# SLM (SLM.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/SLM

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:31:57.085Z. Financial observations: FY1996–FY2025.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $22.22 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

## Checklist

### understandable: pass

- 2 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 2

- Years with a net loss: 0

- Operating margin variation: 0.28×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 0.43×

- FY2017: 0.44×

- FY2018: 0.41×

- FY2019: 0.44×

- FY2020: 0.64×

- FY2021: 0.76×

- FY2022: 0.35×

- FY2023: 0.77×

- FY2024: 0.43×

- FY2025: 0.50×

### moat: fail

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- ROIC, median of available years: 12.0%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: 1.7%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 0.1 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 83.3%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 83.2%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 0.0%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: -1.3%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 1.7%

- FY2017: 1.6%

- FY2018: 2.1%

- FY2019: 30.4%

- FY2020: 3.6%

- FY2021: 5.2%

- FY2022: 20.9%

- FY2023: >100%

- FY2024: 32.8%

- FY2025: 18.8%

### economics: fail

- owner earnings cash conversion below threshold

- Owner earnings / net income, 5-yr: -0.09×

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: -$333M

- Net income, five-year total: $3.5B

- Return on incremental invested capital: >100%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: -87.2 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: -570.8 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: -943.8%

Chart: Annual owner cash / profit; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: -0.07×

- FY2022: -0.06×

- FY2023: -0.69×

- FY2024: -0.61×

- FY2025: 0.72×

### management: pass

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2016 to 2025 (9 years)

- potential debt-funded buybacks (informational)

- buybacks leaned toward cheaper years (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 1.7% vs 32.8%

- Per-share earnings: 0.63 to 2.77 (three-year endpoint medians)

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: -6.9%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: -11.4%

- Market cap gain: $980M

- Cumulative retained earnings: $4.1B

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: -6.9%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: -11.4%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value growth: 20.2%

- Per-share value change: $2.13

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: $0.63

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: $2.77

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): 0.67

- Average buyback yield: 10.0%

- Buyback history: 8 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: Yes

- Acquisition spending: $142M

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: $6.0B

- ROIC, first three-year median: 1.7%

- ROIC, last three-year median: 32.8%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: $0.58

- FY2017: $0.66

- FY2018: $1.11

- FY2019: $1.34

- FY2020: $2.27

- FY2021: $3.63

- FY2022: $1.79

- FY2023: $2.41

- FY2024: $2.77

- FY2025: $3.53

### accounting: pass

- Sloan accruals: 0.6%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 0.94×

- Restructuring years, last five: 1

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 7.0%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Operating cash / earnings: 0.77×

- Accounting red flags: 0

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 0.02×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 2.4%

- FY2017: 2.1%

- FY2018: 2.2%

- FY2019: 1.8%

- FY2020: 3.5%

- FY2021: 4.1%

- FY2022: 1.6%

- FY2023: 2.4%

- FY2024: 3.1%

- FY2025: 0.6%

## Holders

- [Sarah Ketterer](https://gigainvestors.com/CAU): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

- [Glenn Greenberg](https://gigainvestors.com/CCM): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

## Price story

Down 32% since Jun 2025 · "Sallie Mae Stock Tumbles 7.6% on Elevated Charge-Off Concerns" (finance.yahoo.com, Jun 2026) · sales +7.3%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:59:35.502Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

- 2025-10-24: Sallie Mae Q3 Earnings Lag on Higher Expenses, Provisions Decline Y/Y ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sallie-mae-q3-earnings-lag-175800584.html))

- 2025-12-09: SLM stock tumbles after investor day reveals slower EPS growth ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/slm-stock-tumbles-investor-day-141943778.html))

- 2026-04-24: Sallie Mae Q1 Earnings Beat on Y/Y Rise in NII, Fee Income Declines ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/sallie-mae-q1-earnings-beat-140700967.html))

- 2026-07-24: Sallie Mae Q2 Earnings Miss Estimates, NII Dips, Expenses Rise Y/Y ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/sallie-mae-q2-earnings-miss-130800230.html))

### Sales · FY2024–2025

sales +7.3%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1032033/000103203326000011/slm-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-19.

