COLM vs LEVI vs GIL Stock Comparison

Columbia Sportswear, Levi Strauss and Gildan Activewear Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
COLM Columbia Sportswear Co
$60.82 +5.6% 1M +13.4% 1Y
Market cap
$3.14B
P/E
15.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.41B
Div. yield
–
Apparel Consumer Discretionary
2 wins
LEVI Levi Strauss & Co
$21.87 +10.8% 1M +5.3% 1Y
Market cap
$8.40B
P/E
14.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.68B
Div. yield
–
Apparel Consumer Discretionary
6 wins
GIL Gildan Activewear Inc.
$40.35 -1.5% 1M -33.2% 1Y
Market cap
$6.45B
P/E
30.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.72B
Div. yield
–
Apparel Consumer Discretionary
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Levi Strauss leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Levi Strauss 6, Gildan Activewear 3, Columbia Sportswear 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCOLMLEVIGILLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.14B $8.40B $6.45B LEVI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 15.2x 14.2x 30.6x LEVI
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 14.4x 14.7x 8.4x GIL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -0.1% +6.6% +38.0% GIL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.0% 8.8% 4.5% LEVI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 17.4% 5.2% LEVI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.3x 4.9x LEVI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +13.4% +5.3% -33.2% COLM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -9.4%/yr -3.3%/yr +2.3%/yr GIL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 36.1% 33.2% 42.3% LEVI
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 70/100 68/100 35/100 COLM

Percentile Scorecard

COLMLEVIGIL

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

AxisCOLMLEVIGIL
Valuation 82 #9 of 46 64 #17 of 46 33 #31 of 46
Growth 31 #30 of 43 69 #14 of 43 52 #21 of 43
Profitability 71 #13 of 42 85 #7 of 42 44 #24 of 42
Financial Health 81 #11 of 53 54 #25 of 53 29 #38 of 53
Shareholder Returns 85 #6 of 34 70 #11 of 34 18 #28 of 34
Overall 70 68 35
  • COLM ranked among 53 companies in Apparel and Luxury
  • LEVI ranked among 53 companies in Apparel and Luxury
  • GIL ranked among 53 companies in Apparel and Luxury

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCOLMLEVIGILSPY
1 month +5.6%+10.8%-1.5% -0.8%
3 months -4.2%-14.3%-20.4% +3.5%
6 months -0.4%-4.2%-30.3% +7.0%
Year to date +10.4%+5.4%-35.4% +12.2%
1 year +13.4%+5.3%-33.2% +13.0%
3 years -14.7%+60.0%+47.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year -5.2%+17.0%+13.9% +23.1%
5 years -39.0%-15.3%+11.8% +68.6%
5 years, per year -9.4%-3.3%+2.3% +11.0%
10 years +5.7%—+57.1% +258.0%
10 years, per year +0.6%—+4.6% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCOLMLEVIGILSPY
Volatility, 1Y 36.1%33.2%42.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 31.0%29.9%44.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.631.171.21 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.370.16-0.79 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -54.0%-56.1%-44.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -10.3%-14.3%-44.4% -1.8%
52-week high $67.79$25.53$72.58 $779.14
52-week low $49.63$17.91$40.30 $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.

MultipleCOLMLEVIGIL
P/E now vs peer median 15.1xmedian 16.6x 14.3xmedian 16.6x 30.6xmedian 16.6x
P/S now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 0.7x 1.3xmedian 0.7x 1.6xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 7.9xmedian 9.7x 8.9xmedian 9.7x 16.0xmedian 9.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 9.7xmedian 12.2x 13.1xmedian 12.2x 10.6xmedian 12.2x
P/B now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 2.2x 3.5xmedian 2.2x 2.2xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median -2.87median 0.64 0.47median 0.64 -1.41median 0.64

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 monthsCOLMLEVIGIL
Revenue $3.41B $6.68B $4.72B
Gross profit $1.78B $4.20B $1.41B
Operating income $257.00M $753.80M $380.85M
Net income $206.03M $589.70M -$60.80M
Free cash flow $321.30M $643.00M $703.50M
EPS (diluted) $4.02 $1.51 $1.32
Cash & equivalents $532.31M $641.40M $268.30M
Total debt – $1.04B $3.59B
Shares (diluted) 51.26M 390.62M 160.20M
Enterprise value $949.43M $4.98B $5.37B

