Which is more profitable, SOFI or NU?

NU is significantly more profitable on both net margin and return on equity. Nu Holdings reports a net profit margin above 40% and ROE above 30%. SoFi's net margin runs approximately 14–15% with ROE around 7%. However, the comparison isn't entirely apples-to-apples: Nubank's high margins partly reflect the profitability of its mature Brazil market, while SoFi is still in a transition phase where deposit-funded lending hasn't yet fully replaced its higher-cost warehouse credit model. SoFi's margins should improve structurally as the bank charter matures.

Which stock has better valuation, SOFI or NU?

Valuation depends on the metric. On a price-to-earnings basis, NU tends to trade at a higher P/E multiple than SOFI — but this partly reflects NU's substantially higher net margin and ROE, which justify a premium. On a price-to-sales basis, both trade at growth multiples. SOFI's CRM forward P/E looks cheaper on an absolute basis, but SoFi is earlier in its profitability ramp. Investors should consider P/E alongside margin trajectory rather than treating either P/E as a standalone signal.

Is SOFI or NU more volatile?

SOFI is significantly more volatile. SoFi has a beta of approximately 2.1, meaning it tends to move more than twice as much as the S&P 500 in both directions. NU has a beta of approximately 0.95 — roughly in line with the market. In terms of historical drawdown, SOFI's 1-year maximum drawdown has exceeded 50% in recent periods versus NU's approximately 38%. Investors with lower risk tolerance or shorter time horizons should account for SOFI's substantially higher volatility.

Does SoFi's bank charter matter for investors?

Yes — SoFi's national bank charter (received January 2022) is the most important structural advantage in its business model. Before the charter, SoFi funded loans through expensive warehouse credit lines from Wall Street banks. After the charter, SoFi can take customer deposits and use those deposits to fund loans at significantly lower cost, expanding net interest margins. As SoFi's deposit base grows, this advantage compounds. The bank charter is why SoFi is structurally different from non-bank fintechs like LendingClub or Upstart — it controls its own funding cost.

What is Nubank's ARPAC and why do investors track it?

ARPAC stands for Average Revenue Per Active Customer — the primary efficiency metric for Nubank's business. Because Nubank started with free credit cards and rapidly expanded its customer base, early ARPAC was very low. As customers adopt more products (savings, investments, loans, insurance), ARPAC rises — and higher ARPAC means each customer generates more revenue from the same acquisition cost. Investors track ARPAC separately for Brazil (more mature, higher ARPAC) versus Mexico and Colombia (early-stage, lower ARPAC) to understand how each market is progressing along Nubank's monetization curve.

Are SOFI and NU competitors?

No — SOFI and NU operate in completely different geographic markets and do not compete for customers. SoFi targets US consumers and businesses; Nubank targets Brazilian, Mexican, and Colombian consumers. Where they are comparable is as investment alternatives for investors seeking digital banking growth exposure. Within their respective markets, SoFi competes with Chime, Ally, and traditional US banks; Nubank competes with Itaú, Bradesco, and traditional Brazilian banks.

Does SOFI pay a dividend?

No — SoFi Technologies does not currently pay a dividend. SoFi is in a growth phase and reinvests profits into product expansion, technology, and customer acquisition rather than returning capital through dividends. Nu Holdings also does not pay a dividend. Both companies are best evaluated as growth investments rather than income investments at this stage.

How do SOFI and NU differ fundamentally?

SoFi is a US digital bank targeting Americans with student loans, personal loans, investing, and banking through a national bank charter, plus B2B fintech infrastructure (Galileo, Technisys). Nubank is a Latin American digital bank targeting Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia — credit cards, savings, and loans for the previously unbanked and underbanked. Different geographies, different initial products, different competitive landscapes, and very different profitability profiles.

What metrics matter most when comparing SOFI and NU?

For SoFi, track member count, products per member (platform penetration), deposit growth (bank charter progress), Financial Services segment revenue growth, and Galileo/Technisys platform accounts. For Nubank, track active customer count and ARPAC in Brazil (the profitability benchmark), Mexico and Colombia customer growth (growth optionality), credit quality (NPL ratio by country), and quarterly net income in USD (currency-adjusted performance).

Which is better for long-term investors — SOFI or NU?

Both are strong long-term digital banking investments in very different markets. NU's Latin American opportunity is enormous — 650M+ people with historically high bank fees and limited digital access — and Nubank's proven profitability gives it a lower execution risk profile than many high-growth fintechs. SoFi's bank charter is a structural advantage that should compound over 5–10 years as deposit funding matures. Long-term investors focused on capital efficiency and current profitability tend to favor NU; those focused on US fintech infrastructure upside often favor SOFI.

