BBW vs ULTA Stock Comparison

Build-A-Bear Workshop and Ulta Beauty Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
BBW Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc
$23.79 -8.2% 1M -57.9% 1Y
Market cap
$295.85M
P/E
5.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$517.75M
Div. yield
0.04%
Specialty Retail Consumer Discretionary
3 wins
ULTA Ulta Beauty, Inc.
$624.46 +14.8% 1M +19.1% 1Y
Market cap
$26.85B
P/E
22.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$12.96B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Retail Consumer Discretionary
6 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Ulta Beauty leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Ulta Beauty 6, Build-A-Bear Workshop 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBBWULTALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $295.85M $26.85B ULTA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 5.7x 22.2x BBW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 7.1x 22.3x BBW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -0.9% +11.2% ULTA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.0% 9.3% BBW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 42.9% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.1x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.04% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -57.9% +19.1% ULTA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +8.3%/yr +11.0%/yr ULTA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 57.6% 35.7% ULTA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 65/100 67/100 ULTA

Percentile Scorecard

BBWULTA

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

AxisBBWULTA
Valuation 85 #17 of 104 24 #79 of 104
Growth 19 #80 of 99 58 #42 of 99
Profitability 88 #13 of 99 98 #3 of 99
Financial Health 71 #33 of 113 66 #39 of 113
Shareholder Returns 61 #29 of 73 89 #9 of 73
Overall 65 67
  • BBW ranked among 115 companies in Retail
  • ULTA ranked among 115 companies in Retail

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodBBWULTASPY
1 month -8.2%+14.8% -1.0%
3 months -29.4%+31.4% +2.9%
6 months -38.3%+11.8% +6.4%
Year to date -61.2%+3.2% +11.4%
1 year -57.9%+19.1% +13.1%
3 years -5.6%+64.7% +79.4%
3 years, per year -1.9%+18.1% +21.5%
5 years +49.1%+68.1% +67.7%
5 years, per year +8.3%+11.0% +10.9%
10 years +119.3%+147.4% +255.2%
10 years, per year +8.2%+9.5% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureBBWULTASPY
Volatility, 1Y 57.6%35.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 68.2%35.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.870.51 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -1.000.53 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -69.2%-44.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -66.5%-11.7% -2.5%
52-week high $71.03$706.82 $779.14
52-week low $23.37$450.75 $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.

MultipleBBWULTA
P/E now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 16.7x 22.2xmedian 16.7x
P/S now vs peer median 0.6xmedian 0.5x 2.1xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 3.4xmedian 9.1x 13.9xmedian 9.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 12.1xmedian 16.6x 23.3xmedian 16.6x
P/B now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 1.7x 10.1xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 1.00median 0.73 6.29median 0.73

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 monthsBBWULTA
Revenue $517.75M $12.96B
Gross profit $293.49M $5.09B
Operating income $66.71M $1.61B
Net income $51.58M $1.21B
Free cash flow $24.54M $1.15B
EPS (diluted) $4.15 $28.10
Cash & equivalents $14.00M $158.45M
Total debt – $1.10B
Shares (diluted) 12.43M 43.06M
Enterprise value $201.11M $25.72B

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
MetricBBWULTA
P/E 5.7x 22.2x
P/FCF 12.1x 23.3x
P/Operating cash flow 5.0x 17.0x
P/S 0.6x 2.1x
P/B 1.9x 10.1x
P/Tangible book 1.9x 10.9x
EV/EBITDA 3.4x 13.9x
EV/EBIT 4.2x 16.6x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 2.1x
EV/FCF 11.5x 23.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 4.8x 17.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.00 6.29

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBBWULTA
Revenue growth (1Y) -0.9% 11.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.6% 6.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -0.3% 12.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 4.4% 6.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) -10.9% 2.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 0.5% -0.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -12.9% 0.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 0.4% -1.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -8.0% 5.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 5.7% 3.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -11.3% 20.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -6.5% 4.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -47.5% 20.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -24.4% 5.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBBWULTA
Gross margin 56.7% 39.3%
EBITDA margin 15.9% 14.9%
Operating margin 12.9% 12.5%
Pretax margin 13.1% 12.4%
Net margin 10.0% 9.3%
FCF margin 4.7% 8.9%
Operating cash flow margin 11.4% 12.1%
Return on equity 32.4% 46.6%
Return on assets 15.0% 17.6%
Return on invested capital – 42.9%
Return on capital employed 24.9% 34.7%
Asset turnover 1.5x 1.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBBWULTA
Debt / assets – 4.9%
Debt / equity – 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.1x
Debt / FCF – 0.3x
Liabilities / assets 52.4% 62.0%
Equity / assets 47.6% 38.0%
Interest coverage – –
Current ratio 1.6x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.4x 0.2x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 3.86 6.79

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBBWULTA
Dividend yield 3.8% –
Net buyback yield 12.7% 4.5%
Shareholder yield 16.5% 4.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) 22.2% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 46.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 2.3% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -19.6% –

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.

ConsensusBBWULTA
Forward P/E 7.1xFY2026 22.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.34FY2026 $27.98FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -16.3%FY2026 +9.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +5.7% +20.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $533.87MFY2026 $13.00BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.8%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -6.5% +13.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBBWULTA
Held by institutions 100.0% 97.9%
Institutions holding 175 1,016
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.1% +0.5%
Institutions buying 91 434
Institutions selling 45 433
Buyers to sellers 2.02 1.00

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.

BBWULTA
BBW 1.00 0.27
ULTA 0.27 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BBW and ULTA?

Ulta Beauty (ULTA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) $295.85M, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) $26.85B.

Which stock is cheaper, BBW and ULTA?

Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) 5.7x, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 22.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) is cheapest (Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) 7.1x, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 22.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ulta Beauty (ULTA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) -0.9%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) +11.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) has the highest net margin (Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) 10.0%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 9.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ulta Beauty (ULTA) returned the most: Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) -57.9%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) +19.1%. Over five years, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) compounded fastest (Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) +8.3%/yr, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) +11.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) 0.04%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 0.00%. Ulta Beauty (ULTA) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) has been the steadiest (Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) 57.6%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 35.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do BBW and ULTA move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.27, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, BBW and ULTA?

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.