Sterling Check's Competitiveness
A competitive positioning analysis and financial ratio benchmarking of Sterling Check (STER) against its publicly traded competitors: sales growth, net income, profitability, valuation and market share, plus each peer's market capitalization, revenue, income and employees. Free below: the top 5 peers. Subscriber access adds the full competitor list and CSV downloads.
Key Findings: Sterling Check vs Its Competitors
- TTM: Trailing 12-month revenue of 737M vs 1,862M combined for tracked competitors (28.3% combined share).
- Trending: Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is accelerating (+8.9% annualized vs trailing 12 months), vs decelerating (-50.9%) for its tracked peer group.
- Growth: Sterling Check generated 5.3% revenue growth year over year in Q2 2024, vs -2.1% for its tracked competitors combined.
- Profitability: Its -3.1% net margin compares with 2.8% for the peer group.
- Peer revenue share: Sterling Check accounted for 46.7% of combined revenue among its tracked peer group, up from 44.9% a year earlier.
- Peer differentiation: Revenue per employee of $0.55M compares with $0.19M for the peer group (2.9x).
Every figure above is sourced and cited in detail further down this page (Market Structure, Profitability & Cost Structure, Productivity vs Peers).
STER Sales vs. its Competitors, Q2 2024
Sterling Check reported revenue growth of 5.33 % year on year in Q2 2024, above its competitors' combined revenue change of -2.14 %.
With a net margin of -3.11 %, Sterling Check reported lower profitability than its competitors (2.78 %).
Sterling Check generated 46.74 % of the combined sales of its peer group, up from 44.91 % a year earlier.
Sterling Check vs. its Competitors, Q2 2024
Revenue growth, year on year
Net margin
Revenue run-rate vs trailing 12 months
TTM net margin
TTM = trailing twelve months. Run-rate annualizes the latest quarter (×4) and compares it to TTM. In millions of $. High-Confidence Competitors are named as a competitor directly in an SEC filing; Similar-Size Competitors are the closest peers by market-cap rank within the same industry; Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors are the closest peers by combined revenue growth, operating margin and ROIC, all independent of the competitor list.
TTM revenue, latest-quarter run-rate and net income/margin benchmarked across Sterling Check and its 4 competitor groupings. Available under Commercial License.
| Entity | TTM Revenue | Rev Run-rate vs TTM |
|---|---|---|
| Sterling Check Corp | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| Competitors combined | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| Similar Growth & Profitability (6) | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
TTM revenue, run-rate and net margin benchmarking across Sterling Check's competitor groups requires a Commercial License.
For context: the Cloud Computing & Data Analytics industry grew revenue 1.3% year over year, combined, vs 5.3% for Sterling Check. Sterling Check's share of combined industry revenue moved from 0.14% to 0.14%, a gain of 0.01 percentage points.
Sterling Check's Competitor Quality Breadth
Share of each group, trailing 12 months: profitable (net margin > 0), expanding (revenue growth > 0), growing faster than the industry's own median, and financially distressed (Piotroski F-Score of 2 or below).
| Entity | Profitable | Expanding | Above Industry Growth | Distressed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling Check Corp | No | No | No | Yes |
| Competitors combined (3) | ||||
| Similar Growth & Profitability (8) | 62.50 % (5 of 8) | 12.50 % (1 of 8) | 0.00 % (0 of 8) | 25.00 % (2 of 8) |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Altman Z-Score is not shown here: it is not populated in the underlying data for any company. Percentages are of companies in each group that report the relevant metric, not of the full group size.
STER Stock Performance relative to its Competitors
STER Stock Performance relative to Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors
5 Best-Performing Tracked Competitors, Trailing 12 Months
| # | Competitor | TTM Share Price Return | vs U.S.A. 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cass Information Systems Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 2 | First Advantage Corporation | 282.9% | Outperformed |
TTM share price return and U.S.A. 500 outperformance for Sterling Check's best-performing tracked competitors requires a Commercial License.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months.
Sterling Check's Comment on Competition and Industry Peers
Publicly Traded Peers of Sterling Check Corp
Revenue and income for trailing 12 months, in millions of $, except employees| Company | Market Cap | Revenues |
|---|---|---|
| Sterling Check Corp | 1,553.11 | 736.51 |
| First Advantage Corporation | 3,223.72 | 1,663.13 |
| Hireright Holdings Corp | 967.17 | 719.63 |
| Cass Information Systems Inc | 708.98 | 198.99 |
| SUBTOTAL | 6,452.98 | 3,318.26 |
Sources: Sterling Check Corp's official press releases and regulatory filings; CSIMarket.com's market research; and the financial filings and press releases of the other companies cited.
Updated on:
Focus of this report: publicly traded companies. Ten additional tables on Sterling Check Corp versus competitors, including market share analysis, are in the navigation menu under Competition. To download the tables, please subscribe.
