MMS vs NNI: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of September 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. MMS and NNI 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 MMS and NNI 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.

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

Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE: NNI) started life as a student loan company and has spent the last decade turning itself into something closer to a diversified holding company. Four reportable segments carry the business. Loan Servicing and Systems, run through Nelnet Diversified Services, services roughly ~$519.2 billion of Department of Education, Canadian, FFELP, private education and consumer loans for about ~15.2 million borrowers, and holds one of the U.S. Department of Education's Unified Servicing and Data Solution (USDS) contracts awarded in April 2023 (a five-year base with extension options out to ten). Education Technology Services and Payments, better known by its FACTS and Nelnet Campus Commerce brands, handles tuition management, financial aid assessment, student information systems and payment processing for more than ~1,300 higher education institutions and ~11,500 K-12 schools. Asset Generation and Management holds the loan book, and Nelnet Bank is a Utah-chartered internet industrial bank taking deposits and originating private education, consumer and other loans.

Full NNI guide

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

• MMS drivers: Margin expansion from automation, not from growth; Federal Services carries the profit pool.
• NNI drivers: Redeploying FFELP run-off cash into higher-yield assets; Nelnet Bank reaching scale.

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: 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. For NNI, concentration is the headline risk: the USDS servicing contract with the U.S.

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

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.

NNI. The trailing P/E is distorted by 2025's one-time ALLO gain and by solar tax equity losses that hit reported income before the tax credits and cash arrive, so price to book is the metric most Nelnet followers use. At roughly ~1.2x stated book the market is assigning modest premium to a balance sheet where the ALLO stake carries at ~$0 and the servicing and payments franchises carry no goodwill reflecting their fee streams. Q2 2026 revenue of about ~$410 million fell roughly ~20.5% year over year and adjusted EPS of ~$1.77 came in below consensus, mostly on the higher credit provision and the absent prior-year gain.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): MMS shows revenue (ttm) ~$5.25B, net income (ttm) ~$371M, diluted eps (ttm) ~$6.77, market cap ~$2.90B; NNI shows revenue (ttm) ~$1.5 billion, net income (ttm) ~$302 million (~$8.36 per share), q2 2026 gaap eps ~$1.85, vs ~$4.97 a year earlier (prior year included a ~$175.0M ALLO gain), shareholders' equity ~$3.77 billion, roughly ~$105 per share on ~35.9 million shares.

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