Ares Management Corporation (ARES) vs Intuit Inc. (INTU): Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?
As of 2026-11-01, ARES is overvalued at $128, with a DCF intrinsic value of $72 and a margin of safety of -77%. INTU is undervalued at $341, with an intrinsic value of $568 and a margin of safety of 40%. Of the two, INTU has the wider margin of safety.
Rewards
- ★Gross margin of 100.0% indicates strong pricing power — typical of businesses with significant intellectual property or brand strength.
- ★Trailing P/E of 59.1x is 23% below the historical average of 77.2x — potentially undervalued relative to its own history.
- ★PEG ratio of 0.95 suggests the stock is undervalued relative to its growth rate — paying less than 1x for each unit of earnings growth.
- ★Intuit Inc. has maintained ROIC above 10% for 4 consecutive years, suggesting solid business economics.
- ★Gross margin of 81.0% indicates strong pricing power — typical of businesses with significant intellectual property or brand strength.
- ★Intuit Inc. scores 94/100 on the Economic Moat Score (Wide Moat), with revenue predictability as the strongest competitive dimension.
Risks
- ⚠Share count has increased by 25% over the past 4 years, diluting existing shareholders.
- ⚠High leverage (1.51x net debt/equity) combined with thin interest coverage (-1.0x) poses financial risk.
- ⚠Altman Z-Score of 1.36 places the company in the distress zone — financial patterns resemble those of companies that experienced bankruptcy.
Key Valuation Metrics
Learn more →Historical Fundamentals
Learn more →Price ÷ Earnings Per Share — how many years of current earnings you're paying for at today's price. Lower P/E may indicate undervaluation. The dashed forward point is the forward P/E — today's price ÷ analyst consensus EPS.
Price ÷ Earnings Per Share — how many years of current earnings you're paying for at today's price. Lower P/E may indicate undervaluation. The dashed forward point is the forward P/E — today's price ÷ analyst consensus EPS.
Price ÷ Earnings Per Share — how many years of current earnings you're paying for at today's price. Lower P/E may indicate undervaluation. The dashed forward point is the forward P/E — today's price ÷ analyst consensus EPS.
$1 Retained Earnings Test
Learn more →> $1 created per $1 retained = Value Creator · < $1 created = Value Destroyer
> $1 created per $1 retained = Value Creator · < $1 created = Value Destroyer
Buffett's "$1 Test": For every $1 of earnings retained, has management created at least $1 of market value?
> $1 created per $1 retained = Value Creator · < $1 created = Value Destroyer
Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis
Learn more →Reverse DCF — Market-Implied Growth
Learn more →Requires positive FCF to compute implied growth rate.
What growth rate is the market pricing in at $341?
The market implies +6.1% Owner Earnings growth, below historical trends — potential opportunity.
Standard FCF implies a more demanding -0.9%, reflecting heavy growth investment expected to generate future returns.
Economic Moat Score
Learn more →Narrow moat with reinvestment efficiency as the key competitive advantage. Improving roic consistency would strengthen the moat.
Wide moat with strength across all dimensions. Revenue Predictability is the standout factor.
Forensic Accounting
Learn more →M-Score Trend
M-Score Trend
Beneish's 8-variable model estimates the probability of earnings manipulation. An M-Score above -1.78 signals elevated risk — companies in this range have historically been 3-5× more likely to be manipulating earnings. Scores between -2.22 and -1.78 fall in a grey zone warranting further investigation.
Ownership Breakdown
Learn more →High insider ownership aligns management incentives with shareholders. Institutional concentration can indicate smart-money conviction but also crowding risk.
Insider Buying Activity
Learn more →Open market purchases · includes direct & indirect ownership · excludes option exercises.
Insider Selling Activity
Learn more →Direct ownership only · excludes indirect, option exercises, planned (10b5-1) sales & derivatives.
🎭 Mr. Market's Mood
Learn more →"Market is pessimistic — investigate whether fears are temporary or structural"
"Market is pricing this stock without strong emotion in either direction"
Composite sentiment score based on market signals. Inspired by Buffett’s "Mr. Market" allegory — fear = potential opportunity, greed = potential risk. Must be used alongside fundamental analysis, not in isolation.
⚖️ Buffett Signal
Learn more →The Buffett Signal cross-references market sentiment with DCF valuation. Configure the DCF Analysis above to generate a signal.
The Buffett Signal cross-references market sentiment with DCF valuation. Configure the DCF Analysis above to generate a signal.
Frequently Asked Questions: ARES vs INTU
Is Ares Management Corporation or Intuit Inc. more undervalued in 2026?▼
Based on our discounted cash flow model, INTU trades at a 39.9% margin of safety (intrinsic value $568 vs. price $341), compared to ARES's -77.0% margin of safety (intrinsic $72 vs. $128).
Which stock has a wider economic moat, Ares Management Corporation or Intuit Inc.?▼
INTU scores 94/100 (Wide moat), while ARES scores 47/100 (Narrow moat). The moat score measures competitive advantage durability across ROIC consistency, margin stability, revenue predictability, and reinvestment efficiency.
Is Ares Management Corporation in financial distress?▼
ARES's Altman Z-Score of 1.4 places it in the Distress zone, signaling elevated bankruptcy risk. INTU scores 5.1 (Safe zone). The Altman Z-Score is a five-factor model that predicts insolvency within two years; scores below 1.81 indicate significant distress.
Which stock has higher return on invested capital, Ares Management Corporation or Intuit Inc.?▼
INTU earns 10.9% ROIC versus ARES's 0.5%. A higher ROIC means the company generates more profit per dollar of capital employed, a hallmark of durable competitive advantage in Buffett-style analysis.
Which dividend is safer, Ares Management Corporation's or Intuit Inc.'s?▼
INTU's dividend earns a safety score of 94/100 (Very Safe), compared to ARES's 54/100 (Borderline). INTU has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.