Data as of: September 20, 2026

brimindinvest.com / compare / sofi-vs-nuLIVE

SOFI

SoFi Technologies, Inc. · Financial Services

$16.96

-7.93% this month

VERSUS

COMPARE

NU

Nu Holdings Ltd. · Financial Services

$13.65

-6.57% this month

Comparison scoreboard

NU LEADS 4/5

AI Scorei

SOFI ✓38.5

NU 32.9

1Y Returni

SOFI -39.67%

NU ✓-14.63%

Fwd P/Ei

SOFI 21.70

NU ✓13.43

Target Up.i

SOFI +13.58%

NU ✓+21.96%

Op. Margini

SOFI 16.96%

NU ✓50.15%

Metrics last refreshed: 9/20/2026

Quick take

SOFI vs NU: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside

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SoFi Technologies (SOFI) and Nu Holdings (NU) are both digital banking challengers — but they operate in entirely different markets with very different fundamental profiles. NU reported a net profit margin of ~42% and ROE of ~30%, while SOFI's net margin runs ~15% and ROE ~7%. NU has 100M+ customers across Latin America; SoFi has 7–8M US members. SoFi has a national bank charter and B2B technology platforms (Galileo, Technisys) that NU does not; NU has geographic scale and proven profitability that SoFi is still building toward.

SOFI vs NU is the US digital bank using a national bank charter and B2B fintech infrastructure to build structural margin advantages in American financial services (SoFi) versus the world's largest digital bank by customer count, with proven GAAP profitability and a multi-decade Latin American banking disruption opportunity (Nu Holdings). Both are category leaders in their respective geographies — but they are fundamentally different risk/reward profiles, not direct competitors.

Live analysis · updated 9/20/2026

NU holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. NU leads on both 1-year return (-14.63%) and forward P/E quality (13.43x vs 21.70x for SOFI), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. NU leads on both revenue growth (52.10%) and operating margin (50.15%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for NU (+21.96%) than for SOFI (+13.58%).

Want a full valuation workup? 46-section report — AI Score, Monte Carlo forecast, bull/bear case, DCF, and more.

SOFI Report

Normalized 1Y performance

SOFI

NU

Recent returns

SOFI

NU

Analyst price targets & sentiment

Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.

SOFI

Price target range

analyst mean$20.26
current price$16.96

+13.6% upside to analyst mean

NU

Price target range

analyst mean$18.78
current price$13.65

+22.0% upside to analyst mean

Who should consider this stock?

SOFI may suit investors who:

prefer US digital banking exposure with a national bank charter enabling structurally lower-cost deposit-funded lending — the key long-term margin driver
value Galileo B2B banking infrastructure (serving other fintech companies) as revenue diversification beyond SoFi's own consumer lending cycle
want a higher-beta, higher-upside US fintech position with potential for significant operating leverage as the bank charter matures and deposit funding displaces warehouse credit
are comfortable with student loan policy sensitivity, 2.1x beta volatility, and a longer wait for the bank charter economics to fully mature

NU may suit investors who:

prefer the world's largest digital bank with 100M+ customers, net margin above 40%, and ROE above 30% — rare profitability metrics for a high-growth company
value Nubank's enormous Latin American market opportunity — 650M+ people with historically high bank fees and limited digital financial access across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia
want lower-beta (0.95x) digital banking exposure with Mexico and Colombia early-stage growth providing long-duration runway beyond the already-profitable Brazil business
are comfortable with Brazilian Real / Mexican Peso currency risk, Brazil credit cycle exposure, and traditional bank competitive response in digital consumer finance

Performance & AI score

Performance & AI score
Metric	SOFI	NU
AI scorei	38.5	32.9
AI ranki	#1353	#2077
Latest closei	$16.96	$13.65
1M returni	-7.93%	-6.57%
6M returni	-0.70%	-3.60%
1Y returni	-39.67%	-14.63%

$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)

How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?

$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
Period	SOFI	NU
1Y ago	$6.03K (-39.7%) started 2025-09-18	$8.54K (-14.6%) started 2025-09-18
5Y ago	$11.64K (+16.4%) started 2021-09-20	$13.21K (+32.1%) started 2021-12-09
10Y ago	$13.9K (+39.0%) started 2021-01-04	$13.21K (+32.1%) started 2021-12-09

Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.

