BLND vs NCNO: 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: NCNO 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. BLND and NCNO 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 BLND and NCNO 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.

Blend Labs is a cloud-based software company that powers digital-first consumer experiences for financial institutions in the United States and select international markets. Its platform lets banks, credit unions, and non-bank lenders originate and service a range of products through a single system, including mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, vehicle and personal loans, credit cards, and deposit accounts. Blend reports in two suites: the Mortgage Suite, historically its largest business, and the Consumer Banking Suite, which spans the broader deposit and non-mortgage lending products. The model is largely software subscription and usage revenue, supplemented by a smaller professional services line.

Full BLND guide

nCino sells cloud software that financial institutions use to originate and manage loans, open deposit accounts, price and analyse commercial credit, and handle mortgage workflows. The platform was built on Salesforce infrastructure and has expanded through acquisition into onboarding data (FullCircl) and integration middleware (Sandbox Banking). As of fiscal 2026 the company served over 2,700 customers, roughly 1,500 of them depository institutions, ranging from community banks and credit unions to some of the largest global banks. Concentration is low: 620 customers generated more than $100,000 in subscription revenue, 114 generated more than $1.0 million, 14 generated more than $5.0 million, and no single customer was more than 10% of revenue. Founder Pierre Naudé handed the CEO role to Sean Desmond, and the company employs about 1,684 people from Wilmington, North Carolina.

Full NCNO guide

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

• BLND drivers: Mortgage Suite recovery; Consumer Banking diversification.
• NCNO drivers: A high-mix subscription base with a new pricing model underneath it; Cost discipline turned a loss-making platform into a cash generator.

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 cyclicality: a large share of Blend's revenue is tied to mortgage origination, so a fresh downturn in housing or a jump in rates can quickly pressure its biggest suite. For NCNO, deceleration is the central problem: subscription growth has stepped down from ~14.6% in fiscal 2025 to ~11.5% in fiscal 2026 to roughly ~10% guided for fiscal 2027, and second-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue guidance of ~$157.75M to ~$159.75M implies only about ~7% year-over-year growth, slower than the ~11% just reported and sequentially flat against the March 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 BLND if you believe its drivers more; NCNO 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 BLND and NCNO guides.

BLND. Figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date; verify live numbers before acting. Blend is mid-turnaround, so headline revenue and margins can shift quarter to quarter, and non-GAAP operating income excludes items such as stock-based compensation that still affect GAAP results. Treat any valuation multiple as a bet on the profitability path rather than a reflection of steady current earnings, and check the latest filings for updated revenue, margin, and cash figures.

NCNO. The gap between the two profit measures is the thing to hold onto: nCino guides to ~$166M to ~$171M of non-GAAP operating income for fiscal 2027 while trailing GAAP net income sits near ~$13M, a difference driven mostly by ~$73.9M of annual stock-based compensation plus purchased-intangible amortisation. Cash conversion is the stronger signal, since free cash flow of ~$80.8M in one quarter and a ~$135M to ~$140M full-year guide are hard to manufacture through accounting choices. On enterprise value of roughly ~$2.44B, including ~$262.8M of credit facility borrowings net of ~$102.8M of cash, the shares trade around ~4x sales, a multiple that assumes subscription growth stabilises rather than continuing to slide.

Headline figures (approximate, Jul 2026): BLND shows revenue trend Roughly $30 million in Q1 2026, back to modest year-over-year growth after a deep mortgage-driven downturn, gross margin Elevated for software, in the high-70s to around 80 percent on a non-GAAP basis, and expanding year over year, gaap profitability Still an operating loss, though the loss has narrowed materially, non-gaap operating income Modestly positive in recent quarters, a key part of the turnaround thesis; NCNO shows revenue (ttm) ~$610M, up ~10% year over year, subscription revenue (q1 fy2027, quarter ended april 30, 2026) ~$140.9M, ~88% of total, up ~12% year over year, subscription revenue net retention ~110% in fiscal 2026, versus ~110% in fiscal 2025 and ~116% in fiscal 2024, operating margin (q1 fy2027) ~13% GAAP versus ~(1)% a year earlier, ~28% non-GAAP.

BLND and NCNO 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 BLND and NCNO exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.