Ares Management Corporation (ARES) vs Pfizer Inc. (PFE): 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%. PFE is overvalued at $31, with an intrinsic value of $22 and a margin of safety of -36%. Of the two, PFE 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.
- ★Gross margin of 74.7% indicates strong pricing power — typical of businesses with significant intellectual property or brand strength.
- ★Insiders have bought $3.0M worth of stock in the past 3 months — significant skin in the game.
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.
- ⚠ROIC has declined by 15.9 percentage points over the past 4 years, which may signal competitive erosion.
- ⚠FCF yield of 7.2% suggests reasonable valuation assuming continued moderate growth.
- ⚠Trailing P/E of 40.2x is 32% above the historical average of 30.4x — the stock trades at a premium to its own history.
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 $31?
The market implies +7.2% Owner Earnings growth, above historical trends.
Standard FCF implies a demanding +6.3%, reflecting heavy growth investment.
Economic Moat Score
Learn more →Narrow moat with reinvestment efficiency as the key competitive advantage. Improving roic consistency would strengthen the moat.
No durable moat detected, though reinvestment efficiency shows some competitive positioning. The business lacks consistent evidence of sustainable advantages.
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 optimistic — be cautious and ensure you have a margin of safety"
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 PFE
Is Ares Management Corporation or Pfizer Inc. more undervalued in 2026?▼
Based on our discounted cash flow model, PFE trades at a -36.1% margin of safety (intrinsic value $22 vs. price $31), compared to ARES's -77.0% margin of safety (intrinsic $72 vs. $128).
Which stock has a wider economic moat, Ares Management Corporation or Pfizer Inc.?▼
ARES scores 47/100 (Narrow moat), while PFE scores 35/100 (None 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. PFE scores 2.1 (Grey 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 Pfizer Inc.?▼
PFE earns 9.4% 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 Pfizer Inc.'s?▼
ARES's dividend earns a safety score of 54/100 (Borderline), compared to PFE's 24/100 (Unsafe). ARES has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.