AFRM vs ULTA vs VVV Stock Comparison

Affirm Holdings, Ulta Beauty and Valvoline Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AFRM Affirm Holdings, Inc.
$72.68 +1.6% 1M -4.9% 1Y
Market cap
$24.51B
P/E
12.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.26B
Div. yield
–
Consumer Lending Financial Services
3 wins
ULTA Ulta Beauty, Inc.
$626.88 +15.0% 1M +19.9% 1Y
Market cap
$26.83B
P/E
22.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$12.96B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Retail Consumer Discretionary
6 wins
VVV Valvoline Inc
$31.87 +10.2% 1M -5.1% 1Y
Market cap
$4.07B
P/E
40.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.96B
Div. yield
–
Personal Services Consumer Discretionary
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Ulta Beauty leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Ulta Beauty 6, Affirm Holdings 3, Valvoline 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAFRMULTAVVVLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $24.51B $26.83B $4.07B ULTA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 12.6x 22.3x 40.1x AFRM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 38.9x 22.4x 18.7x VVV
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +32.2% +11.2% +16.1% AFRM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 45.3% 9.3% 5.2% AFRM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.6% 42.9% 8.8% ULTA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.3x 0.1x 3.4x ULTA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -4.9% +19.9% -5.1% ULTA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -14.8%/yr +11.1%/yr -1.3%/yr ULTA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 59.8% 35.6% 34.6% VVV
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 54/100 66/100 33/100 ULTA

Percentile Scorecard

AFRMULTAVVV

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

AxisAFRMULTAVVV
Valuation 31 #117 of 169 21 #82 of 104 19 #27 of 33
Growth 99 #3 of 160 58 #42 of 99 31 #21 of 30
Profitability 64 #54 of 149 97 #4 of 98 75 #8 of 29
Financial Health 61 #62 of 158 64 #41 of 112 8 #36 of 39
Shareholder Returns 13 #118 of 136 89 #9 of 72 –
Overall 54 66 33
  • AFRM ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit
  • ULTA ranked among 115 companies in Retail
  • VVV ranked among 39 companies in Consumer Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAFRMULTAVVVSPY
1 month +1.6%+15.0%+10.2% -0.2%
3 months +0.4%+25.0%-20.7% +3.9%
6 months +15.1%+16.5%-1.6% +8.2%
Year to date -2.4%+3.6%+9.7% +12.9%
1 year -4.9%+19.9%-5.1% +12.3%
3 years +329.3%+65.0%+6.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year +62.6%+18.2%+2.1% +23.3%
5 years -55.1%+69.2%-6.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year -14.8%+11.1%-1.3% +10.9%
10 years —+161.4%+56.2% +261.1%
10 years, per year —+10.1%+4.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAFRMULTAVVVSPY
Volatility, 1Y 59.8%35.6%34.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 58.3%36.0%34.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.610.510.57 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.080.56-0.15 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -94.7%-44.6%-44.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -15.3%-11.3%-20.9% -1.2%
52-week high $85.78$706.82$40.28 $779.14
52-week low $42.53$450.75$26.62 $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.

MultipleAFRMULTAVVV
P/E now vs peer median 12.6xmedian 11.1x 22.3xmedian 16.7x 40.1xmedian 15.2x
P/S now vs peer median 5.8xmedian 2.6x 2.1xmedian 0.5x 2.1xmedian 1.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 35.0xmedian 13.5x 13.9xmedian 9.0x 12.6xmedian 9.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 24.7xmedian 7.0x 23.3xmedian 16.5x 28.9xmedian 14.5x
P/B now vs peer median 4.5xmedian 0.7x 10.1xmedian 1.7x 9.8xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 0.23median 0.32 6.31median 0.72 -0.71median 0.35

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 monthsAFRMULTAVVV
Revenue $4.26B $12.96B $1.96B
Gross profit – $5.09B $751.90M
Operating income $416.98M $1.61B $301.00M
Net income $1.93B $1.21B $101.50M
Free cash flow $992.63M $1.15B $140.50M
EPS (diluted) $5.53 $28.10 $0.79
Cash & equivalents $1.63B $158.45M $84.20M
Total debt $10.58B $339.58M $1.60B
Shares (diluted) 348.85M 43.06M 128.40M
Enterprise value $18.20B $25.70B $3.78B

