BAC vs JEF Stock Comparison
BAC currently leads JEF in this stock comparison, with AIQ scores of 47 vs 46. The clearest difference is risk resilience, while JEF has the stronger momentum profile.
What is the main difference between BAC and JEF?
BAC leads the current stock comparison as Bank of America Corporation, with the clearest separation coming from risk resilience and the broader AIQ evidence mix.
AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison
Bank of America Corporation vs Jefferies Financial Group Inc.
BAC leads
BAC leads by 1 AIQ points, primarily on Risk Resilience and Quality, having only recently taken the lead back from JEF. Wall Street currently favors JEF on target upside.
Fragile: 1 of 6 evidence groups support BAC, the lead recently changed hands, and its signal state is cleanly positive.
Bank of America Corporation
Jefferies Financial Group Inc.
The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors BAC over JEF, 47 versus 46 as of Oct 31, 2026. BAC's advantage is driven primarily by stronger risk resilience and quality, while JEF holds the stronger momentum profile. BAC also shows the weaker technical structure relative to its 50-day moving average, though analyst target upside currently favors JEF. 1 of 6 covered evidence groups favor BAC today, and the comparison is rated Fragile on stability: the AIQ gap is narrow at 1 points. BAC lead: Reversed — JEF led by 1 AIQ points 30 sessions ago; BAC now leads by 1.
Compare Bank of America Corporation and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. across the Algovestiq AIQ Score, valuation, quality, momentum, risk, technicals and analyst expectations.
Performance over time
Total return with distributions reinvested, from daily closes.
Total return comparison
Growth of $10,000, distributions reinvested
Split-adjusted closes; each distribution is reinvested at the close on its ex-dividend date. Taxes and trading costs are not modeled.
Compare BAC and JEF against another ticker
Open a multi-ticker workspace without changing this focused pair page.
AIQ Factor Divergence
Where the two separate, on the four dimensions behind the AIQ Score. Bars read outward from a shared zero: further from the centre is a wider gap.
- Risk Resilience59 vs 37BAC +22
- Momentum26 vs 47JEF +21
- Quality49 vs 39BAC +10
- Value57 vs 56Even
1 of 6 evidence groups favor BAC. BAC’s edge is concentrated in risk resilience and quality; JEF keeps a meaningful momentum edge.
What changed since the last close
Latest scored session 2026-10-30, compared against the prior scored session 2026-10-29.
Largest factor move: Risk Resilience -1, not enough on its own to move the overall score.
New signals
- RSI Oversold - Potential Bounce — bullish, momentum, short horizon
Largest factor move: Momentum -10
New signals
- ATR Expansion - Breakout Mode — neutral, volatility, short horizon (3.66%)
The lead changed hands: BAC moved ahead of JEF in the latest session.
Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — BAC and JEF both carry a full feed there.
The central trade-off
BAC (Bank of America Corporation): the stronger current systematic profile, led by risk resilience and quality.
JEF (Jefferies Financial Group Inc.): the counter-case, on momentum, fundamentals, technicals — but at materially higher volatility, 37.3% against 21.8%.
The AIQ Score and Wall Street therefore point in different directions on this pair.
Which one fits your objective
The same two names rank differently depending on what you are optimizing for. All six reads are shown at once — none of them is hidden behind a toggle.
Balanced
BACBAC on the overall AIQ Score, which weights Quality and Value most heavily.
Growth
JEFJEF on combined revenue and EPS growth.
Value
EvenThe two are level on Value.
Momentum
JEFJEF on the Momentum factor, by 21 points.
Lower downside
BACBAC on Risk Resilience, by 22 points.
Analyst upside
JEFJEF on implied upside to the consensus price target.
AIQ vs Wall Street
The model and the Street disagree here: AIQ favors BAC, analyst targets favor JEF. That disagreement is the most useful thing on this page.
| Measure | BAC | JEF | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Implied upside to target | +32.5% | +41.7% | JEF has more room |
| Target dispersion | +22.6% | +56.6% | Lower is tighter analyst agreement |
| Consensus | Buy | Hold | Context, not a primary driver |
| Analysts covering | 11 | 6 | Higher coverage generally improves confidence |
The two are measuring different things. The AIQ Score reads current fundamentals, valuation, trend and risk; analyst targets price forward expectations. A divergence of this kind is either a contrarian opportunity or a sign the model is missing something already priced in — it is worth resolving before acting on either.
Analyst targets are expectations, not predictions. Dispersion matters as much as the midpoint.
Dividend growth
| Dividend metric | BAC | JEF |
|---|---|---|
| 5Y dividend CAGR | 8.45% | 21.67% |
| 2020 regular DPS | $0.720 | $0.600 |
| 2025 regular DPS | $1.080 | $1.600 |
| Years increased | 5 | 4 |
| No cut in window | Yes | Yes |
| Cohort rank | #133 | #11 |
JEF grew its split-adjusted regular dividend faster over 2020–2025 — 21.67% a year against BAC's 8.45%. Neither company reduced its regular dividend in any year of the window.
Yield and payout ratio shown elsewhere on this page are current values, not part of the study window.
