Sifting through countless of stocks in the Financial Services 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 Apollo Global Management, Inc. or The Carlyle Group 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 Apollo Global Management, Inc. and The Carlyle Group Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.
About Apollo Global Management, Inc. and The Carlyle Group Inc.
Apollo Global Management, Inc. is a private equity firm specializing in investments in credit, private equity, infrastructure, secondaries and real estate markets. The firm prefers to invest in private and public markets. The firm's private equity investments include traditional buyouts, recapitalization, distressed buyouts and debt investments in real estate, corporate partner buyouts, distressed asset, corporate carve-outs, middle market, growth, venture capital, turnaround, bridge, corporate restructuring, special situation, acquisition, and industry consolidation transactions. For credit strategies, the firm focuses to invest in multi-sector credit, semi-liquid credit, direct lending, first lien, unitranche, whole loans and private credit. The firm provides its services to endowment and sovereign wealth funds, as well as other institutional and individual investors. It manages client focused portfolios. The firm launches and manages hedge funds for its clients. It also manages real estate funds and private equity funds for its clients. The firm invests in the fixed income and alternative investment markets across the globe. Its fixed income investments include income-oriented senior loans, bonds, collateralized loan obligations, structured credit, opportunistic credit, non-performing loans, distressed debt, mezzanine debt, and value oriented fixed income securities. The firm seeks to invest in chemicals, commodities, consumer and retail, oil and gas, metals, mining, agriculture, commodities, distribution and transportation, financial and business services, manufacturing and industrial, media distribution, cable, entertainment and leisure, telecom, technology, natural resources, energy, packaging and materials, and satellite and wireless industries. It also focuses on clean energy, sustainable industry, climate solutions, energy transition, industrial decarbonization, sustainable mobility, sustainable resource use, and sustainable real estate. It seeks to invest in companies based in across Africa, Asia, North America with a focus on United States, Western Europe and Europe. It employs a combination of contrarian, value, and distressed strategies to make its investments. The firm seeks to make investments in the range of $75 million and $1500 million. The firm seeks to invest in companies with Enterprise value between $750 million to $2500 million. The firm conducts in-house research to create its investment portfolio. It seeks to acquire minority and majority positions in its portfolio companies. Apollo Global Management, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in New York, New York with additional offices in North America, Asia, Africa and Europe.
The Carlyle Group Inc. is an investment firm specializing in direct and fund of fund investments. Within direct investments, it specializes in management-led/ Leveraged buyouts, privatizations, divestitures, strategic minority equity investments, structured credit, global distressed and corporate opportunities, small and middle market, equity private placements, consolidations and buildups, senior debt, mezzanine and leveraged finance, and venture and growth capital financings, seed/startup, early venture, emerging growth, turnaround, mid venture, late venture, PIPES, recapitalization. The firm invests across four segments which include Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Market Strategies, and Solutions. The firm typically invests in industrial, agribusiness, ecological sector, fintech, airports, parking, Plastics, Rubber, diversified natural resources, minerals, farming, aerospace, defense, automotive, consumer, retail, industrial, infrastructure, energy, power, healthcare, software, software enabled services, semiconductors, communications infrastructure, financial technology, utilities, gaming, systems and related supply chain, electronic systems, systems, oil and gas, processing facilities, power generation assets, technology, systems, real estate, financial services, transportation, business services, telecommunications, media, and logistics sectors. Within the industrial sector, the firm invests in manufacturing, building products, packaging, chemicals, metals and mining, forestry and paper products, and industrial consumables and services. In consumer and retail sectors, it invests in food and beverage, retail, restaurants, consumer products, domestic consumption, consumer services, personal care products, direct marketing, and education. Within aerospace, defense, business services, and government services sectors, it seeks to invest in defense electronics, manufacturing and services, government contracting and services, information technology, distribution companies, supply chains, aftermarket services, cybersecurity and digital resilience, digital transformation. Within healthcare, biotech and medtech innovation, life sciences, healthcare IT, pharmacy, pharma commercialization. In telecommunication and media sectors, it invests in cable TV, directories, publishing, entertainment and content delivery services, wireless infrastructure/services, fixed line networks, satellite services, broadband and Internet, and infrastructure. Within real estate, the firm invests in office, hotel, industrial, retail, for sale residential, student housing, hospitality, multifamily residential, homebuilding and building products, and senior living sectors. The firm seeks to make investments in growing business including those with overleveraged balance sheets. The firm seeks to hold its investments for four to six years. In the healthcare sector, it invests in healthcare services, outsourcing services, companies running clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies, managed care, pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical related services, healthcare IT, medical, products, and devices. It seeks to invest in companies based in Sub-Saharan focusing on Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Botswana, Nigeria, Uganda, West Africa, North Africa and South Africa focusing on Tanzania and Zambia; Asia focusing on Pakistan, India, Hong Kong, South East Asia, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan; Australia; New Zealand; Europe focusing on France, Italy, Denmark, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Benelux , Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, and Russia; Middle East focusing on Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and UAE; North America focusing on United States which further invest in Southeastern United States, Texas, Boston, San Francisco Bay Area and Pacific Northwest; Asia Pacific; Soviet Union, Central-Eastern Europe, and Israel; Nordic region; and South America focusing on Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru. The firm seeks to invest in food, financial, and healthcare industries in Western China. In the real estate sector, the firm seeks to invest in various locations across Europe focusing on France and Central Europe, United States, Asia focusing on China, and Latin America. It typically invests between $2.24 million and $50 million for venture investments and between $50 million and $2 billion for buyouts in companies with enterprise value of between $31.57 million and $1000 million and sales value of $50 million and $300 million. It seeks to invest in companies with market capitalization greater than $50 million and EBITDA between $5 million to $25 million. It prefers to take a majority or a minority stake. While investing in Japan, it does not invest in companies with more than 1,000 employees and prefers companies’ worth between $100 million and $150 million. The firm originates, structures, and acts as lead equity investor in the transactions. The Carlyle Group Inc. was founded in 1987 and is based in Washington, District of Columbia with additional offices across North America, South America, Asia, Australia and Europe.
Latest Financial Services and Apollo Global Management, Inc., The Carlyle Group Inc. Stock News
As of February 27, 2026, Apollo Global Management, Inc. had a $60.5 billion market capitalization, compared to the Financial Services median of $2.2 million. Apollo Global Management, Inc.’s stock is NA in 2026, NA in the previous five trading days and down 29.16% in the past year.
Currently, Apollo Global Management, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 18.9. Apollo Global Management, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $31.8 billion with a 11.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 87.7%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $9.264 per share for the current fiscal year. Apollo Global Management, Inc. currently has a 2.0% dividend yield.
Currently, The Carlyle Group Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 29.2. The Carlyle Group Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $3.2 billion with a 20.1% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -94.9%. There are no analysts providing consensus earnings estimates for the current fiscal year. The Carlyle Group Inc. currently has a 2.7% dividend yield.
How We Compare Apollo Global Management, Inc. and The Carlyle Group 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 Apollo Global Management, Inc. and The Carlyle Group Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.
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Apollo Global Management, Inc. and The Carlyle Group Inc. Stock Value Grades
| Company | Ticker | Value |
| Apollo Global Management, Inc. | APO | C |
| The Carlyle Group Inc. | CG | 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.
Apollo Global Management, Inc. has a Value Score of 56, which is Average.
The Carlyle Group Inc. has a Value Score of 28, which is Expensive.
The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner
Neither Apollo Global Management, Inc. or The Carlyle Group 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 Apollo Global Management, Inc. or The Carlyle Group Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.
Apollo Global Management, Inc. and The Carlyle Group Inc.’s Quality Grades
| Company | Ticker | Quality |
| Apollo Global Management, Inc. | APO | F |
| The Carlyle Group Inc. | CG | D |
Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks 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 the F-Score.
The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.
The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.
Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.
Apollo Global Management, Inc. has a Quality Score of 11, which is Very Weak.
The Carlyle Group Inc. has a Quality Score of 27, which is Weak.
The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner
Neither Apollo Global Management, Inc. or The Carlyle Group Inc. has a high enough Quality 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 portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Apollo Global Management, Inc. or The Carlyle Group Inc. is the better investment when it comes to quality.
Apollo Global Management, Inc. and The Carlyle Group Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades
| Company | Ticker | Earnings Estimate |
| Apollo Global Management, Inc. | APO | B |
| The Carlyle Group Inc. | CG | 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.
Apollo Global Management, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 77, which is Positive.
The Carlyle Group Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 26, which is Negative.
The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Apollo Global Management, Inc.
As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Apollo Global Management, Inc. has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than The Carlyle Group Inc.. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Apollo Global Management, 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.
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Other Apollo Global Management, Inc. and The Carlyle Group Inc. Grades
In addition to Estimate Revisions, Quality and Value, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Momentum.
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.
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.
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 Apollo Global Management, Inc. and The Carlyle Group Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.
So, Which Is the Better Investment, Apollo Global Management, Inc. or The Carlyle Group Inc. Stock?
Overall, Apollo Global Management, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 56, Estimate Revisions Score of 77 and Quality Score of 11.
The Carlyle Group Inc. stock has a Value Score of 28, Estimate Revisions Score of 26 and Quality Score of 27.
Comparing Apollo Global Management, Inc. and The Carlyle Group 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.
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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