Sterling Check's Competitors Named by the Company
Competitive relationships identified from SEC filings and corroborating sources, each with a basis and confidence.| Competitor | Basis | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| ID.me | Named by the company | 85% |
| Yoti | Named by the company | 85% |
| Line Corp | Named by the company | 85% |
| Hireright Holdings Corp | Named by the company | 85% |
Filing basis, confidence, active dates and source counts for Sterling Check's named competitors require a Commercial License.
Methodology: relationships are extracted from SEC filings (named-competitor disclosures) and corroborating sources. Named by the company = explicitly disclosed as a competitor; Inferred = derived from corroborating signals. Confidence reflects evidence strength.
Sterling Check's Business Segment Mix vs Peers
Revenue by operating segment or division, as named and reported by each company. Segment names are the filer's own and are not standardized across companies. Do not assume a same-named or similarly-named segment is defined identically between two companies. Shares are of each company's own total revenue and are not required to sum to 100% (intersegment revenue, unallocated items).| Company | Largest Segment |
|---|---|
| First Advantage Corporation | Total Revenues 44.84 % |
Source: operating segment revenue as reported in each company's SEC filings (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API, leaf-level reportable segments only (parent roll-up segments are excluded where sub-segments are separately disclosed).
Sterling Check's Productivity vs Peers Comparison
Revenue and income per employee, trailing 12 months, in $; market cap in millions of $| Company | Market Cap | Revenue / Employee | Income / Employee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling Check Corp | 1,553 | 547,184 | -11,305 |
| First Advantage Corporation | 3,224 | 175,067 | 2,647 |
| Hireright Holdings Corp | 967 | 225,590 | -2,288 |
| Cass Information Systems Inc | 709 | 195,855 | 36,136 |
| PEERS TOTAL | 4,900 | 188,367 | 3,981 |
Sterling Check's Geographic Revenue Exposure vs Peers
Revenue by country/region as reported in each company's most recent filing. Disclosure granularity varies by filer (some report by country, others by broad region) and is shown as disclosed.| Company | Largest Market |
|---|---|
| Sterling Check Corp | United States 86.76 % |
| First Advantage Corporation | US 85.52 % |
Source: revenue geography as reported in each company's SEC filings (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API. Percentages are of that company's own total consolidated revenue for its most recent reported period.
Sterling Check's Profitability & Cost Structure
Trailing 12-month margins from SEC-filed financials. Operating margin is compared to the Cloud Computing & Data Analytics industry median; gross margin, EBITDA margin and capital intensity are compared to the live industry average (203 companies).| Metric | Company | Industry | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Margin | 45.32 % | 51.85 % (avg) | -6.5 pp |
| Operating Margin | 4.27 % | industry median | +8.1 pp |
| EBITDA Margin | 10.60 % | 2.97 % (avg) | +7.6 pp |
| Capital Intensity (Capex / Revenue) | 3.06 % | 5.21 % (avg) | -2.2 pp |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. SG&A and R&D as a share of revenue have limited coverage as this data is backfilled and appear only where reported. Higher capital intensity is not inherently negative; it reflects the industry's asset requirements.
Sterling Check's Valuation vs Competitive Position
Valuation multiples vs the Cloud Computing & Data Analytics industry average (203 companies, excluding loss-making/negative-equity outliers), alongside returns on capital for context on whether a premium or discount lines up with measurably stronger or weaker returns.| Metric | Company | Industry Average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | - | 27.6x | - |
| EV / EBITDA | 24.1x | 16.4x | +7.7x |
| P/B | 2.0x | 4.0x | -2.0x |
| Return on Equity | -2.11 % | industry aggregate | -11.93 % |
| Return on Invested Capital | 1.58 % | 1.95 % (avg) | -0.37 % |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. A valuation premium or discount is not, by itself, a judgment of over- or under-valuation. Compare it against the return and growth context shown elsewhere on this page.
Sterling Check's Multi-Year Financial Trajectory
Fiscal-year revenue growth, operating margin, return on invested capital and P/E, as reported in SEC filings.| Metric | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue Growth | - | 19.46 % | -6.15 % |
| Operating Margin | - | 7.70 % | 6.47 % |
| Return on Invested Capital | - | 2.88 % | 2.33 % |
| P/E | - | 77.2x | - |
Source: CSIMarket API, fiscal-year figures. P/E is this company's own historical ratio at each fiscal year end and can swing sharply around an earnings trough: that is real, not a data error.
Sterling Check's Strategic Group Map
Every company in Sterling Check's industry and named-competitor list, plotted by trailing 12-month revenue growth and operating margin. Sterling Check is shown in red; its closest peers by combined growth, margin and ROIC (the Similar Growth & Profitability group above) are labeled.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Extreme outlier values (from near-zero-revenue companies) are excluded from the plotted cloud but never from the highlighted company or its labeled peers.
