CG vs CLDI: 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.

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. CG and CLDI 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 CG and CLDI 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.

Founded in 1987 and public since May 2012, Carlyle raises money from pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurers and, increasingly, individual investors, then deploys it across three reporting segments: Global Private Equity (buyouts, real assets, growth), Global Credit (direct lending, opportunistic credit, asset-backed finance, insurance solutions) and Carlyle AlpInvest (fund-of-funds, secondaries and co-investment, ~$112 billion of AUM on its own). About 2,500 employees work from 28 offices on four continents. Revenue arrives in three distinct shapes that behave nothing alike: recurring management fees charged on fee-earning capital, performance fees or carried interest recognised when funds exit investments above a hurdle, and principal investment income from the firm's own capital committed alongside clients. GAAP revenue therefore swings violently, from ~$3.0 billion in 2023 to ~$5.4 billion in 2024, which is why the industry reports fee-related earnings and distributable earnings instead.

Full CG guide

Calidi Biotherapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company based in San Diego, California, developing therapies that combine oncolytic viruses with cell-based delivery to target hard-to-treat cancers. Its approach is built on the idea of shielding therapeutic viruses inside stem cells so they can survive the immune system long enough to reach and destroy tumors. The pipeline includes CLD-101 (NeuroNova), studied in Phase 1 for high-grade glioma, an aggressive brain cancer; CLD-201 (SuperNova), an allogeneic stem-cell-loaded viral therapy for solid tumors such as soft tissue sarcoma, triple-negative breast cancer, and head and neck cancer; and RTNova (CLD-400), an earlier-stage systemic platform using an enveloped virotherapy designed for intravenous, potentially redosable delivery to metastatic and lung cancers. The company generates no product revenue and is years away from any potential approval.

Full CLDI guide

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

• CG drivers: Fee-related earnings and the shift toward permanent capital; Credit and AlpInvest as second and third engines.
• CLDI drivers: Stem-Cell-Shielded Virotherapy Platform; CLD-201 SuperNova and FDA Designations.

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: Fundraising is cyclical and reflexive, so a stretch of weak fund performance or a closed exit window can shrink fee-earning AUM at the same moment carried interest stops converting to cash. For CLDI, calidi is a pre-revenue, clinical-stage micro-cap whose value depends almost entirely on early-stage trial outcomes, so a single clinical failure, safety signal, or program delay could sharply reduce the stock.

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 CG if you believe its drivers more; CLDI 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 CG and CLDI guides.

CG. GAAP earnings and the multiples built on them are close to meaningless for this business in isolation, because principal investment marks and consolidated fund accounting dominate the reported line. Trailing revenue of ~$3.6 billion looks like a ~42% collapse from the prior year purely because 2024 and 2025 carried heavy realised carry, while fee-related earnings set a record over the same window. The gap between a ~49 trailing multiple and a ~11.7 forward multiple is the market pricing in that distortion rather than expecting a fivefold earnings jump.

CLDI. A pre-revenue clinical biotech like Calidi cannot be valued on earnings, because there are none; metrics like P/E are not meaningful. Investors who study these companies typically weigh the cash runway against the quarterly burn rate, the timing and probability of upcoming clinical catalysts (such as trial starts, data readouts, and FDA designations), and the dilution required to fund the next stage of development. For Calidi specifically, the very low cash balance, going-concern doubt, reverse split, and heavy warrant overhang mean financing risk and dilution are central to any assessment, and the stock can swing dramatically on capital raises as much as on science.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): CG shows total aum ~$485B as of June 30, 2026, up ~4% year over year, fee-related earnings (q2 2026) ~$358M, a record, up ~11% YoY at a ~47% margin, distributable earnings (q2 2026) ~$472M, or ~$1.07 per share after tax, the highest in nearly four years, perpetual capital aum ~$113B, up ~12% YoY; evergreen wealth AUM above ~$20B; CLDI shows revenue None (no approved products; pre-revenue clinical-stage), net loss (fy 2025) ~$25.6 million (vs. ~$23.8 million in 2024), cash & equivalents ~$5.6 million at year-end 2025; ~$6.9 million cash and restricted cash at March 31, 2026, cash runway Very limited; company has flagged substantial doubt about going concern and relies on ongoing financings.

CG and CLDI 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 CG and CLDI exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.