Valuation & upside potential

Valuation & upside potential
Metric	SOFI	NU
Market capi	$23.04B	$74.39B
Trailing P/Ei	36.41	21.10
Forward P/Ei	21.70	13.43
Price/Salesi	N/A	N/A
EV/Revenuei	5.17	7.18
Analyst targeti	$20.26	$18.78
Target upsidei	+13.58%	+21.96%

Full DCF model for SOFI

Growth, profitability & risk

Growth, profitability & risk
Metric	SOFI	NU
Revenue growthi	42.60%	52.10%
Earnings growthi	40.40%	66.30%
EPS growthi	+40.40%	+66.30%
FCF margini	N/A	N/A
Operating margini	16.96%	50.15%
Profit margini	14.91%	42.73%
ROIC proxyi	7.09%	31.63%
Return on equityi	7.09%	31.63%
Dividend yieldi	N/A	N/A
Payout ratioi	0.00%	0.00%
Dividend growth streaki	N/A	N/A
Betai	2.20	0.94
Debt/equityi	30.84	N/A
Current ratioi	1.10	N/A
Quick ratioi	0.46	N/A

Correlation

Over the past year, SOFI and NU have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.49), based on daily returns.

1Y

0.49

-1.0+1.0

5Y

0.45

-1.0+1.0

10Y

0.45

-1.0+1.0

Drawdown & downside risk

Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.

1Y risk snapshot

SOFI max drawdowni52.96%

NU max drawdowni38.17%

SOFI max wkly dropi20.11%

NU max wkly dropi14.55%

5Y risk snapshot

SOFI max drawdowni81.54%

NU max drawdowni72.07%

SOFI max wkly dropi24.27%

NU max wkly dropi36.05%

10Y risk snapshot

SOFI max drawdowni83.32%

NU max drawdowni72.07%

SOFI max wkly dropi24.27%

NU max wkly dropi36.05%

Performance metrics by period

Performance metrics by period
Period	Metric	SOFI	NU
1Y	Growthi	-39.67%	-14.63%
	CAGRi	-39.69%	-14.64%
	Volatilityi	57.00%	38.26%
	Sharpe ratioi	-0.68	-0.34
	Sortino ratioi	-0.91	-0.47
	Max drawdowni	52.96%	38.17%
	Current drawdowni	47.35%	27.24%
	Avg drawdowni	32.98%	16.39%
	Ulcer Indexi	37.02%	19.91%
	Max daily dropi	15.44%	9.55%
	Max wkly dropi	20.11%	14.55%
5Y	Growthi	+16.40%	+32.14%
	CAGRi	+3.09%	+6.01%
	Volatilityi	66.23%	57.44%
	Sharpe ratioi	0.31	0.31
	Sortino ratioi	0.46	0.45
	Max drawdowni	81.54%	72.07%
	Current drawdowni	47.35%	27.24%
	Avg drawdowni	51.48%	29.50%
	Ulcer Indexi	56.39%	36.17%
	Max daily dropi	15.44%	18.89%
	Max wkly dropi	24.27%	36.05%
10Y	Growthi	+39.02%	+32.14%
	CAGRi	+5.95%	+6.01%
	Volatilityi	71.60%	57.44%
	Sharpe ratioi	0.36	0.31
	Sortino ratioi	0.58	0.45
	Max drawdowni	83.32%	72.07%
	Current drawdowni	47.35%	27.24%
	Avg drawdowni	51.70%	29.50%
	Ulcer Indexi	56.56%	36.17%
	Max daily dropi	15.44%	18.89%
	Max wkly dropi	24.27%	36.05%

AI Prediction Signali

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SOFI

+2.8%BUY

+1.1%HOLD

Next 30 trading days

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+6.4%BUY

+3.2%HOLD

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Business comparison

Business comparison
Category	SOFI	NU
Company	SoFi Technologies, Inc.	Nu Holdings Ltd.
Sector	Financial Services	Financial Services
Industry	Credit Services	Banks - Regional
Core business	SoFi is a US digital bank and financial services platform offering student and personal loans, mortgages, investing, insurance, credit cards, and banking through SoFi Bank. The national bank charter (received January 2022) is the key structural advantage: it allows SoFi to fund loans with low-cost customer deposits rather than expensive warehouse credit lines, materially improving net interest margins. SoFi also operates two B2B banking technology platforms — Galileo (payment infrastructure serving other fintechs and banks) and Technisys (cloud-native core banking software) — diversifying revenue beyond consumer banking.	Nu Holdings (Nubank) is the world's largest digital bank by customer count, with 100M+ customers primarily in Brazil (its most mature and profitable market), Mexico, and Colombia. Nubank started in 2013 with a zero-fee credit card for customers rejected or overcharged by Brazil's incumbent banking oligopoly, and has expanded into savings accounts, personal loans, insurance, and investment products through its mobile app. Nubank achieved GAAP profitability in 2023, with net margin exceeding 40% — a milestone that validated its low-cost, mobile-first model.
Investor focus	Investors track member count and products per member (measures multi-product platform penetration), deposit growth (the foundation of the bank charter advantage), Financial Services segment revenue, Lending segment net interest margin, and Galileo/Technisys platform accounts.	Investors track active customer count and average revenue per active customer (ARPAC) — especially in Brazil where unit economics are most mature — Mexico and Colombia early-stage customer growth, credit quality (non-performing loan ratios by country), and quarterly revenue growth in USD despite Brazilian Real fluctuation.

