BAH vs MMS: Which Is the Better Buy in 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: MMS 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. BAH and MMS 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 BAH and MMS 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.

Booz Allen Hamilton is a management and technology consulting firm that works almost entirely for the US government, spanning the Defense Department, the intelligence community, and civilian agencies. Its people-heavy model deploys tens of thousands of cleared consultants and engineers on missions ranging from cyber defense and data analytics to AI deployment, systems modernization, and mission operations. The company carries a large multi-year backlog (recently around $38 billion) that provides visibility into future revenue, and it measures order momentum through a book-to-bill ratio.

Full BAH guide

Maximus is a tech-enabled services company whose customer is almost entirely the government. Its three segments are U.S. Federal Services (~$721 million of revenue in the June 2026 quarter), U.S. Services (~$418 million) and Outside the U.S. (~$140 million). Work spans call centers and eligibility processing for Medicaid, CHIP and the ACA marketplaces, medical disability examinations for the Department of Veterans Affairs, employment and welfare-to-work programs in the United Kingdom, and a growing block of automation and AI-enabled case handling. Federal agencies supplied roughly 55 percent of trailing revenue, state agencies roughly a third (New York alone is about 11 percent), and international governments about 11 percent. Just under 60 percent of revenue sits on performance-based contracts, which is where both the margin upside and the volume risk live.

Full MMS guide

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

• BAH drivers: Defense and intelligence demand; Backlog and book-to-bill.
• MMS drivers: Margin expansion from automation, not from growth; Federal Services carries the profit pool.

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: The dominant risk is concentration: with roughly 98% of revenue from the US government, Booz Allen is highly exposed to federal budget decisions, procurement delays, and contract cancellations. For MMS, customer concentration is the defining exposure: federal and state agencies supply essentially all revenue, and the August 2026 guidance cut came not from lost business but from a customer-directed contract modification on one major federal program worth about $0.35 per share per quarter.

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 BAH if you believe its drivers more; MMS 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 BAH and MMS guides.

BAH. Booz Allen's fiscal 2026 revenue declined for the first time in years as federal spending cuts and slower procurement reduced billable work, though adjusted EPS edged higher on cost discipline and buybacks. The stock trades at a low earnings multiple well below its historical average and below several peers, reflecting the federal spending reset. Fiscal 2027 guidance points to roughly flat revenue with EPS around $6.00 to $6.35.

MMS. Fiscal 2026 guidance calls for revenue of ~$5.2B to ~$5.35B, adjusted diluted EPS of ~$7.90 to ~$8.20, adjusted EBITDA margin near 13.7 percent and free cash flow of ~$425M to ~$475M. At roughly ~0.56 times sales and ~6.5 times EV/EBITDA on an enterprise value near ~$4.57B, the market is applying a valuation more typical of a declining business than of one guiding to record adjusted earnings. Reconciling those two requires a view on federal contracting policy rather than on the income statement.

Headline figures (approximate, July 2026): BAH shows revenue (fy2026) ~$11.2B (down ~6%), adjusted diluted eps (fy2026) ~$6.51, adjusted ebitda (fy2026) ~$1.23B (~11% margin), backlog ~$38B; MMS shows revenue (ttm) ~$5.25B, net income (ttm) ~$371M, diluted eps (ttm) ~$6.77, market cap ~$2.90B.

BAH and MMS 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 BAH and MMS exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.