At a glance
Capital One Financial Corporation is worth $129.30B, about 52 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 36.6% to $53.43B in fiscal 2025, with 4.6% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 13.4% a year. It pays a 1.52% dividend yield, raised every year for at least 3 years, and returned $23.58B to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned −2.7% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +8.7% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 58.8% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 42.6% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 10 months and 24 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
Capital One Financial, based in McLean, Virginia, is a banking company built around credit cards. As of December 31, 2025, it was the largest U.S. credit card issuer by outstanding card loan balances and one of the country's largest banks by deposits. It also offers bank accounts, debit cards, auto loans, personal loans and business banking, and issues cards in the U.K. and Canada.
Most revenue comes from lending. Net interest income (interest earned on loans minus interest paid on deposits and debt) was $42.9 billion of $53.4 billion in total net revenue in fiscal 2025. The other $10.6 billion was noninterest income, mainly card fees paid by merchants after rewards costs, plus service charges. The Credit Card segment produced 74% of fiscal 2025 revenue, Consumer Banking (deposits, auto loans and payment networks) 19.5% and Commercial Banking 6.8%. Commercial clients typically have $20 million to $2 billion in annual revenue.
On May 18, 2025, Capital One acquired Discover Financial Services in a stock deal valued at $51.8 billion. Along with Discover's customers and $108.2 billion of loans came three payment networks, the systems that route card transactions and charge a fee on each: the Discover Network, the PULSE debit network and Diners Club International. It has largely moved its own debit cards onto them.
Price history
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COF -2.7% over the year to Nov 2, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By business segment
| Credit Card | $39.56B | 74% |
| Consumer Banking | $10.43B | 19.5% |
| Commercial Banking | $3.65B | 6.8% |
Latest results
- In Q2 FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $15.85B, up 26.9% from a year earlier, and net income was $3.02B.
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $53.43B (+36.6% year over year; +13.4% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 4.6% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +13.4% good |
|---|---|
| Return on equity | 2.2% weak |
| Net income / revenue | 4.6% weak |
| Deposits | $484.26B |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $28.52B | $2.71B | — |
| FY2021 | $30.43B | $12.39B | — |
| FY2022 | $34.25B | $7.36B | — |
| FY2023 | $36.79B | $4.89B | — |
| FY2024 | $39.11B | $4.75B | — |
| FY2025 | $53.43B | $2.45B | — |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $129.30B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 52.3 |
| Dividend yield | 1.52% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Capital One Financial’s market value went from $42.08B at the end of 2016 to $129.30B on Nov 2, 2026, about 3.1 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is down 16%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2, 2026 | $129.30B | -16.1% |
| 2025 | $154.08B | +126.5% |
| 2024 | $68.03B | +36.2% |
| 2023 | $49.94B | +40.7% |
| 2022 | $35.48B | -42.5% |
| 2021 | $61.75B | +36.6% |
| 2020 | $45.21B | -5.7% |
| 2019 | $47.93B | +33.9% |
| 2018 | $35.80B | -25.8% |
| 2017 | $48.27B | +14.7% |
| 2016 | $42.08B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COF price data to Nov 2, 2026 | -12.0% | -2.7% | +28.3% | +8.7% | +13.2% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -12.0% |
| 2025 | +37.7% |
| 2024 | +38.3% |
| 2023 | +44.3% |
| 2022 | -34.6% |
| 2021 | +49.3% |
| 2020 | -2.7% |
| 2019 | +38.6% |
| 2018 | -22.8% |
| 2017 | +16.3% |
| 2016 | +23.8% |
| 2015 | -10.5% |
| 2014 | +9.5% |
| 2013 | +34.2% |
| 2012 | +37.5% |
| 2011 | -0.2% |
| 2010 | +11.6% |
| 2009 | +24.0% |
| 2008 | -30.2% |
| 2007 | -38.4% |
| 2006 | -11.0% |
| 2005 | +2.7% |
| 2004 | +37.6% |
| 2003 | +106.7% |
| 2002 | -44.8% |
| 2001 | -17.9% |
| 2000 | +36.9% |
| 1999 | +26.0% |
| 1998 | +113.0% |
| 1997 | +51.8% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 87.1% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 87.7%, back to its old high 52.2 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 58.8% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 58.8%, back to its old high 9.5 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 36% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 42.6%, back to its old high 23.8 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-30 to 2026-10-30 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 28 sales ($30.1M), 26 of them under pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans.
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 27, 2026 | Richard D Fairbank Chairman and CEO, Director | sell (plan) | $9.5M |
| Oct 27, 2026 | Richard D Fairbank Chairman and CEO, Director | sell (plan) | $7.5M |
| Oct 27, 2026 | Richard D Fairbank Chairman and CEO, Director | sell (plan) | $1.4M |
| Jul 31, 2026 | Ravi Raghu Pres, Software, Intl & Sm Bus | sell (plan) | $1.2M |
| Aug 10, 2026 | Michael Zamsky Chief Credit & Fin'l Risk Off. | sell | $1.2M |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| Vanguard Capital Management | 7.51% | Mar 31, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in COF
| DUSA Davis Select U.S. Equity ETF | 9.95% |
| DFNL Davis Select Financial ETF | 8.89% |
| FDFF Fidelity Disruptive Finance ETF | 5.35% |
| BPAY iShares FinTech Active ETF | 4.87% |
| DWLD Davis Select Worldwide ETF | 4.61% |
| KBWB Invesco KBW Bank ETF | 3.92% |
| PVAL Putnam Focused Large Cap Value ETF | 3.38% |
| JPEF JPMorgan Equity Focus ETF | 3.15% |
What could go wrong
- Merging Discover may cost more, deliver less. The company warns that combining Discover after the May 18, 2025 merger could cost more, take longer, distract management and deliver smaller benefits than planned. The Brex deal agreed in January 2026 adds another.
