 6.56B | 6.96B | 6.85B |
| Total Debt | 6.17B | 5.86B | 6.44B | 5.23B | 5.24B | 5.93B |
| Total Liabilities | 26.97B | 27.29B | 27.91B | 27.29B | 27.08B | 27.07B |
| Stockholders Equity | 2.44B | 2.45B | 2.16B | 1.88B | 1.73B | 2.15B |
Cash Flow | ||||||
| Free Cash Flow | 645.61M | 575.52M | -329.39M | -144.64M | 4.99M | -49.52M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 645.61M | 575.52M | -329.39M | -144.64M | 4.99M | -49.52M |
| Investing Cash Flow | 1.09B | 0.00 | 675.99M | -12.46M | 1.08B | 2.60B |
| Financing Cash Flow | 306.02M | -500.21M | 228.16M | -316.23M | -854.89M | -2.62B |
SLM Technical Analysis
Positive
22.64
Price Trends
22.12
Positive
22.31
Positive
24.86
Negative
Market Momentum
0.07
Negative
53.13
Neutral
33.17
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For SLM, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 22.64 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 21.93, above the 50-day MA of 22.12, and below the 200-day MA of 24.86, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of 0.07 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 53.13 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 33.17 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for SLM.
SLM Risk Analysis
SLM disclosed 37 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. SLM reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
SLM Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (68)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
68 Neutral | $5.73B | 12.98 | 29.39% | ― | 4.52% | 72.48% | |
68 Neutral | $18.00B | 11.42 | 9.92% | 3.81% | 9.73% | 1.22% | |
64 Neutral | $4.22B | 5.85 | 31.16% | 1.88% | 1.73% | 28.93% | |
64 Neutral | $2.08B | 11.86 | 11.92% | ― | 17.38% | 237.98% | |
64 Neutral | $6.55B | 8.32 | 23.62% | 6.07% | 7.80% | 42.28% | |
63 Neutral | $4.68B | 11.27 | 11.39% | 0.87% | 8.64% | 117.05% | |
48 Neutral | $749.10M | -12.62 | -2.45% | 4.95% | -20.89% | -217.55% |
* Financial Sector Average
SLM
SLM
22.38
-8.77
-28.16%
CACC
Credit Acceptance
548.15
52.06
10.49%
NNI
Nelnet
130.30
18.15
16.18%
NAVI
Navient
7.97
-4.50
-36.09%
LC
LendingClub
18.05
7.01
63.50%
OMF
OneMain Holdings
56.71
7.59
15.44%
SLM Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyFinancial DisclosuresRegulatory Filings and Compliance
SLM Highlights Strong Credit Quality and Growing Market Share
Positive
Jun 10, 2026
On June 10, 2026, SLM disclosed an investor presentation for the Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference, highlighting that its private education loan credit quality remains strong, with average approval FICO scores rising and over 90% of loans ...
Business Operations and StrategyPrivate Placements and Financing
SLM Refinances Debt with New Senior Notes Offering
Positive
May 15, 2026
On May 15, 2026, SLM Corporation closed a $500 million offering of 6.495% fixed-to-floating rate senior notes due 2032, issued under its existing indenture structure with Deutsche Bank National Trust Company as trustee. The notes pay a fixed 6.495...
Business Operations and StrategyPrivate Placements and Financing
Sallie Mae Launches Tender Offer to Refinance Notes
Positive
May 6, 2026
On May 6, 2026, Sallie Mae announced a cash tender offer to repurchase any and all of its outstanding 3.125% senior notes due November 2, 2026, with $500 million in principal amount outstanding. The purchase price for notes tendered by the May 12,...
Business Operations and StrategyFinancial Disclosures
SLM Highlights Strong Q1 2026 Earnings and Loan Growth
Positive
May 5, 2026
On or about May 5, 2026, SLM Corporation published its first-quarter 2026 investor presentation, current as of April 23, 2026, outlining continued momentum in its core private education lending operations. For the quarter ended March 31, 2026, the...
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board Changes
SLM Names New Co-Presidents to Drive Strategic Growth
Positive
Apr 27, 2026
On April 22, 2026, SLM Corporation’s board appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Peter Graham and Executive Vice President and Chief Operational Officer Kerri Palmer as Co-Presidents, with Graham also serving as Chie...
Business Operations and StrategyM&A Transactions
SLM Explores $2 Billion Private Student Loan Sale
Neutral
Mar 12, 2026
On March 11, 2026, SLM Corporation Chief Executive Officer Jon Witter told investors at the RBC Capital Markets Global Financial Institutions Conference that its subsidiary, Sallie Mae Bank, has reached indicative terms for the potential sale of a...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.