Sector Report4 min read
Financials: 16 A-Grades With Five Banks Failing
Payments and exchanges print cash. Big banks bleed it. The split is getting worse.
Apr 3, 2026
CMEVMACOF+12
Banks, investment firms, insurance, payments, and financial services
Sector classifications follow the GICS industry standard.
Companies ranked by free cash flow margin
Health grades across the sector
| # | Symbol | Grade | FCF Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CME | A | 64.3% |
| 2 | V | A | 53.9% |
| 3 | MA | A | 50.1% |
| 4 | COF | A | 48.9% |
| 5 | SCHW | A | 36.6% |
| 6 | SPGI | A | 35.6% |
| 7 | COIN | A | 33.8% |
| 8 | ICE | A | 30.6% |
| 9 | TFC | C | 28.2% |
| 10 | USB | C | 27.9% |
| 11 | MET | A | 22.6% |
| 12 | AXP | B | 22.2% |
| 13 | TRV | A | 21.7% |
| 14 | CB | A | 21.3% |
| 15 | PGR | A | 19.6% |
| 16 | PNC | F | 19.0% |
| 17 | AON | A | 18.7% |
| 18 | MMC | A | 18.5% |
| 19 | PYPL | A | 16.8% |
| 20 | ALL | A | 14.7% |
| 21 | BLK | B | 14.7% |
| 22 | AIG | B | 12.4% |
| 23 | BAC | F | 11.2% |
| 24 | PRU | B | 10.3% |
| 25 | WFC | F | -22.7% |
| 26 | MS | F | -31.5% |
| 27 | GS | F | -81.0% |
| 28 | JPM | F | -81.3% |
| 29 | C | F | -87.0% |
Run the analyzer on these tickers to see their grades
Payments and exchanges print cash. Big banks bleed it. The split is getting worse.
CME prints $3.6B in free cash flow on $6.1B revenue. The exchange business model works exactly like it should.
The sector looks healthy on paper. But strip out the payment networks and exchanges, and the numbers tell a different story.