BBY vs ASO vs ULTA Stock Comparison

Best Buy, Academy Sports & Outdoors and Ulta Beauty Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
BBY Best Buy Co Inc
$99.85 +10.0% 1M +21.1% 1Y
Market cap
$20.69B
P/E
16.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$42.20B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Retail Consumer Discretionary
1 win
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
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Ulta Beauty leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Ulta Beauty 7, Academy Sports & Outdoors 3, Best Buy 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBBYASOULTALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $20.69B $3.71B $26.85B ULTA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 16.3x 9.4x 22.2x ASO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.8x 8.4x 22.3x ASO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +1.4% +3.7% +11.2% ULTA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.0% 6.4% 9.3% ULTA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 29.0% 17.6% 42.9% ULTA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 0.3x 0.1x BBY
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +21.1% +23.3% +19.1% ASO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.4%/yr +6.9%/yr +11.0%/yr ULTA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 37.4% 44.2% 35.7% ULTA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 64/100 67/100 ULTA

Percentile Scorecard

BBYASOULTA

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

AxisBBYASOULTA
Valuation 62 #40 of 104 80 #22 of 104 24 #79 of 104
Growth 50 #50 of 99 44 #56 of 99 58 #42 of 99
Profitability 79 #22 of 99 71 #29 of 99 98 #3 of 99
Financial Health 56 #50 of 113 62 #44 of 113 66 #39 of 113
Shareholder Returns 71 #22 of 73 63 #28 of 73 89 #9 of 73
Overall 64 64 67
  • BBY ranked among 115 companies in Retail
  • ASO 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

PeriodBBYASOULTASPY
1 month +10.0%+24.9%+14.8% -1.0%
3 months +16.9%+29.5%+31.4% +2.9%
6 months +65.2%+5.5%+11.8% +6.4%
Year to date +49.2%+20.8%+3.2% +11.4%
1 year +21.1%+23.3%+19.1% +13.1%
3 years +46.9%+37.4%+64.7% +79.4%
3 years, per year +13.7%+11.2%+18.1% +21.5%
5 years -15.7%+39.3%+68.1% +67.7%
5 years, per year -3.4%+6.9%+11.0% +10.9%
10 years +153.0%—+147.4% +255.2%
10 years, per year +9.7%—+9.5% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureBBYASOULTASPY
Volatility, 1Y 37.4%44.2%35.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 32.7%43.1%35.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.440.760.51 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.560.530.53 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -59.8%-54.6%-44.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-2.3%-11.7% -2.5%
52-week high $99.85$61.78$706.82 $779.14
52-week low $55.52$41.73$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.

MultipleBBYASOULTA
P/E now vs peer median 16.6xmedian 16.7x 9.5xmedian 16.7x 22.2xmedian 16.7x
P/S now vs peer median 0.5xmedian 0.5x 0.6xmedian 0.5x 2.1xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 7.9xmedian 9.1x 5.5xmedian 9.1x 13.9xmedian 9.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 11.9xmedian 16.6x 11.3xmedian 16.6x 23.3xmedian 16.6x
P/B now vs peer median 6.6xmedian 1.7x 1.7xmedian 1.7x 10.1xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 32.79median 0.73 -2.75median 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 monthsBBYASOULTA
Revenue $42.20B $6.19B $12.96B
Gross profit $9.57B $2.22B $5.09B
Operating income $1.71B $591.56M $1.61B
Net income $1.27B $395.85M $1.21B
Free cash flow $1.77B $331.42M $1.15B
EPS (diluted) $5.98 $6.23 $28.10
Cash & equivalents $2.26B $298.21M $158.45M
Total debt $1.17B $494.16M $1.10B
Shares (diluted) 212.70M 63.55M 43.06M
Enterprise value $14.03B $2.46B $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
MetricBBYASOULTA
P/E 16.6x 9.5x 22.2x
P/FCF 11.9x 11.3x 23.3x
P/Operating cash flow 8.5x 6.8x 17.0x
P/S 0.5x 0.6x 2.1x
P/B 6.6x 1.7x 10.1x
P/Tangible book 6.6x 2.3x 10.9x
EV/EBITDA 7.9x 5.5x 13.9x
EV/EBIT 11.7x 6.7x 16.6x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 0.6x 2.1x
EV/FCF 11.3x 11.9x 23.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 8.0x 7.2x 17.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 32.79 -2.75 6.29