Sterling Check's Competitive Forces (Porter's Five Forces)
Only the forces this data can support honestly are shown; the other three are marked as such rather than guessed.| Force | Assessment | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Barriers to Entry | Lower than typical for the industry | Capital intensity (capex / revenue) of 3.06 % vs industry average 5.21 % (see Profitability & Cost Structure above) |
| Supplier Power | Not covered on this page | See Sterling Check's dedicated suppliers page for concentration and dependency data |
| Buyer Power | Not covered on this page | See Sterling Check's dedicated customers page for concentration and dependency data |
| Threat of Substitutes | - | No systematic data source for cross-product substitution exists in this system; not estimated |
Note: this is a partial, data-grounded application of the framework, not a complete strategic assessment. Rivalry and barriers-to-entry readings are mechanical translations of the HHI and capital-intensity figures shown elsewhere on this page, not independent judgments.
Sterling Check's Industry Attractiveness & Competitive Strength
A CSIMarket composite, not a standard field: each axis is an equal-weighted average of three factors already shown elsewhere on this page (industry growth, industry profitability and rivalry for attractiveness; relative market share, profitability and growth vs industry for strength). Disclosed as a designed methodology, not a precision measurement.
Sterling Check falls in the Low attractiveness / Medium strength cell: Harvest.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Each axis score is a simple 1(low)/2(medium)/3(high) average across its three inputs -- a transparent, disclosed simplification, not a validated academic scoring model.
Sterling Check's SWOT
Every point below is a fixed rule applied to a metric already shown elsewhere on this page (Market Structure, Profitability, Valuation, Run-Rate, Stock Performance, Quality Breadth) not an independent strategic assessment. A blank quadrant means no rule was met, not that none apply.Strengths
- Operating margin 8.1 points above the industry median.
- Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is accelerating (+8.9% annualized vs trailing 12 months).
Weaknesses
- Return on equity 11.9 points below the industry aggregate.
- Piotroski F-Score of 2 or below, the standard financial-distress signal.
Opportunities
- A meaningful share of tracked competitors (33.30 %) show financial-distress signals, a possible opening to gain share.
Threats
- Tracked peer group's revenue run-rate is broadly decelerating (-50.9% annualized).
Methodology: mechanical, rule-based SWOT. Each bullet reuses a figure already sourced and cited elsewhere on this page; nothing here is generated narrative or independent analyst judgment.
Sterling Check's Financial Strength vs Peers Comparison
Quick ratio, working capital, debt to equity and asset turnover, trailing 12 months| Company | Quick Ratio | Working Capital | Debt / Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling Check Corp | 0.39 | 1.60 | 0.73 |
| First Advantage Corporation | 1.02 | 2.46 | 1.59 |
| Hireright Holdings Corp | 0.66 | 1.74 | 1.52 |
| Cass Information Systems Inc | 0.32 | 3.49 | 0.23 |
Quick ratio = cash / current liabilities; working capital ratio = current assets / current liabilities; asset turnover = revenue / total assets. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Sterling Check's Revenue and Income Growth vs Peers
Quarterly revenue and net income growth, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Revenue Y/Y | Income Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling Check Corp | Q2 2024 | +5.3 % | - |
| First Advantage Corporation | Q2 2026 | +14.9 % | +5,391.6 % |
| Hireright Holdings Corp | Q1 2024 | -1.3 % | - |
| Cass Information Systems Inc | Q2 2026 | +12.5 % | +19.6 % |
| PEERS TOTAL | +8.9 % | +1,025.5 % |
Growth is shown only where both periods are positive. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Sterling Check's Peers' Costs of Sales and Capital Expenditures
Context for revenue growth: peer costs and capex, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Costs Y/Y | Capex Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling Check Corp | Q2 2024 | +8.6 % | +16.4 % |
| First Advantage Corporation | Q2 2026 | - | +52.7 % |
| Hireright Holdings Corp | Q1 2024 | -6.9 % | +53.6 % |
| Cass Information Systems Inc | Q2 2026 | +962.0 % | +130.9 % |
Sterling Check's Returns and Turnover vs Peers
ROA, ROI and ROE (trailing 12 months), receivables and inventory turnover| Company | ROA | ROI | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling Check Corp | - | - | - |
| First Advantage Corporation | 0.66% | 0.67% | 1.93% |
| Hireright Holdings Corp | - | - | - |
| Cass Information Systems Inc | 1.45% | 2.24% | 15.09% |
ROA = net income / total assets; ROI = net income / investments; ROE = net income / equity; turnover ratios use trailing 12 month revenue (receivables) and cost of sales (inventory).
Sterling Check's Valuation vs Peers
P/E, price to sales, PEG, price to cash flow and price to book| Company | P/E | Price / Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Sterling Check Corp | - | 2.11 |
| First Advantage Corporation | 135.57 | 1.94 |
| Hireright Holdings Corp | - | 1.34 |
| Cass Information Systems Inc | 19.58 | 3.56 |
| PEERS AVERAGE | 164.03 | 1.94 |
P/E = price / diluted EPS (trailing 12 months); PEG = P/E divided by EPS growth; the average row divides the peers' combined market cap by their combined income, sales, cash flow and equity.