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
MetricAFRMULTAVVV
P/E 12.6x 22.3x 40.1x
P/FCF 24.7x 23.3x 28.9x
P/Operating cash flow 19.9x 17.1x 9.9x
P/S 5.8x 2.1x 2.1x
P/B 4.5x 10.1x 9.8x
P/Tangible book 4.5x 11.0x 9.8x
EV/EBITDA 35.0x 13.9x 12.6x
EV/EBIT 62.9x 16.7x 18.6x
EV/Revenue 6.2x 2.1x 2.8x
EV/FCF 26.4x 23.5x 39.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.3x 17.2x 13.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.23 6.31 -0.71

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAFRMULTAVVV
Revenue growth (1Y) 32.2% 11.2% 16.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 39.0% 6.5% 12.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 12.1% 15.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 6.4% 12.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 577.8% 2.1% -31.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 32.9% -0.6% 7.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 3,598% 0.7% -63.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 58.2% -1.4% -59.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 3,515% 5.5% -63.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 54.1% 3.5% -56.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 55.1% 20.9% 40.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 365.8% 4.6% 6.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 65.0% 20.7% 129.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 123.3% 5.7% -7.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAFRMULTAVVV
Gross margin – 39.3% 38.3%
EBITDA margin 17.6% 14.9% 22.6%
Operating margin 9.8% 12.5% 15.3%
Pretax margin 11.6% 12.4% 9.0%
Net margin 45.3% 9.3% 5.2%
FCF margin 23.3% 8.9% 7.2%
Operating cash flow margin 28.9% 12.1% 21.0%
Return on equity 41.6% 46.6% 26.4%
Return on assets 13.3% 17.6% 2.9%
Return on invested capital 5.6% 42.9% 8.8%
Return on capital employed – 34.7% 9.9%
Asset turnover 0.3x 1.9x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.6x 1.3x 4.1x
Stock comp / revenue 7.2% 0.3% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAFRMULTAVVV
Debt / assets 21.1% 4.9% 46.0%
Debt / equity 0.6x 0.1x 3.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.3x 0.1x 3.4x
Debt / FCF 3.4x 0.3x 11.4x
Liabilities / assets 65.3% 62.0% 88.0%
Equity / assets 34.7% 38.0% 12.0%
Interest coverage 0.9x – –
Current ratio – 1.3x 0.7x
Quick ratio – 0.2x 0.5x
Cash ratio – 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – 6.80 1.74

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAFRMULTAVVV
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield -0.6% 4.5% –
Shareholder yield -0.6% 4.5% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusAFRMULTAVVV
Forward P/E 38.9xFY2027 22.4xFY2026 18.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.87FY2027 $27.98FY2026 $1.70FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -66.2%FY2027 +9.1%FY2026 +6.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +44.4% +20.3% +10.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.23BFY2027 $13.00BFY2026 $1.98BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +22.7%FY2027 +4.9%FY2026 +16.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +24.0% +13.0% +23.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAFRMULTAVVV
Held by institutions 77.1% 97.9% 100.0%
Institutions holding 658 1,016 450
Change in shares held, QoQ +8.1% +0.5% -0.1%
Institutions buying 401 434 234
Institutions selling 173 433 143
Buyers to sellers 2.32 1.00 1.64

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.

AFRMULTAVVV
AFRM 1.00 0.21 0.22
ULTA 0.21 1.00 0.22
VVV 0.22 0.22 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AFRM, ULTA and VVV?

Ulta Beauty (ULTA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Affirm Holdings (AFRM) $24.51B, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) $26.83B, Valvoline (VVV) $4.07B.

Which stock is cheaper, AFRM, ULTA and VVV?

Affirm Holdings (AFRM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 12.6x, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 22.3x, Valvoline (VVV) 40.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Valvoline (VVV) is cheapest (Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 38.9x, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 22.4x, Valvoline (VVV) 18.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Affirm Holdings (AFRM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Affirm Holdings (AFRM) +32.2%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) +11.2%, Valvoline (VVV) +16.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Affirm Holdings (AFRM) has the highest net margin (Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 45.3%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 9.3%, Valvoline (VVV) 5.2%). On return on invested capital, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) leads (Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 5.6%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 42.9%, Valvoline (VVV) 8.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ulta Beauty (ULTA) returned the most: Affirm Holdings (AFRM) -4.9%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) +19.9%, Valvoline (VVV) -5.1%. Over five years, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) compounded fastest (Affirm Holdings (AFRM) -14.8%/yr, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) +11.1%/yr, Valvoline (VVV) -1.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Valvoline (VVV) has been the steadiest (Affirm Holdings (AFRM) 59.8%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 35.6%, Valvoline (VVV) 34.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AFRM, ULTA and VVV?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 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.