AEO vs BURL Stock Comparison

American Eagle Outfitters and Burlington Stores Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
BURL Burlington Stores, Inc.
$241.23 -5.3% 1M -10.3% 1Y
Market cap
$14.80B
P/E
20.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$12.22B
Div. yield
–
Apparel Retail Consumer Discretionary
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

American Eagle Outfitters leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (American Eagle Outfitters 6, Burlington Stores 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAEOBURLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.25B $14.80B BURL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 9.6x 20.7x AEO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 8.9x 21.4x AEO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.2% +10.9% BURL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.9% 5.8% AEO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 19.0% 20.1% BURL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.1x 0.8x AEO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.03% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +13.5% -10.3% AEO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -4.8%/yr -2.3%/yr BURL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 52.4% 40.6% BURL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 76/100 59/100 AEO

Percentile Scorecard

AEOBURL

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAEOBURL
Valuation 85 #16 of 104 38 #65 of 104
Growth 79 #22 of 99 93 #8 of 99
Profitability 76 #25 of 99 79 #22 of 99
Financial Health 80 #23 of 113 42 #66 of 113
Shareholder Returns 63 #28 of 73 44 #41 of 73
Overall 76 59
  • AEO ranked among 115 companies in Retail
  • BURL ranked among 115 companies in Retail

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAEOBURLSPY
1 month +13.4%-5.3% -0.8%
3 months +5.9%-32.6% +3.5%
6 months +5.1%-26.1% +7.0%
Year to date -28.7%-16.5% +12.2%
1 year +13.5%-10.3% +13.0%
3 years +8.2%+107.2% +86.3%
3 years, per year +2.7%+27.5% +23.1%
5 years -21.8%-11.2% +68.6%
5 years, per year -4.8%-2.3% +11.0%
10 years +10.2%+224.3% +258.0%
10 years, per year +1.0%+12.5% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAEOBURLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 52.4%40.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 55.9%43.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.180.75 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.26-0.25 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -67.7%-63.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -33.3%-35.2% -1.8%
52-week high $28.19$372.18 $779.14
52-week low $14.52$232.24 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAEOBURL
P/E now vs peer median 9.3xmedian 16.7x 21.2xmedian 16.7x
P/S now vs peer median 0.5xmedian 0.5x 1.2xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 9.0x 11.2xmedian 9.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 9.2xmedian 16.5x 36.7xmedian 16.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.8xmedian 1.7x 7.6xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 0.39median 0.72 0.53median 0.72

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAEOBURL
Revenue $5.75B $12.22B
Gross profit $2.33B $5.45B
Operating income $447.95M $1.01B
Net income $330.75M $714.18M
Free cash flow $343.50M $412.54M
EPS (diluted) $1.98 $11.18
Cash & equivalents $147.95M $703.69M
Total debt $55.00M $1.91B
Shares (diluted) 170.18M 63.90M
Enterprise value $2.64B $11.54B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAEOBURL
P/E 9.3x 21.2x
P/FCF 9.2x 36.7x
P/Operating cash flow 5.3x 10.7x
P/S 0.5x 1.2x
P/B 1.8x 7.6x
P/Tangible book 1.8x 8.6x
EV/EBITDA 4.6x 11.2x
EV/EBIT 6.8x 16.1x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 1.3x
EV/FCF 8.9x 39.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 5.1x 11.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.39 0.53

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAEOBURL
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.2% 10.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.6% 10.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 19.7% 13.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 7.9% 13.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 68.2% 27.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 17.1% 41.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 71.1% 30.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 17.7% 39.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 72.4% 30.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 24.1% 39.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 46.3% 76.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -3.0% 22.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 126.5% 235.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -7.3% 5.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAEOBURL
Gross margin 40.5% 44.6%
EBITDA margin 11.6% 12.0%
Operating margin 7.8% 8.3%
Pretax margin 7.6% 7.7%
Net margin 5.9% 5.8%
FCF margin 6.0% 3.4%
Operating cash flow margin 10.4% 11.6%
Return on equity 19.3% 37.2%
Return on assets 7.9% 7.2%
Return on invested capital 19.0% 20.1%
Return on capital employed 13.4% 13.2%
Asset turnover 1.4x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.8x 2.0x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAEOBURL
Debt / assets 1.3% 19.1%
Debt / equity 0.0x 1.0x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.1x 0.8x
Debt / FCF 0.2x 4.6x
Liabilities / assets 58.8% 80.1%
Equity / assets 41.2% 19.9%
Interest coverage – 13.7x
Current ratio 1.6x 1.2x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 3.46 3.06

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAEOBURL
Dividend yield 2.7% –
Net buyback yield 2.2% 1.9%
Shareholder yield 5.0% 1.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) 25.5% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 24.5% –
Dividend growth (1Y) -7.0% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 28.9% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAEOBURL
Forward P/E 8.9xFY2026 21.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.11FY2026 $11.29FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +40.7%FY2026 +15.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -10.9% +26.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.01BFY2026 $12.22BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.3%FY2026 +5.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.1% +18.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAEOBURL
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 344 653
Change in shares held, QoQ +13.9% 0.0%
Institutions buying 164 367
Institutions selling 135 215
Buyers to sellers 1.21 1.71

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AEOBURL
AEO 1.00 0.20
BURL 0.20 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AEO and BURL?

Burlington Stores (BURL) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) $3.25B, Burlington Stores (BURL) $14.80B.

Which stock is cheaper, AEO and BURL?

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) 9.6x, Burlington Stores (BURL) 20.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) is cheapest (American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) 8.9x, Burlington Stores (BURL) 21.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Burlington Stores (BURL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) +9.2%, Burlington Stores (BURL) +10.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) has the highest net margin (American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) 5.9%, Burlington Stores (BURL) 5.8%). On return on invested capital, Burlington Stores (BURL) leads (American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) 19.0%, Burlington Stores (BURL) 20.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) returned the most: American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) +13.5%, Burlington Stores (BURL) -10.3%. Over five years, Burlington Stores (BURL) compounded fastest (American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) -4.8%/yr, Burlington Stores (BURL) -2.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) 0.03%, Burlington Stores (BURL) 0.00%. Burlington Stores (BURL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Burlington Stores (BURL) has been the steadiest (American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) 52.4%, Burlington Stores (BURL) 40.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do AEO and BURL move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.20, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, AEO and BURL?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.