BLK vs SCHW: BlackRock vs Charles Schwab Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager built on iShares ETF passive investing flows and Aladdin technology, while Schwab is an integrated brokerage-banking company earning fee and NII income from retail investors and RIA custody clients. BlackRock earns management fees from AUM; Schwab earns NII from client cash alongside brokerage commissions.
BLK vs SCHW is ETF passive investing AUM compounder with alternatives expansion versus integrated brokerage-banking NII recovery story — BlackRock wins if passive investing flows and Aladdin technology compound with GIP alternatives growth; Schwab wins if client cash returns to bank deposits normalizing NII and TD integration delivers synergies.
SCHW holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. SCHW leads on both 1-year return (+11.32%) and forward P/E quality (13.83x vs 16.74x for BLK), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, BLK is growing revenue faster (27.00%), while SCHW maintains the higher operating margin (49.35%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for BLK (+21.52%) than for SCHW (+16.11%).
- →want the world's largest ETF platform with iShares as the dominant passive investing franchise
- →value Aladdin's SaaS-like financial infrastructure revenue across thousands of institutional clients
- →prefer management fee-based revenue that grows with equity market appreciation and net flows
- →believe GIP infrastructure acquisition adds meaningful alternatives AUM at premium fee rates
- →want integrated brokerage-banking exposure with NII recovery potential as client cash sorting normalizes
- →value Schwab Advisor Services as the largest RIA custodian with durable independent advisor relationships
- →believe TD Ameritrade integration will deliver long-term technology and client scale benefits
- →prefer a lower-valuation financial services company with NII upside vs BlackRock's premium asset management multiple
| Metric | BLK | SCHW |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 51.8 | 52.2 |
| AI rank | #398 | #383 |
| Latest close | $1,031.56 | $102.38 |
| 1M return | -0.04% | +12.38% |
| 6M return | -4.93% | +2.21% |
| 1Y return | -6.36% | +11.32% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | BLK | SCHW |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $9.28K (-7.2%) started 2025-07-14 | $11.04K (+10.4%) started 2025-07-14 |
| 5Y ago | $14.22K (+42.2%) started 2021-07-14 | $16.26K (+62.6%) started 2021-07-14 |
| 10Y ago | $46.32K (+363.2%) started 2016-07-14 | $48.18K (+381.8%) started 2016-07-14 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | BLK | SCHW |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $168.47B | $179.34B |
| Trailing P/E | 26.11 | 20.50 |
| Forward P/E | 16.74 | 13.83 |
| Price/Sales | 7.31 | N/A |
| EV/Revenue | 6.60 | 6.01 |
| Analyst target | $1,259.06 | $119.74 |
| Target upside | +21.52% | +16.11% |
| Metric | BLK | SCHW |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 27.00% | 15.80% |
| Earnings growth | 45.90% | 38.60% |
| EPS growth | +45.90% | +38.60% |
| FCF margin | +27.62% | N/A |
| Operating margin | 35.64% | 49.35% |
| Profit margin | 24.40% | 37.99% |
| ROIC proxy | 11.90% | 19.08% |
| Return on equity | 11.90% | 19.08% |
| Dividend yield | 2.25% | 1.24% |
| Beta | 1.44 | 0.76 |
| Debt/equity | 23.64 | 120.77 |
| Current ratio | 2.17 | 0.63 |
| Quick ratio | 1.60 | 0.63 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | BLK | SCHW |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | -7.19% | +10.44% |
| CAGR | -7.22% | +10.49% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.32 | 0.35 | |
| Max drawdown | 23.26% | 20.39% | |
| Max daily drop | 7.69% | 7.63% | |
| Max wkly drop | 10.83% | 13.18% | |
| 5Y | Growth | +28.79% | +53.89% |
| CAGR | +5.19% | +9.01% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.16 | 0.29 | |
| Max drawdown | 43.90% | 49.70% | |
| Max daily drop | 7.71% | 12.77% | |
| Max wkly drop | 13.63% | 32.23% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +262.21% | +326.62% |
| CAGR | +13.74% | +15.62% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.44 | 0.47 | |
| Max drawdown | 43.90% | 51.08% | |
| Max daily drop | 13.65% | 12.77% | |
| Max wkly drop | 18.26% | 32.23% |
| Category | BLK | SCHW |
|---|---|---|
| Company | BlackRock, Inc. | The Charles Schwab Corporation |
| Sector | Financial Services | Financial Services |
| Industry | Asset Management | N/A |
| Core business | World's largest asset manager with $11T+ AUM across iShares ETFs, active funds, alternatives, and Aladdin technology. BlackRock primarily earns management fees rather than interest income. | Full-service financial services company with retail brokerage, banking, RIA custody, and robo-advisory. Schwab earns revenue from commissions, advisory fees, and net interest income from banking activities and cash sweep. |
| Investor focus | iShares net flow growth, private markets expansion (GIP infrastructure), Aladdin technology subscriptions, and operating leverage at scale. | NII recovery as client cash moves from money market funds back to bank deposits, client asset growth, TD Ameritrade integration, and financial advisor custody market share. |
- →iShares ETFs benefit from the secular shift to passive investing — BlackRock receives management fees on growing AUM
- →Aladdin's risk management platform is used by thousands of institutions worldwide as critical infrastructure — highly sticky SaaS-like revenue
- →GIP infrastructure acquisition adds alternatives AUM at a premium fee rate vs passive ETF management fees
- →Schwab's integrated brokerage-banking model creates a large cash sweep NII revenue stream that recovers materially when rates normalize client behavior
- →Schwab Advisor Services is the largest RIA custodian in the US — a dominant, high-retention business serving independent advisors
- →Brand trust with retail investors makes Schwab the default account for long-term retail portfolios across demographics
- →ETF management fee compression is ongoing — BlackRock grows through volume, not unit pricing
- →Active management flows continue to decline toward passive alternatives, pressuring non-iShares fee rates
- →Competition from Vanguard in index funds and State Street in institutional ETFs on the lowest-cost products
- →Client cash sorting into money market funds significantly reduced Schwab's NII and earnings in 2022-2023 — reversal timing uncertain
- →TD Ameritrade integration complexity has taken longer than expected and created technology challenges
- →Fidelity competes aggressively in retail brokerage and RIA custody at similar or lower cost
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