- FY2016: $960M 

- FY2017: $1.1B 

- FY2018: $1.4B 

- FY2019: $1.7B 

- FY2020: $1.8B 

- FY2021: $2.0B 

- FY2022: $1.8B 

- FY2023: $1.8B 

- FY2024: $1.8B 

- FY2025: $2.0B 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 83.2%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1032033/000103203326000011/slm-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-19.

- FY2016: 83.4% 

- FY2017: 83.5% 

- FY2018: 82.0% 

- FY2019: 78.8% 

- FY2020: 94.2% 

- FY2022: 65.3% 

- FY2024: 77.9% 

- FY2025: 83.2% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in credit services; annual sales are USD 2 billion.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1032033/000103203326000011/slm-20251231.htm#000103203326000011 (filed 2026-02-19); FY2025: revenue 1984393000; grossProfit 1651706000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); SLM.US: SLM Corporation, through its subsidiaries, originates and services private education loans to students and their families to finance the cost of their education in the United States. It provides retail deposit accounts, including high-yield savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit; and interest-bearing omnibus accounts. The company was formerly known as New BLC Corporation and changed its name to SLM Corporation in December 2013. SLM Corporation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Newark, Delaware.

### Why customers stay

It earns 12% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 111.6%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 77.9%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1032033/000103203326000011/slm-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-19); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 83.2%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,0.01702446795575236],[2017,0.016401948257390633],[2018,0.0207748067560185],[2019,0.30378706810460626],[2020,0.03621482034847795],[2021,0.0518796263099403],[2022,0.20946877802510336],[2023,2.130086383035729],[2024,0.3275123276431549],[2025,0.18781986367276624]]; median 0.11984974499135327. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 10 of 10 years; bought back USD 368.7 million of shares.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1032033/000103203326000011/slm-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-19); FY2025: growth capex 0; upkeep 0; cash acquisitions 0; owner earnings 534960000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); Dividend observations: [[2016,21204000],[2017,15714000],[2018,15640000],[2019,67951000],[2020,56085000],[2021,65198000],[2022,121990000],[2023,118938000],[2024,117468000],[2025,700000000]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1032033/000103203326000011/slm-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-19); FY2025: cash repurchases 368736000 USD.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 1.3% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); SLM.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 1.304 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price is 2.4 times annual sales.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-19); Closing price 22.22 USD; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2025 annual sales per share 9.408540921892335; price multiple 2.3616839406307117. FY2025 cash earnings/share 2.5363892392159837. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2016-10: $7.05 per share

