SLM

Rating buyAI Memo

SLM

As of 2026-01-17/Confidence medium

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Data freshness

AI Memo

As of 2026-01-17 • Model: RankAlpha Sentiment AI

Decision Panel

Action, confidence, horizon, and decision blockers at a glance.

Action

buy

Confidence

medium

Horizon

—

Key catalyst

Federal student loan policy / servicing rule updates • 2026-12-31

Expected move: +23%

Biggest risk

Bear case: adverse regulatory changes, unexpected portfolio credit deterioration, or a broad credit-market repricing lead to multiple compression and push shares toward the analyst low.

Invalidation

Break below $23 or thesis failure.

What would change my mind?

Bull case: sustained improvement in servicing margins and lower credit costs, plus positive analyst revisions toward the high end of consensus, pushes shares toward or above the analyst high as investors re-rate earnings durability.

Research note

Recommendation

buy

Confidence

medium

As of

2026-01-17

Base target

$31

p=55%

Bull target

$40

p=25%

Bear target

$23

p=20%

Key bullets

Fast scan of bull, bear, and watch items

BullKey bullets

Next quarterly earnings release / results
Analyst revisions / consensus re-rating
Bull case: sustained improvement in servicing margins and lower credit costs, plus positive analyst revisions toward the high end of consensus, pushes shares toward or above the analyst high as investors re-rate earnings durability.

BearKey bullets

Analyst downgrades or downward revisions to consensus targets
Loan portfolio credit deterioration or higher delinquencies
Macroeconomic-driven credit spread widening reducing relative valuation

WatchKey bullets

Federal student loan policy / servicing rule updates

Summary

High-level snapshot

Recommendation

buy

Model confidence

medium

Timeframe

Asset

Equity

Trigger

Base case: $31 (p=55%)

Bull/Bear spread: +57% / -10%

Vs latest close: Bull +57% · Base +23% · Bear -10%

Scenario probabilities

Bull Target: $40 (p=25%)Base Target: $31 (p=55%)Bear Target: $23 (p=20%)

Commentary

Sentiment is cautiously constructive: the analyst median (~$31.2) sits above the anchor ($26.85), indicating base-case upside but a wide $23–$40 dispersion signals meaningful uncertainty [#SERP-2][#SERP-5]. Near-term tone will be driven by earnings, litigation updates, and any policy announcements that can create event-driven volatility [#SERP-1]. Given the base/bull/bear range and moderate confidence, the stance supports a Buy recommendation over a 12-month horizon.

As of 2026-01-17 • Updated bi-weekly / post-earningsSource: Internal modelMethodology

Analyst Summary

Thesis highlights from the latest analysis

Bull Case

Bear Case

Bear case: adverse regulatory changes, unexpected portfolio credit deterioration, or a broad credit-market repricing lead to multiple compression and push shares toward the analyst low.

Drivers

Scannable catalysts and supporting factors

Next quarterly earnings release / results
Analyst revisions / consensus re-rating

Human Analyst Targets

External snippets for comparison only; verify at source.

Unverified externalLast fetched 2026-01-17Source quality: external scrape

External snippets are unverified; treat as directional signals only. Always confirm with the original provider.

Inline RA est

Provider

serper

Median (USD)

$31.20

Range (USD)

$23.00 - $40.00

Count

Query: SLM Corp Common (SLM) analyst consensus price target high low average

SLM Consensus Estimates (SLM) - Investing.com NG
Search result #1
According to projections from 11 analysts, the average 12-month price target for SLM is 36.54545, with a high estimate of 44 and a low estimate of 29. What ...
Open source
SLM (SLM) Stock Price, News & Analysis - MarketBeat
Search result #2
SLM has a consensus price target of $31.20, representing about 16.2 ... Average Price Target for SLM: $31.20. High Price Target: $40.00. Low Price Target ...
Extracted: $31.20, $40.00Open source
SLM Corporation (SLM) Stock Price & Overview - Stock Analysis
Search result #3
Analyst Summary. According to 13 analysts, the average rating for SLM stock is "Buy." The 12-month stock price target is $32.23, which is an increase of ...
Extracted: $32.23Open source
SLM (SLM) Stock Forecast: Analyst Ratings, Predictions & Price ...
Search result #4
Wall Street analysts have set a price target of $31.11, reflecting a 0.00% increase from the current stock price. What is the 2026 price prediction for SLM (SLM)?.
Extracted: $31.11Open source
What is the current Price Target and Forecast for SLM (SLM)
Search result #5
The forecasts range from a low of $23.00 to a high of $37.00. The average price target represents an increase of 16.31% from the last closing price of $27.04.
Extracted: $23.00, $37.00, $27.04Open source
SLM Corporation (SLM) Stock Price, News, Quote & History
Search result #6
Analyst Insights: SLM. View More. Analyst Price Targets. 23.00 Low. 31.45 ... SLM CORP has an Investment Rating of HOLD; a target price of $25.000000; an ...
Extracted: $25.00Open source

Scenarios

Bull Target (Scenario probability)

$40 / p=25% prob

Base Target (Scenario probability)

$31 / p=55% prob

Bear Target (Scenario probability)

$23 / p=20% prob

Price $25 as of 2026-06-26

Nearest Scenario: Bear (∆ 10%)

Targets vs latest close: Bull +57% · Base +23% · Bear -10%

Sentiment & Exposure

Sentiment unavailable: insufficient coverage

Events

Other notable items detected

EVENT2026-12-31
Federal student loan policy / servicing rule updates
Regulatory decisions or servicing-rule updates could materially affect servicing economics and costs; date assumed as end of known policy windows and therefore set conservatively to the window end [assumption]. Market sensitivity is high given SLM's servicing exposure [#SERP-5].
Prob 25.00% • Move 20.00% • Priced-in 10.00%

Short-term Catalysts

Next few weeks

Next quarterly earnings release / results
2026-04-17
Regular quarterly earnings can drive re-rating vs. analyst consensus; market consensus price targets are above current levels, suggesting upside if trends continue [#SERP-3], [#SERP-2].
Prob 80% • Move 8% • Priced-in 30%

Long-term Catalysts

Months to a year

Analyst revisions / consensus re-rating
2027-01-17
Consensus price-target momentum (median/high/low range visible across broker estimates) can lift or compress valuation over a 12-month horizon; using analyst coverage as a sanity check for longer-term re-rating [#SERP-1], [#SERP-9].
Prob 50% • Move 12% • Priced-in 40%

Risks

Analyst downgrades or downward revisions to consensus targets
Loan portfolio credit deterioration or higher delinquencies
Macroeconomic-driven credit spread widening reducing relative valuation
Regulatory changes to federal student loan servicing rules

Peers

Symbol	Summary
NNI	Nelnet — diversified education finance and servicing business; parallels in policy sensitivity and servicing economics.

Sources

Internal and external references used in this analysis

Model source: RankAlpha Sentiment AI
Human targets: serper
Targets query: SLM Corp Common (SLM) analyst consensus price target high low average
Analysis date: 2026-01-17

AI Stock Memo: SLM - SLM - RankAlpha