SOFI strengths

National bank charter enables SoFi to fund loans with lower-cost deposits rather than expensive warehouse credit lines — a structural net interest margin improvement that compounds as the deposit base grows
Multi-product platform strategy increases revenue per member: SoFi members with 2+ products generate significantly higher lifetime value than single-product customers
Galileo B2B banking infrastructure serves other fintech companies and banks, providing technology platform revenue that is largely independent of SoFi's own consumer lending cycle

NU strengths

100M+ customer base makes Nubank the world's largest digital bank — scale advantages in Brazil are very difficult for new entrants to replicate, and the brand recognition is now comparable to the incumbent banks it disrupted
Net profit margin above 40% and ROE above 30% demonstrate outstanding capital efficiency and validate the low-cost digital model at scale — rare metrics for a company still in high-growth mode
Mexico (70M+ unbanked adults) and Colombia (30M+ unbanked) represent 10–15 year growth runways where Nubank is replicating the Brazil playbook against similarly oligopolistic incumbent banks

Risks to watch — SOFI

Student loan origination volumes are sensitive to federal student loan policy changes, interest rate cycles, and refinancing demand — creating revenue volatility in SoFi's largest legacy segment
Competition from established banks (Chase, Wells Fargo) and high-growth digital banks (Chime, Ally) in core deposit and personal lending markets, where SoFi is a smaller challenger
SoFi's beta of 2.1x means it tends to fall significantly more than the market in risk-off environments — making it a high-conviction, high-volatility position

Risks to watch — NU

Brazil credit cycle risk — Nubank's customers often include first-time credit card and loan users with limited credit history, increasing default risk during recessions or high interest rate environments
Brazilian Real and Mexican Peso currency depreciation directly impacts USD-reported revenue and earnings — investors receive lower dollar returns when LatAm currencies weaken
Traditional Brazilian banks (Itaú, Bradesco, Santander Brasil) have launched digital banking products after initially underestimating Nubank, creating more competitive pressure in core segments

SOFI vs NU: Which Stock Is Better Right Now?

Based on current fundamentals, NU holds the profitability and capital efficiency advantage. Nu Holdings reports a net profit margin above 40% versus SoFi's approximately 15%, and an ROE above 30% versus SoFi's roughly 7%. NU's 100M+ customer base and early GAAP profitability at scale validate that the business model works — something SoFi is still proving as it matures its bank charter lending economics.

SoFi offers a different risk/reward profile that may be more compelling depending on your investment thesis. SoFi's national bank charter (received 2022) is the key long-term driver: as SoFi replaces warehouse credit lines with low-cost customer deposits, net interest margins improve structurally. Galileo and Technisys add B2B infrastructure revenue that Nubank does not have, partially decoupling SoFi's revenue from consumer lending cycles. And SoFi operates entirely in the US, avoiding Latin American credit cycle risk and currency translation headwinds.

NU carries its own risks: Brazil credit cycles affect first-time borrowers heavily, the Brazilian Real's weakness reduces USD-reported results, and expansion into Mexico and Colombia requires continued capital investment before those markets become profitable. SOFI's high beta (2.1x) makes it significantly more volatile than NU (0.95x beta) in market drawdowns.

Our verdict: NU has the stronger current fundamental setup — higher profitability, better capital efficiency, and proven scale. SOFI offers a different thesis: US banking charter upside and B2B infrastructure revenue. Neither is a clear sell; they suit different investor priorities.

Frequently asked questions

Nu Holdings currently has the stronger fundamental profile: net margin above 40%, ROE above 30%, 100M+ customers, and proven GAAP profitability at scale. SoFi's national bank charter is a long-term structural advantage, but the economics are still maturing. For investors prioritizing current profitability and capital efficiency, NU has the edge. For investors seeking US digital banking exposure with long-term operating leverage potential, SOFI may be more appropriate. Both have merit as positions in a diversified fintech portfolio.

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