- Credit card losses could climb. The Credit Card segment produced 74% of fiscal 2025 revenue. A weaker job market means more missed payments. Capital One set aside $20.7 billion for credit losses in fiscal 2025; reserves could prove too low.
- Card fee limits and merchant pushback. Laws, regulation or merchant pressure that cut the fees charged on each card purchase would hurt revenue. So would large merchants dropping Discover or PULSE cards or paying lower rates.
- Payment networks must win merchants and partners. The Discover, PULSE and Diners Club networks compete with other card networks and payment providers. If merchants, card issuers or overseas licensees favor rivals, transaction volume and network fees could fall short.
- Rate swings and funding pressure. Capital One funds its loans mostly with deposits, $484.3 billion as of June 30, 2026. Rate swings can squeeze the gap between loan and deposit rates, and a credit-rating downgrade could raise borrowing costs.
- Capital rules could restrict shareholder payouts. Regulators set how much capital banks must hold. Stricter rules, or limits on dividends from its bank subsidiary to the parent, could restrict Capital One's ability to pay dividends and repurchase shares.
Recent events
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Other company announcement
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Bylaws or fiscal year changed
- Other company announcement
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Investor presentation or announcement
For income and retirement investors
Capital One pays a dividend, but its record of increases is short. Dividends per share were $2.80 in fiscal 2025, up from $2.43 in fiscal 2024 and $1.00 in fiscal 2020. That is three straight increases after a dip in fiscal 2022, though the first two were tiny. Dividends took 61.8% of fiscal 2025 net income, a high share because profit fell 48.4%. The yield was 1.57% as of October 27, 2026. From fiscal 2021 to 2025 the company spent $18.1 billion on share repurchases, yet its share count rose 44.1% between October 2021 and June 2026, largely from shares issued for Discover.
The stock has fallen hard in downturns. It dropped 87.7% from October 2007 to March 2009 and took until July 2013 to recover. It fell 58.8% in the 2020 COVID crash, recovering by January 2021, and 42.6% in 2022, recovering by September 2024. A single stock carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
How does Capital One make money?
Mostly by lending, especially on credit cards. In fiscal 2025, net interest income (interest earned on loans minus interest paid on deposits and debt) was $42.9 billion of its $53.4 billion total net revenue. The other $10.6 billion was noninterest income, chiefly card fees paid by merchants after rewards costs. The Credit Card segment produced 74% of revenue, Consumer Banking 19.5% and Commercial Banking 6.8%. Since acquiring Discover on May 18, 2025, it also earns fees for running the Discover and PULSE payment networks.
Does Capital One raise its dividend every year?
No. Dividends per share rose in fiscal 2023, 2024 and 2025, reaching $2.80, but the first two increases were tiny, and fiscal 2022's $2.42 was below fiscal 2021's $2.58. From fiscal 2020 to 2025, dividends per share grew about 22.8% a year, helped by a low $1.00 starting point. Dividends took 61.8% of fiscal 2025 net income, a high share because profit fell 48.4% that year. The yield was 1.57% as of October 27, 2026.
What did Capital One get when it acquired Discover?
Discover's customers, loans and deposits, plus its own payment networks. The deal closed on May 18, 2025, and each Discover share became 1.0192 Capital One shares, a total price valued at $51.8 billion. Capital One took on $168.6 billion of assets, including $108.2 billion of loans, and $106.9 billion of deposits. It also gained the Discover Network, the PULSE debit network and Diners Club International, which earn fees on card transactions. It sold Discover's home loan business on November 24, 2025.
Why is Capital One's P/E ratio so high?
Mainly because fiscal 2025 earnings were low. The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, the share price divided by a year's earnings per share, was 50.5 as of October 27, 2026, using fiscal 2025 results. That year, when Discover joined, net income fell 48.4% to $2.45 billion and diluted earnings per share dropped to $4.03 from $11.59 in fiscal 2024. Net income was $3.02 billion in the quarter ended June 30, 2026 alone, so a P/E based on one weak year can give a distorted picture.
How has Capital One stock performed over the long term?
It has gained over the long run, with deep drops along the way. Based on share prices as of October 27, 2026, it returned 12.5% a year over 10 years and 7.8% a year over five years, but lost 7.5% over one year. It gained 44.3%, 38.3% and 37.7% in calendar 2023, 2024 and 2025, then fell 15.1% from the start of 2026 through October 27. Its deepest fall in about 30 years of price history was 90.2%, and it fell 58.8% in the 2020 COVID crash.