Ares Capital Corporation vs Salesforce Inc — how do they compare? Ares Capital Corporation trades at $19.96 (market cap $14.35B), while Salesforce Inc trades at $195.2 (market cap $161.76B). The key difference: Salesforce Inc is far larger — about 11.3× Ares Capital Corporation's market cap, and Ares Capital Corporation pays the higher dividend (9.61%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| ARCC | CRM | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $14.35B | $161.76B |
Sector | Financials | Technology |
52-Week High | $22.68 | $266.23 |
52-Week Low | $17.45 | $150.12 |
Dividend Yield | 9.61% | 0.89% |
Enterprise Value | — | $191.81B |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
ARCC trades at $20.01, up 1.99% today, with a bullish technical signal from moving averages but neutral oscillators. Recent earnings show Q2 2026 EPS of $0.47, slightly below the $0.4731 estimate, continuing a trend of minor misses. Revenue declined to $1.51B in 2025 from $1.7B in 2024, with net income margin at 81.77%. The stock offers a high dividend yield, with consistent payouts highlighted in recent news.
Outlook is mixed: strong analyst buy consensus (75%) and a stable dividend history support income investors, but declining revenue and tight dividend coverage pose risks. Price target consensus is $19.63, below the current price, suggesting limited upside. Macro risks in private credit, per WSJ on August 9, 2026, add caution.
Salesforce (CRM) trades at $197.51, up 2.47% today, showing strong momentum despite recent sector volatility. The stock demonstrates robust fundamentals with consistent earnings beats, including Q1 2026 EPS of $3.88 beating expectations of $3.13. Technical indicators show bullish momentum with the price above key support levels, while valuation metrics remain reasonable with P/E of 22.89 and P/S of 4.29. Recent corporate actions include a $0.44 dividend declaration for July 2026 payment.
The outlook remains positive with analyst consensus price target of $230.61 representing 17% upside potential. Strong revenue growth trajectory ($37.9B in 2025 to $42.8B projected for 2026) and expanding profit margins (16.35% to 18.73%) support continued appreciation. Key risks include AI-driven sector volatility and macroeconomic headwinds affecting software spending, but the company's dominant market position and consistent execution provide stability.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Ares Capital Corp is a United States-based closed-ended specialty finance company. Its investment objective is to generate both current income and capital appreciation through debt and equity investments. The company focuses on investing primarily in U.S. middle-market companies with investment opportunities as well as in larger companies. Its portfolio comprises of first lien senior secured loans, second lien senior secured loans, and mezzanine debt (subordinated unsecured loan), which may include equity components that are diversified by industry and sector. The company may invest in preferred and common equity investments to a lesser proportion. Its revenue mainly consists of interest and dividend income received from the investment made.
Read more on ARCC →Salesforce Inc provides enterprise cloud computing solutions. The company offers customer relationship management technology that brings companies and customers together. Its Customer 360 platform helps the group to deliver a single source of truth, connecting customer data across systems, apps, and devices to help companies sell, service, market, and conduct commerce. It also offers Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing campaigns, Commerce Cloud as an e-commerce engine, the Salesforce Platform, which allows enterprises to build applications, and other solutions, such as MuleSoft for data integration.
Read more on CRM →