Split-adjusted regular dividends per share, 2020–2025, excluding special dividends. Research as of Sep 19, 2026.
AIQ Agreement Matrix
1 of 6 covered evidence groups favor BAC. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.
| Evidence group | Favors | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| AIQ Score | Even | 47 vs 46 |
| Fundamentals | JEFon balance | revenue growth -3.3% vs 18.8%; EPS growth -23.8% vs 47.2%; TTM ROE 10.7% vs 8.5%; gross margin 60.4% vs 67.9%; operating margin 22.4% vs 7.5% — JEF takes 3 of 5 decided legs, not all of them |
| Valuation | Even | Value 57 vs 56 |
| Technicals | JEF | Price vs 50-day -11.4% vs -4.5%; vs 200-day -8.6% vs -9.4% |
| Risk Resilience | BAC | Risk Resilience 59 vs 37 |
| Analyst expectations | JEF | Target upside 32.5% vs 41.7% |
✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of BAC and JEF and are excluded from the count.
AIQ Decision Stability
The conclusion is sensitive to small changes. Treat the lead as provisional and watch the flip conditions below.
- The AIQ gap is narrow at 1 points. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
- Only 1 of 6 covered evidence groups agree. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
- The lead has already changed hands inside the comparison window. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
- The lead has been steady session to session. (supports the conclusion holding)
- The leader's signal state is cleanly positive. (supports the conclusion holding)
Stability combines the score gap, how broadly the evidence agrees, how steady the lead has been across daily snapshots, the current signal state on both names, and analyst dispersion on BAC.
How the comparison changed
120 daily snapshots · Jul 1 – Oct 30BAC lead: Reversed — JEF led by 1 AIQ points 30 sessions ago; BAC now leads by 1.
- Today
- BAC +1
- 47 vs 46
- 7 sessions ago
- BAC +3
- 47 vs 44
- 30 sessions ago
- JEF +1
- 41 vs 42
- 90 sessions ago
- BAC +6
- 49 vs 43
The lead changed hands 5 times in this window, most recently on Oct 30 when BAC moved ahead of JEF.
AIQ Signal Divergence
Only the signals that bear on the head-to-head. A conflicted name is carrying bullish and bearish rules at the same time — the technical evidence is not pointing one way.
3 bullish / 0 bearish / 1 neutral
Only BAC
- Golden Cross Active — bullish, trend, long horizon (2.70%)
- RSI Oversold - Potential Bounce — bullish, momentum, short horizon
1 bullish / 2 bearish / 2 neutral, conflicted
Only JEF
- Death Cross Active — bearish, trend, long horizon (5.38%)
- ATR Expansion - Breakout Mode — neutral, volatility, short horizon (3.66%)
- Downtrend Structure Active — bearish, trend, long horizon
Both carry 2 more signals that do not separate them: Bollinger Band Squeeze, MACD Bullish Crossover.
JEF is conflicted, so the timing case there is weaker than the score alone suggests.
Price vs model alignment
Whether the latest session's price move confirms what the model did over the same session, or contradicts it.
Neither the price nor the AIQ Score moved enough in the latest session to confirm or contradict the other (price -2.21%, AIQ 0 points).
Price and the AIQ Score both moved down over the latest session (price -6.16%, AIQ -3 points).
What would flip this result
A state, not a forecast. These are the specific, observable changes that would reverse the verdict — not a price prediction.
- 1JEF closes the Risk Resilience gap — currently 22 points behind, the largest single contributor to BAC's edge.
- 2JEF's Death Cross Active resolves — a bearish trend rule currently active against it.
- 3BAC's Golden Cross Active breaks down — it is the strongest rule currently supporting the verdict.
- 4A regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.
The full evidence
Every number behind the verdict. The leader is called above each group so you are not left to solve it from the table.
Fundamentals
JEF leads on balance| Metric | BAC | JEF |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | -3.3% | 18.8% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -23.8% | 47.2% |
| Gross margin | 60.4% | 67.9% |
| Operating margin | 22.4% | 7.5% |
| Return on equity (TTM) | 10.7% | 8.5% |
| Debt to equity | 1.28 | 3.48 |
Performance
Split across windows| Metric | BAC | JEF |
|---|---|---|
| 1 week (5 sessions) | -1.1% | 3% |
| 1 month (20 sessions) | -7% | 0.3% |
| 3 months (63 sessions) | -18.2% | -17.2% |
| 6 months (126 sessions) | -6.1% | -6.4% |
| Year to date | -9.1% | -25.6% |
| 1 year (252 sessions) | -4.1% | -12.8% |
Technicals
JEF has the stronger structure| Metric | BAC | JEF |
|---|---|---|
| RSI (14) | 20.7 | 54.1 |
| ADX (14) | 47.3 | 31.1 |
| Price vs 50-day | -11.4% | -4.5% |
| Price vs 200-day | -8.6% | -9.4% |
| Volatility (1M, annualized) | 21.8% | 37.3% |
Risk
BAC is the more resilient| Metric | BAC | JEF |
|---|---|---|
| Beta | 0.75 | 1.64 |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.34 | -0.24 |
| Sortino ratio | -0.43 | -0.28 |
| Max drawdown | -22.8% | -45.6% |
| Current drawdown | -22.8% | -30.4% |
| Annualized volatility | 21.9% | 40.2% |
| Value at risk (95%) | -2.5% | -4% |
Straight answers
Each answer is regenerated from the current snapshot, not written once and left to age.