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBBYASOULTA
Revenue growth (1Y) 1.4% 3.7% 11.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.7% -0.1% 6.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 2.0% 9.0% 12.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -0.2% 1.4% 6.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 64.9% 21.3% 2.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 1.8% -6.4% -0.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 63.5% 6.7% 0.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -0.5% -9.9% -1.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 63.0% 13.7% 5.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 0.5% -3.4% 3.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.9% 15.8% 20.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -3.0% 0.7% 4.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 30.8% 38.5% 20.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -1.1% -3.4% 5.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBBYASOULTA
Gross margin 22.7% 35.8% 39.3%
EBITDA margin 5.9% 11.6% 14.9%
Operating margin 4.1% 9.6% 12.5%
Pretax margin 4.1% 8.2% 12.4%
Net margin 3.0% 6.4% 9.3%
FCF margin 4.2% 5.4% 8.9%
Operating cash flow margin 5.9% 8.8% 12.1%
Return on equity 40.5% 18.4% 46.6%
Return on assets 8.2% 7.2% 17.6%
Return on invested capital 29.0% 17.6% 42.9%
Return on capital employed 26.1% 13.7% 34.7%
Asset turnover 2.7x 1.1x 1.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.9x 1.4x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.4% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBBYASOULTA
Debt / assets 7.3% 9.0% 4.9%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.2x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 0.3x 0.1x
Debt / FCF 0.7x 1.5x 0.3x
Liabilities / assets 80.2% 60.5% 62.0%
Equity / assets 19.8% 39.5% 38.0%
Interest coverage 38.0x – –
Current ratio 1.1x 1.7x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.4x 0.3x 0.2x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.3x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 4.27 2.83 6.79

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBBYASOULTA
Dividend yield 3.8% 1.0% –
Net buyback yield 0.7% 7.3% 4.5%
Shareholder yield 4.5% 8.2% 4.5%
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.

ConsensusBBYASOULTA
Forward P/E 13.8xFY2026 8.4xFY2026 22.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.25FY2026 $7.17FY2026 $27.98FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +12.8%FY2026 +24.0%FY2026 +9.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -4.8% -6.4% +20.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $44.26BFY2026 $6.03BFY2026 $13.00BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.2%FY2026 -0.3%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -8.5% +3.4% +13.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBBYASOULTA
Held by institutions 93.2% 100.0% 97.9%
Institutions holding 873 362 1,016
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.3% +1.9% +0.5%
Institutions buying 463 179 434
Institutions selling 323 125 433
Buyers to sellers 1.43 1.43 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.

BBYASOULTA
BBY 1.00 0.38 0.29
ASO 0.38 1.00 0.30
ULTA 0.29 0.30 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BBY, ASO and ULTA?

Ulta Beauty (ULTA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Best Buy (BBY) $20.69B, Academy Sports & Outdoors (ASO) $3.71B, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) $26.85B.

Which stock is cheaper, BBY, ASO and ULTA?

Academy Sports & Outdoors (ASO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Best Buy (BBY) 16.3x, Academy Sports & Outdoors (ASO) 9.4x, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 22.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Academy Sports & Outdoors (ASO) is cheapest (Best Buy (BBY) 13.8x, Academy Sports & Outdoors (ASO) 8.4x, 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: Best Buy (BBY) +1.4%, Academy Sports & Outdoors (ASO) +3.7%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) +11.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ulta Beauty (ULTA) has the highest net margin (Best Buy (BBY) 3.0%, Academy Sports & Outdoors (ASO) 6.4%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 9.3%). On return on invested capital, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) leads (Best Buy (BBY) 29.0%, Academy Sports & Outdoors (ASO) 17.6%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 42.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Academy Sports & Outdoors (ASO) returned the most: Best Buy (BBY) +21.1%, Academy Sports & Outdoors (ASO) +23.3%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) +19.1%. Over five years, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) compounded fastest (Best Buy (BBY) -3.4%/yr, Academy Sports & Outdoors (ASO) +6.9%/yr, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) +11.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) has been the steadiest (Best Buy (BBY) 37.4%, Academy Sports & Outdoors (ASO) 44.2%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 35.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BBY, ASO 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 7. 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.