BAC vs VLO Stock Comparison
VLO currently leads BAC in this stock comparison, with AIQ scores of 54 vs 47. The clearest difference is momentum, while BAC has the stronger risk resilience profile.
What is the main difference between BAC and VLO?
VLO leads the current stock comparison as Valero Energy Corporation, with the clearest separation coming from momentum and the broader AIQ evidence mix.
AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison
Bank of America Corporation vs Valero Energy Corporation
VLO leads
VLO leads by 7 AIQ points, primarily on Momentum and Quality, but the lead has narrowed from 18 points over 30 sessions. Wall Street currently favors BAC on target upside.
Fragile: 3 of 6 evidence groups support VLO, its lead is narrowing, and its current signal state is conflicted.
Bank of America Corporation
Valero Energy Corporation
The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors VLO over BAC, 54 versus 47 as of Oct 24, 2026. VLO's advantage is driven primarily by stronger momentum and quality, while BAC holds the stronger risk resilience profile. VLO also shows the stronger technical structure relative to its 50-day moving average, though analyst target upside currently favors BAC. 3 of 6 covered evidence groups favor VLO today, and the comparison is rated Fragile on stability: only 3 of 6 covered evidence groups agree. VLO lead: Weakening — the AIQ differential moved from 18 to 7 points over 30 sessions.
Compare Bank of America Corporation and Valero Energy Corporation 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 VLO 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.
- Momentum25 vs 49VLO +24
- Risk Resilience59 vs 49BAC +10
- Quality49 vs 58VLO +9
- Value57 vs 58Even
3 of 6 evidence groups favor VLO. VLO’s edge is concentrated in momentum and quality; BAC keeps a meaningful risk resilience edge.
What changed since the last close
Latest scored session 2026-10-23, compared against the prior scored session 2026-10-22.
Largest factor move: Momentum -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 -11
No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 5 active signals are unchanged.
VLO's lead narrowed by 3 AIQ points in the latest session.
Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — BAC and VLO both carry a full feed there.
The central trade-off
VLO (Valero Energy Corporation): the stronger current systematic profile, led by momentum and quality.
BAC (Bank of America Corporation): the counter-case, on risk resilience, analyst expectations.
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
VLOVLO on the overall AIQ Score, which weights Quality and Value most heavily.
Growth
VLOVLO on combined revenue and EPS growth.
Value
EvenThe two are level on Value.
Momentum
VLOVLO on the Momentum factor, by 24 points.
Lower downside
BACBAC on Risk Resilience, by 10 points.
Analyst upside
BACBAC on implied upside to the consensus price target.
AIQ vs Wall Street
The model and the Street disagree here: AIQ favors VLO, analyst targets favor BAC. That disagreement is the most useful thing on this page.
| Measure | BAC | VLO | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Implied upside to target | +31.1% | -11.8% | BAC has more room |
| Target dispersion | +22.6% | +68.4% | Lower is tighter analyst agreement |
| Consensus | Buy | Hold | Context, not a primary driver |
| Analysts covering | 11 | 9 | 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 | VLO |
|---|---|---|
| 5Y dividend CAGR | 8.45% | 2.89% |
| 2020 regular DPS | $0.720 | $3.920 |
| 2025 regular DPS | $1.080 | $4.520 |
| Years increased | 5 | 3 |
| No cut in window | Yes | Yes |
| Cohort rank | #133 | #307 |
BAC grew its split-adjusted regular dividend faster over 2020–2025 — 8.45% a year against VLO's 2.89%. 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
3 of 6 covered evidence groups favor VLO. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.
| Evidence group | Favors | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| AIQ Score | VLO | 47 vs 54 |
| Fundamentals | VLOon balance | revenue growth -3.3% vs 13.2%; EPS growth -23.8% vs 199.1%; TTM ROE 10.7% vs 29.9%; gross margin 60.4% vs 11.3%; operating margin 22.4% vs 7.5% — VLO takes 3 of 5 decided legs, not all of them |
| Valuation | Even | Value 57 vs 58 |
| Technicals | VLO | Price vs 50-day -12.4% vs 6.8%; vs 200-day -8.2% vs 49.5% |
| Risk Resilience | BAC | Risk Resilience 59 vs 49 |
| Analyst expectations | BAC | Target upside 31.1% vs -11.8% |
✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of BAC and VLO 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 moderate at 7 points.
- Only 3 of 6 covered evidence groups agree. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
- The leader's advantage has been narrowing. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
- The leader is throwing conflicting signals. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
- Analyst targets on the leader are widely dispersed. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
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 VLO.
How the comparison changed
120 daily snapshots · Jun 24 – Oct 23VLO lead: Weakening — the AIQ differential moved from 18 to 7 points over 30 sessions.
- Today
- VLO +7
- 47 vs 54
- 7 sessions ago
- VLO +17
- 47 vs 64
- 30 sessions ago
- VLO +18
- 41 vs 59
- 90 sessions ago
- VLO +9
- 51 vs 60
The lead changed hands once in this window, most recently on Aug 5 when BAC moved ahead of VLO.
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.