Which is better, BAC or JEF?
On the Algovestiq AIQ Score, BAC is the stronger of the two as of Oct 31, 2026, scoring 47 against JEF's 46. The edge comes from risk resilience and quality. JEF is not without a case — it holds the better momentum profile, which matters more if that is the objective you are optimizing for. This is a systematic score, not a recommendation: it ranks the two on the same evidence, it does not know your holding period or tax position.
Is BAC or JEF the better buy right now?
BAC carries the stronger systematic profile as of Oct 31, 2026, and the comparison is rated Fragile — 1 of 6 covered evidence groups agree. A Fragile rating means the conclusion is sensitive: the AIQ gap is narrow at 1 points. Treat the lead as provisional.
Why does the AIQ Score favor BAC over JEF?
The composite weights Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk Resilience. BAC leads Risk Resilience by 22 points; JEF leads Momentum by 21 points; BAC leads Quality by 10 points. Where the two split, the factor with the larger weight carries the result.
Which has more analyst upside, BAC or JEF?
Analyst price targets imply +32.5% upside for BAC and +41.7% for JEF, so the Street currently favors JEF. That points the opposite way to the AIQ Score, which favors BAC. The two are measuring different things: the model reads current fundamentals, valuation, trend and risk; the Street is pricing forward expectations. A divergence of this kind is either a contrarian opportunity or a sign the model is missing something the analysts have already priced — it is the single most useful row on this page to investigate. Analyst targets are expectations, not predictions, and dispersion matters as much as the midpoint.
Which is better value, BAC or JEF?
Neither name separates on the peer-relative Value factor. The two are level on Value. The Value factor reads valuation relative to sector peers and to the company's own fundamental quality, so it is not the same as simply having the lower multiple.
Which has stronger growth, BAC or JEF?
JEF on combined revenue and EPS growth. Growth here is measured on reported revenue and earnings, not on forward estimates — it describes what the businesses have delivered, not what the Street expects next.
Which has stronger momentum, BAC or JEF?
JEF on the Momentum factor, by 21 points. Momentum is one of the four weighted factors in the AIQ composite. It has documented persistence over three- to twelve-month horizons, which makes it a timing input rather than a reason to hold something indefinitely.
Which is riskier, BAC or JEF?
BAC is the more resilient of the two, so the other name carries the higher downside risk. BAC on Risk Resilience, by 22 points. Risk Resilience is a weighted factor in the composite; position sizing usually responds to it more usefully than the buy/avoid decision does.
Is BAC more profitable than JEF?
The profitability evidence is mixed: gross margin 60.4% vs 67.9%; operating margin 22.4% vs 7.5%; ttm roe 10.7% vs 8.5%. BAC leads on two measures and JEF on one measure, and there is no single profitability composite that resolves the split — which of the two reads as "more profitable" depends on whether you weight pricing power or operating leverage.
Is BAC's lead over JEF getting stronger or weaker?
BAC lead: Reversed — JEF led by 1 AIQ points 30 sessions ago; BAC now leads by 1. This is measured from 120 daily comparison snapshots between 2026-07-01 and 2026-10-30. The lead has changed hands 5 times in that window, most recently on 2026-10-30, when BAC moved ahead of JEF.
What would change the BAC vs JEF verdict?
The result is a state, not a forecast, so it changes when the underlying evidence changes. Concretely: JEF closes the Risk Resilience gap — currently 22 points behind, the largest single contributor to BAC's edge; JEF's Death Cross Active resolves — a bearish trend rule currently active against it; BAC's Golden Cross Active breaks down — it is the strongest rule currently supporting the verdict; a regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.
What do the current signals say about BAC and JEF?
BAC: 3 bullish / 0 bearish / 1 neutral. JEF: 1 bullish / 2 bearish / 2 neutral, conflicted. A conflicted state means bullish and bearish rules are active on the same name at once — the technical evidence is not pointing one way, and a decision taken on it carries more timing risk. The most decision-relevant rule on BAC is Golden Cross Active (bullish, long horizon). On JEF it is Death Cross Active (bearish, long horizon).
Compare BAC and JEF with others
Continue your research
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How this comparison is scored
The Algovestiq AIQ Score composites four factors — Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk, each carrying a fixed weight. Sentiment is reported separately as SentimentPulse and is not folded into the composite. Scores refresh every trading day, and this page regenerates from the latest snapshot rather than being written once.
The verdict names a leader, states how broadly six independent evidence groups agree, and rates how durable that conclusion is given the score gap, its recent trajectory and the current signal state on both names.
How to use side-by-side comparison →This comparison is informational and educational, not investment advice. AIQ scores update daily; re-check after earnings, guidance or macro data that materially changes either name’s factor profile.