Which Is a Better Investment, Exlservice Holdings Inc or UniFirst Corp Stock?

By Jenna Brashear
September 03, 2026
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Sifting through countless of stocks in the Commercial Services & Supplies industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings and Inc.

UniFirst Corporation provides workplace uniforms and protective work wear clothing in the United States, Europe, and Canada. It operates in three segments: Uniform & Facility Service Solutions; First Aid & Safety Solutions; and Other. The company offers uniforms, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, and aprons; specialized protective wear comprising flame resistant and high visibility garments; and first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies, as well as safety training services. It also engages in the rent and sale of non-garment items and services that include industrial wiping products, floor mats, dry and wet mops, and other textile products, as well as the wholesale distribution and pill packaging operations for non-prescription medicines. In addition, the company provides garment service options, including full-service rental and lease programs. Further, it offers restroom and cleaning supplies, such as air fresheners, paper products, gloves, masks, hand soaps, and sanitizers. Additionally, it provides specialized services, including decontamination and cleaning of work clothes and other items that have been exposed to radioactive materials and services special cleanroom protective wear. The company serves automobile service centers and dealers, delivery services, food and general merchandise retailers, manufacturers, maintenance facilities, restaurants and food-related businesses, business service companies, soft and durable goods wholesalers, transportation companies, energy producing operations, and healthcare providers, as well as others that require employee clothing on the job for image, identification, protection, or utility purposes. UniFirst Corporation was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts.

ExlService Holdings, Inc., operates as a data and artificial intelligence (“AI”) company in the North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Insurance; Healthcare and Life Sciences; Banking, Capital Markets, and Diversified Industries; and International Growth Markets. It provides digital operations and solutions and analytics-driven services, such as claims management, premium and benefit administration, agency management, account reconciliation, actuarial and risk analytics, policy research, digital marketing, underwriting support, new business acquisition, policy servicing, audit, surveys, billing and collection, commercial and residential survey, and customer service; digital customer acquisition services using a software-as-a-service delivery model through LifePRO and Life Digital Suite platforms; and Subrosource software platform, an end-to-end subrogation platform. The company also offers health care services for care, utilization, and disease management; payment integrity; revenue optimization, customer engagement, and commercial analytics and regulatory support services; and digital operations and solutions. In addition, it provides financial planning and analysis, accounting, regulatory and statutory reporting, decision support, data management, and compliance services; consumer and commercial banking, credit card and payment services; fintech, wealth and retirement services; capital markets, utilities, retail and consumer packaged goods, communications, media and entertainment, travel and leisure, transportation and logistics, infrastructure, and other business services; property and casualty insurance, life insurance, disability insurance; and insurance brokers, reinsurers, annuity and retirement services. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Latest Commercial Services & Supplies and UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings, Inc. Stock News

As of September 2, 2026, UniFirst Corporation had a $5.0 billion market capitalization, compared to the Commercial Services & Supplies median of $719.9 million. UniFirst Corporation’s stock is up 42.5% in 2026, down 3.8% in the previous five trading days and up 56.51% in the past year.

Currently, UniFirst Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 43.3. UniFirst Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $2.5 billion with a 4.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 3.9%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $7.443 per share for the current fiscal year. UniFirst Corporation currently has a 0.5% dividend yield.

As of September 2, 2026, ExlService Holdings, Inc. had a $5.6 billion market cap, putting it in the 69th percentile of all stocks. ExlService Holdings, Inc.’s stock is down 12.7% in 2026, down 2.9% in the previous five trading days and down 14.8% in the past year.

Currently, ExlService Holdings, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 23.4. ExlService Holdings, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $2.2 billion with a 11.2% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 15.6%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.289 per share for the current fiscal year. ExlService Holdings, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

How We Compare UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings and Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company Ticker Value
UniFirst Corporation UNF D
ExlService Holdings, Inc. EXLS D

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

UniFirst Corporation has a Value Score of 31, which is Expensive. ExlService Holdings, Inc. has a Value Score of 37, which is Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings or Inc. has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.

UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings and Inc. Growth Grades

Company Ticker Growth
UniFirst Corporation UNF A
ExlService Holdings, Inc. EXLS A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

UniFirst Corporation has a Growth Score of 100, which is Very Strong. ExlService Holdings, Inc. has a Growth Score of 89, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Growth Grade breakdown above, both UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings and Inc. have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s upward growth, further research should be conducted into both companies’ other financial metrics before deciding whether to invest.

UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings and Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company Ticker Earnings Estimate
UniFirst Corporation UNF C
ExlService Holdings, Inc. EXLS B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

UniFirst Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 58, which is Neutral. ExlService Holdings, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 61, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: ExlService Holdings, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, ExlService Holdings, Inc. has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than UniFirst Corporation. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, ExlService Holdings, Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Don’t Forget Your Free Special Report on How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Investment Decisions

Other UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings and Inc. Grades

In addition to Growth, Value and Estimate Revisions, A+ Investor also provides grades for Momentum and Quality.

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Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings or Inc. Stock?

Overall, UniFirst Corporation stock has a Value Score of 31, Growth Score of 100 and Estimate Revisions Score of 58.

ExlService Holdings, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 37, Growth Score of 89 and Estimate Revisions Score of 61.

Comparing UniFirst Corporation, ExlService Holdings and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Learn More About A+ Investor

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



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