- 2016-11: $10.07 per share

- 2016-12: $11.02 per share

- 2017-01: $11.88 per share

- 2017-02: $11.99 per share

- 2017-03: $12.10 per share

- 2017-04: $12.54 per share

- 2017-05: $10.39 per share

- 2017-06: $11.50 per share

- 2017-07: $11.08 per share

- 2017-08: $10.17 per share

- 2017-09: $11.47 per share

- 2017-10: $10.59 per share

- 2017-11: $11.57 per share

- 2017-12: $11.30 per share

- 2018-01: $11.44 per share

- 2018-02: $10.91 per share

- 2018-03: $11.21 per share

- 2018-04: $11.48 per share

- 2018-05: $11.43 per share

- 2018-06: $11.45 per share

- 2018-07: $11.29 per share

- 2018-08: $11.72 per share

- 2018-09: $11.15 per share

- 2018-10: $10.14 per share

- 2018-11: $10.27 per share

- 2018-12: $8.31 per share

- 2019-01: $10.71 per share

- 2019-02: $11.05 per share

- 2019-03: $9.91 per share

- 2019-04: $10.16 per share

- 2019-05: $9.51 per share

- 2019-06: $9.72 per share

- 2019-07: $9.11 per share

- 2019-08: $8.44 per share

- 2019-09: $8.82 per share

- 2019-10: $8.44 per share

- 2019-11: $8.53 per share

- 2019-12: $8.91 per share

- 2020-01: $10.92 per share

- 2020-02: $10.37 per share

- 2020-03: $7.19 per share

- 2020-04: $8.34 per share

- 2020-05: $7.58 per share

- 2020-06: $7.03 per share

- 2020-07: $6.77 per share

- 2020-08: $7.64 per share

- 2020-09: $8.09 per share

- 2020-10: $9.19 per share

- 2020-11: $10.61 per share

- 2020-12: $12.39 per share

- 2021-01: $13.88 per share

- 2021-02: $15.79 per share

- 2021-03: $17.97 per share

- 2021-04: $19.66 per share

- 2021-05: $20.25 per share

- 2021-06: $20.94 per share

- 2021-07: $18.83 per share

- 2021-08: $18.75 per share

- 2021-09: $17.60 per share

- 2021-10: $18.35 per share

- 2021-11: $17.78 per share

- 2021-12: $19.67 per share

- 2022-01: $18.34 per share

- 2022-02: $19.70 per share

- 2022-03: $18.36 per share

- 2022-04: $16.73 per share

- 2022-05: $19.59 per share

- 2022-06: $15.94 per share

- 2022-07: $15.60 per share

- 2022-08: $15.28 per share

- 2022-09: $13.99 per share

- 2022-10: $16.59 per share

- 2022-11: $17.46 per share

- 2022-12: $16.60 per share

- 2023-01: $17.57 per share

- 2023-02: $14.38 per share

- 2023-03: $12.39 per share

- 2023-04: $15.02 per share

- 2023-05: $15.26 per share

- 2023-06: $16.32 per share

- 2023-07: $16.18 per share

- 2023-08: $14.24 per share

- 2023-09: $13.62 per share

- 2023-10: $13.00 per share

- 2023-11: $15.03 per share

- 2023-12: $19.12 per share

- 2024-01: $19.88 per share

- 2024-02: $20.83 per share

- 2024-03: $21.79 per share

- 2024-04: $21.19 per share

- 2024-05: $21.46 per share

- 2024-06: $20.79 per share

- 2024-07: $22.69 per share

- 2024-08: $22.06 per share

- 2024-09: $22.87 per share

- 2024-10: $22.03 per share

- 2024-11: $27.38 per share

- 2024-12: $27.58 per share

- 2025-01: $27.91 per share

- 2025-02: $30.19 per share

- 2025-03: $29.37 per share

- 2025-04: $28.91 per share

- 2025-05: $32.37 per share

- 2025-06: $32.79 per share

- 2025-07: $31.80 per share

- 2025-08: $31.28 per share

- 2025-09: $27.68 per share

- 2025-10: $26.85 per share

- 2025-11: $29.30 per share

- 2025-12: $27.06 per share

- 2026-01: $27.15 per share

- 2026-02: $18.74 per share

- 2026-03: $21.41 per share

- 2026-04: $23.08 per share

- 2026-05: $22.12 per share

- 2026-06: $25.94 per share

- 2026-07: $26.00 per share

- 2026-08: $25.97 per share

- 2026-09: $22.63 per share

- 2026-10: $22.22 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

Prior published observations retained from 2026-10-15T06:37:42.266Z where newer inputs omit a numeric field or fiscal period.

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1032033/000103203326000011/slm-20251231.htm); period 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-19.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.

## Reported holder observations

- [Sarah Ketterer](https://gigainvestors.com/CAU): 8,774 SLM shares; USD 228,000 reported position value; 0% of portfolio; new; quarter 2026 Q2.
- [Glenn Greenberg](https://gigainvestors.com/CCM): 13,381,145 SLM shares; USD 347,107,000 reported position value; 7.56% of portfolio; reduce; quarter 2026 Q2.

