Sifting through countless of stocks in the Banks 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 Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. or First Merchants Corporation 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 Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. and First Merchants Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. and First Merchants Corporation

Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A., a financial service holding company, provides various financial products and services to individuals and companies in Argentina. The company operates through Bank, Naranja X, Insurance, and Other Businesses segments. It offers savings, checking, and time deposits; and credit and debit cards. The company also provides personal loans, salary advance, express loans, AfterPay, Buy Now Pay Later, flexible loans, and overdrafts for individuals; and immediate loans, discount of electronic credit invoice and e-checks, pledge and mortgage loans, Sociedad de Garantía Recíproca loans, Socios de valor, productive line, leasing, and purchase of agricultural inputs for companies. In addition, the company offers life, home, personal accident, robbery, cars, and other insurance products; fixed term, traditional fixed term, and purchasing value unit investment products; custody of securities; purchase and sale of foreign currency; private banking; and fixed income products, stocks, CEDEARs, secured loans, mutual funds, stock promissory note, structured solutions, and primary issuances; foreign trade; and capital market and investment banking. Further, it provides online banking services. Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. was founded in 1905 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

First Merchants Corporation operates as the financial holding company for First Merchants Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking services. The company offers a range of financial services, including checking, savings, and deposit products; debit and credit cards; mortgages, refinance, construction or renovation of residential properties, agricultural lending, treasury management services and depository products. It also provides personal and commercial wealth management services, brokerage, investment management, private banking, fiduciary estate, and financial planning services. The company operates banking locations in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan counties. It offers its services through electronic and mobile delivery channels. First Merchants Corporation was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Muncie, Indiana.

Latest Banks and Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A., First Merchants Corporation Stock News

As of September 4, 2026, Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. had a $7.4 billion market capitalization, compared to the Banks median of $767.9 million. Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A.’s stock is down 17.8% in 2026, up 5% in the previous five trading days and up 10.93% in the past year.

Currently, Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. does not have a price-earnings ratio. Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $4.0 billion with a 1.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -25.9%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $4.747 per share for the current fiscal year. Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. does not currently pay a dividend.

As of September 4, 2026, First Merchants Corporation had a $2.6 billion market cap, putting it in the 57th percentile of all stocks. First Merchants Corporation’s stock is up 12.2% in 2026, up 0.3% in the previous five trading days and up 0.43% in the past year.

Currently, First Merchants Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 13.7. First Merchants Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $642.2 million with a 29.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 2.8%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $3.863 per share for the current fiscal year. First Merchants Corporation currently has a 3.5% dividend yield.

How We Compare Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. and First Merchants Corporation 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 Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. and First Merchants Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. and First Merchants Corporation Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A.	GGAL	A
First Merchants Corporation	FRME	C

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.

Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. has a Value Score of 83, which is Deep Value. First Merchants Corporation has a Value Score of 57, which is Average.

The Value Stock Winner: Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A.

As you can clearly see from the Value Grade breakdown above, Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. is considered to have better value than First Merchants Corporation. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. and First Merchants Corporation’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A.	GGAL	C
First Merchants Corporation	FRME	C

Momentum grades help to 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. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. has a Momentum Score of 42, which is Average. First Merchants Corporation has a Momentum Score of 43, which is Average.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. or First Merchants Corporation has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. or First Merchants Corporation is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. and First Merchants Corporation’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A.	GGAL	C
First Merchants Corporation	FRME	D

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.

Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 60, which is Neutral. First Merchants Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 33, which is Negative.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. or First Merchants Corporation has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. or First Merchants Corporation is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.

Other Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. and First Merchants Corporation Grades

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

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

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 Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. and First Merchants Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. or First Merchants Corporation Stock?

Overall, Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. stock has a Value Score of 83, Momentum Score of 42 and Estimate Revisions Score of 60.

First Merchants Corporation stock has a Value Score of 57, Momentum Score of 43 and Estimate Revisions Score of 33.

Comparing Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. and First Merchants Corporation’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.

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.