2 bullish / 1 bearish / 1 neutral, conflicted
Only BAC
- Bollinger Band Squeeze — neutral, volatility, short horizon
- RSI Oversold - Potential Bounce — bullish, momentum, short horizon
3 bullish / 1 bearish / 1 neutral, conflicted
Only VLO
- ATR Expansion - Breakout Mode — neutral, volatility, short horizon (4.02%)
- EMA Ribbon Expansion Bullish — bullish, trend, medium horizon
- Uptrend Structure Active — bullish, trend, long horizon
Both carry 2 more signals that do not separate them: Golden Cross Active, MACD Bearish Crossover.
VLO leads the comparison while carrying a conflicted signal state, which is one reason the stability rating is not higher.
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 -1.02%, AIQ 0 points).
Price and the AIQ Score both moved down over the latest session (price -1.64%, 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.
- 1BAC closes the Momentum gap — currently 24 points behind, the largest single contributor to VLO's edge.
- 2BAC's Bollinger Band Squeeze turns directional — it is neutral today and would confirm a change in trend.
- 3VLO's conflicting signal state resolves bearish — it currently carries 3 bullish and 1 bearish rules at once.
- 4The narrowing continues — the lead has already given back 11 points over 30 sessions, and a further 7-point move would eliminate VLO's advantage entirely.
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
VLO leads on balance| Metric | BAC | VLO |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | -3.3% | 13.2% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -23.8% | 199.1% |
| Gross margin | 60.4% | 11.3% |
| Operating margin | 22.4% | 7.5% |
| Return on equity (TTM) | 10.7% | 29.9% |
| Debt to equity | 1.28 | 0.45 |
Performance
VLO leads 5 of 6 windows| Metric | BAC | VLO |
|---|---|---|
| 1 week (5 sessions) | -1.3% | -5.7% |
| 1 month (20 sessions) | -10.8% | 8.3% |
| 3 months (63 sessions) | -17.7% | 37.5% |
| 6 months (126 sessions) | -2.9% | 77.8% |
| Year to date | -8.1% | 157.6% |
| 1 year (252 sessions) | -1.9% | 165.9% |
Technicals
VLO has the stronger structure| Metric | BAC | VLO |
|---|---|---|
| RSI (14) | 27.8 | 50 |
| ADX (14) | 49.3 | 26.2 |
| Price vs 50-day | -12.4% | 6.8% |
| Price vs 200-day | -8.2% | 49.5% |
| Volatility (1M, annualized) | 21.5% | 39% |
Risk
BAC is the more resilient| Metric | BAC | VLO |
|---|---|---|
| Beta | 0.74 | -0.37 |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.12 | 2.63 |
| Sortino ratio | -0.15 | 4.44 |
| Max drawdown | -22.3% | -12.7% |
| Current drawdown | -22% | -8.8% |
| Annualized volatility | 21.9% | 37.6% |
| Value at risk (95%) | -2.5% | -3.1% |
Straight answers
Each answer is regenerated from the current snapshot, not written once and left to age.
Which is better, BAC or VLO?
On the Algovestiq AIQ Score, VLO is the stronger of the two as of Oct 24, 2026, scoring 54 against BAC's 47. The edge comes from momentum and quality. BAC is not without a case — it holds the better risk resilience 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 VLO the better buy right now?
VLO carries the stronger systematic profile as of Oct 24, 2026, and the comparison is rated Fragile — 3 of 6 covered evidence groups agree. A Fragile rating means the conclusion is sensitive: only 3 of 6 covered evidence groups agree. Treat the lead as provisional.
Why does the AIQ Score favor VLO over BAC?
The composite weights Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk Resilience. VLO leads Momentum by 24 points; BAC leads Risk Resilience by 10 points; VLO leads Quality by 9 points. Where the two split, the factor with the larger weight carries the result.
Which has more analyst upside, BAC or VLO?
Analyst price targets imply +31.1% upside for BAC and -11.8% for VLO, so the Street currently favors BAC. That points the opposite way to the AIQ Score, which favors VLO. 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 VLO?
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 VLO?
VLO 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 VLO?
VLO on the Momentum factor, by 24 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 VLO?
BAC is the more resilient of the two, so the other name carries the higher downside risk. BAC on Risk Resilience, by 10 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 VLO?
The profitability evidence is mixed: gross margin 60.4% vs 11.3%; operating margin 22.4% vs 7.5%; ttm roe 10.7% vs 29.9%. BAC leads on two measures and VLO 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 VLO's lead over BAC getting stronger or weaker?
VLO lead: Weakening — the AIQ differential moved from 18 to 7 points over 30 sessions. This is measured from 120 daily comparison snapshots between 2026-06-24 and 2026-10-23. The lead has changed hands once in that window, most recently on 2026-08-05, when BAC moved ahead of VLO.
What would change the BAC vs VLO verdict?
The result is a state, not a forecast, so it changes when the underlying evidence changes. Concretely: BAC closes the Momentum gap — currently 24 points behind, the largest single contributor to VLO's edge; BAC's Bollinger Band Squeeze turns directional — it is neutral today and would confirm a change in trend; VLO's conflicting signal state resolves bearish — it currently carries 3 bullish and 1 bearish rules at once; the narrowing continues — the lead has already given back 11 points over 30 sessions, and a further 7-point move would eliminate VLO's advantage entirely.
What do the current signals say about BAC and VLO?
BAC: 2 bullish / 1 bearish / 1 neutral, conflicted. VLO: 3 bullish / 1 bearish / 1 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 VLO it is Golden Cross Active (bullish, long horizon).
Compare BAC and VLO with others
Continue your research
This page answers which of the two. These answer the questions on either side of it.
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.