ARMK vs COMP: How Aramark and Compass Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: COMP is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. ARMK and COMP share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined ARMK and COMP exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Aramark feeds and services places other people own. It holds multi-year contracts to run cafeterias for corporate campuses, dining and retail for colleges and K-12 districts, patient and staff food service inside hospitals, and concessions plus premium hospitality at stadiums, arenas, convention centers and national parks. Alongside the food is a facilities business covering custodial work, plant operations, energy management and grounds. The reporting structure splits into Food and Support Services United States (organized around Business & Industry, Education, Healthcare, Sports, Leisure & Corrections, and Facilities) and Food and Support Services International, which spans Europe, Latin America and Asia. In September 2023 the company completed the tax-free spin-off of its uniforms and workplace supplies segment as Vestis Corporation (NYSE: VSTS), distributing one Vestis share for every two Aramark shares held. That separation removed a capital-intensive route-based rental business and left Aramark as a pure-play food and facilities operator.

Full ARMK guide

Compass, Inc. is a tech-enabled residential real estate company that operates an owned-brokerage model in the United States. It recruits real estate agents onto a proprietary software platform that handles marketing, client management, and transaction workflow, and it earns revenue primarily as a share of the sales commissions its agents generate when homes change hands. Because agents keep most of each commission under negotiated splits, Compass keeps only a thin slice of a very large revenue number, so its margins are structurally low and its results track the volume of home sales closely. The company has expanded into adjacent services such as title, escrow, and mortgage referrals to capture more of each transaction.

Full COMP guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• ARMK drivers: Net new business and the outsourcing runway; Margin expansion on a fixed cost base.
• COMP drivers: Scale and market leadership; Improving profitability.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Food-service contracting is a low-margin, high-labor business, so wage inflation, staffing shortages and food-cost spikes compress profit faster than they show up in revenue, and pass-through pricing tends to lag by a quarter or more. For COMP, compass is highly exposed to the housing cycle: when mortgage rates rise or home sales slow, commission revenue falls quickly while many costs remain.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick ARMK if you believe its drivers more; COMP if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the ARMK and COMP guides.

ARMK. Aramark reported second-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue of roughly ~$4.91 billion, up about ~14.7% year over year, and raised the organic growth outlook to the high end of its ~7% to ~9% range while reaffirming adjusted EPS growth of ~20% to ~25%. Third-quarter fiscal 2026 results are scheduled for August 11, 2026, so the figures above reflect the reported first half plus guidance rather than a completed year. The wide gap between the trailing and forward multiple is the market pricing in that guided earnings step-up, which makes the upcoming print a meaningful checkpoint.

COMP. A residential brokerage like Compass reports a very large revenue number, but most of each commission is paid out to agents, so the figure to watch is adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow rather than top-line growth alone. The business is highly cyclical: transaction volume, and therefore revenue, swings with mortgage rates and home-sale activity, so a strong or weak quarter often reflects the housing market more than company-specific execution. Because margins are thin and GAAP results can flip between small profits and losses depending on stock-based compensation and merger costs, investors typically look at agent count, market share, EBITDA margin trend, and cash generation across a full cycle.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): ARMK shows revenue (ttm) ~$19.4 billion, fy2026 revenue guidance ~$19.55 billion to ~$19.95 billion, market capitalization ~$14.8 billion, enterprise value ~$20.8 billion; COMP shows revenue (fy2025) ~$6.96 billion (+23.7% YoY), principal agents ~21,000 (+~19% YoY), market share (q3 2025) ~5.6% (pre-Anywhere), adjusted ebitda (fy2025) ~$293 million (~4.2% margin).

ARMK and COMP are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined ARMK and COMP exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.