# SLM — SLM Corp.

Held by 2 investors · USD 347,335,000 total · 2026 Q2 · reported price USD 25.99 (split-adjusted).
Page: https://gigainvestors.com/s/SLM

## Holders (2026 Q2)

| Investor | Value | % of their portfolio | This quarter |
|---|---:|---:|---|
| Glenn Greenberg (https://gigainvestors.com/CCM) | USD 347,107,000 | 7.6% | reduce -1.5% |
| David Einhorn (https://gigainvestors.com/GLRE) | USD 45,000,394 | 0.0% | sold |
| Sarah Ketterer (https://gigainvestors.com/CAU) | USD 228,000 | 0.0% | new |

## Total held by quarter

- 2010 Q2: USD 156,128 · 1 holder · USD 3.72
- 2010 Q3: USD 288,894 · 1 holder · USD 4.13
- 2010 Q4: USD 314,775 · 1 holder · USD 4.50
- 2011 Q1: USD 381,927 · 1 holder · USD 5.46
- 2011 Q2: USD 421,099 · 1 holder · USD 6.02
- 2011 Q3: USD 311,278 · 1 holder · USD 4.45
- 2011 Q4: USD 335,061 · 1 holder · USD 4.79
- 2012 Q1: USD 393,819 · 1 holder · USD 5.63
- 2012 Q2: USD 393,119 · 1 holder · USD 5.62
- 2012 Q3: USD 393,119 · 1 holder · USD 5.62
- 2012 Q4: USD 257,777,034 · 2 holders · USD 6.13
- 2013 Q1: USD 308,741,217 · 2 holders · USD 7.33
- 2013 Q2: USD 349,041,036 · 2 holders · USD 8.17
- 2013 Q3: USD 253,527,475 · 2 holders · USD 8.91
- 2013 Q4: USD 267,485,286 · 2 holders · USD 9.39
- 2014 Q1: USD 201,135,236 · 2 holders · USD 8.75
- 2014 Q2: USD 124,950 · 1 holder · USD 8.33
- 2014 Q3: USD 127,950 · 1 holder · USD 8.53
- 2014 Q4: USD 153,000 · 1 holder · USD 10.20
- 2015 Q1: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2015 Q2: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2015 Q3: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2015 Q4: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2016 Q1: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2016 Q2: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2016 Q3: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2016 Q4: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2017 Q1: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2017 Q2: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2017 Q3: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2017 Q4: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2018 Q1: USD 82,954,000 · 1 holder · USD 11.21
- 2018 Q2: USD 430,581,922 · 1 holder · USD 11.45
- 2018 Q3: USD 436,904,432 · 1 holder · USD 11.15
- 2018 Q4: USD 325,621,151 · 1 holder · USD 8.31
- 2019 Q1: USD 388,315,957 · 1 holder · USD 9.91
- 2019 Q2: USD 380,870,949 · 1 holder · USD 9.72
- 2019 Q3: USD 345,605,120 · 1 holder · USD 8.82
- 2019 Q4: USD 349,131,703 · 1 holder · USD 8.91
- 2020 Q1: USD 232,195,686 · 1 holder · USD 7.19
- 2020 Q2: USD 227,028,606 · 1 holder · USD 7.03
- 2020 Q3: USD 261,260,515 · 1 holder · USD 8.09
- 2020 Q4: USD 400,125,807 · 1 holder · USD 12.39
- 2021 Q1: USD 472,507,744 · 1 holder · USD 17.97
- 2021 Q2: USD 430,929,579 · 1 holder · USD 20.94
- 2021 Q3: USD 297,662,939 · 1 holder · USD 17.60
- 2021 Q4: USD 287,202,280 · 1 holder · USD 19.67
- 2022 Q1: USD 255,222,929 · 1 holder · USD 18.36
- 2022 Q2: USD 173,523,334 · 1 holder · USD 15.94
- 2022 Q3: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2022 Q4: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2023 Q1: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2023 Q2: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2023 Q3: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2023 Q4: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2024 Q1: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2024 Q2: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2024 Q3: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2024 Q4: USD 0 · 0 holders
- 2025 Q1: USD 277,704,334 · 1 holder · USD 29.37
- 2025 Q2: USD 345,636,275 · 1 holder · USD 32.79
- 2025 Q3: USD 336,020,690 · 2 holders · USD 27.68
- 2025 Q4: USD 347,232,973 · 1 holder · USD 27.06
- 2026 Q1: USD 335,841,713 · 2 holders · USD 21.41
- 2026 Q2: USD 347,335,000 · 2 holders · USD 25.99