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
MetricCOLMLEVIGIL
P/E 15.1x 14.3x 30.6x
P/FCF 9.7x 13.1x 10.6x
P/Operating cash flow 8.1x 9.9x 12.6x
P/S 0.9x 1.3x 1.6x
P/B 1.9x 3.5x 2.2x
P/Tangible book 2.0x 3.8x 21.5x
EV/EBITDA 7.9x 8.9x 16.0x
EV/EBIT 9.7x 11.6x 28.3x
EV/Revenue 0.7x 1.3x 2.3x
EV/FCF 7.7x 13.5x 15.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 6.5x 10.2x 18.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -2.87 0.47 -1.41

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCOLMLEVIGIL
Revenue growth (1Y) -0.1% 6.6% 38.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.5% 2.9% 14.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 3.2% 8.0% 10.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 0.3% 6.7% 16.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) -5.8% 11.6% -29.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -10.9% 30.5% -13.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -8.3% -2.2% -127.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -11.0% 29.2% -28.5%
EPS growth (1Y) -2.1% 0.1% -16.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -5.3% 30.4% -21.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 20.0% 52.1% 273.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 58.0% 63.6% 32.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 24.9% 98.4% 141.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 92.8% 92.1% 9.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCOLMLEVIGIL
Gross margin 52.2% 62.8% 30.0%
EBITDA margin 9.2% 14.6% 14.3%
Operating margin 7.5% 11.3% 8.1%
Pretax margin 8.1% 11.5% 7.6%
Net margin 6.0% 8.8% 4.5%
FCF margin 9.4% 9.6% 14.9%
Operating cash flow margin 11.2% 12.8% 12.6%
Return on equity 12.9% 25.2% 1.5%
Return on assets 7.7% 8.7% 0.5%
Return on invested capital – 17.4% 5.2%
Return on capital employed 13.3% 15.7% 4.8%
Asset turnover 1.3x 1.0x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.9x 1.4x -9.7x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 1.1% 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCOLMLEVIGIL
Debt / assets – 15.1% 35.7%
Debt / equity – 0.4x 1.1x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.3x 4.9x
Debt / FCF – 1.6x 5.1x
Liabilities / assets 42.8% 65.1% 66.8%
Equity / assets 57.2% 34.9% 33.2%
Interest coverage – 14.4x 1.8x
Current ratio 2.5x 1.6x 1.9x
Quick ratio 1.2x 0.8x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.8x 0.4x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 4.39 3.06 1.65

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCOLMLEVIGIL
Dividend yield 2.0% 2.7% 2.4%
Net buyback yield 7.0% 1.0% -3.7%
Shareholder yield 8.9% 3.7% -1.3%
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.

ConsensusCOLMLEVIGIL
Forward P/E 14.4xFY2026 14.7xFY2026 8.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.21FY2026 $1.49FY2026 $4.81FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +14.1%FY2026 +11.2%FY2026 +37.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -3.8% +7.4% +17.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.31BFY2026 $7.03BFY2026 $5.67BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -2.8%FY2026 +12.0%FY2026 +56.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +14.8% -3.6% +11.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCOLMLEVIGIL
Held by institutions 51.1% 87.8% 100.0%
Institutions holding 323 313 463
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.8% +2.6% +7.8%
Institutions buying 161 185 197
Institutions selling 111 78 149
Buyers to sellers 1.45 2.37 1.32

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.

COLMLEVIGIL
COLM 1.00 0.55 0.36
LEVI 0.55 1.00 0.40
GIL 0.36 0.40 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, COLM, LEVI and GIL?

Levi Strauss (LEVI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Columbia Sportswear (COLM) $3.14B, Levi Strauss (LEVI) $8.40B, Gildan Activewear (GIL) $6.45B.

Which stock is cheaper, COLM, LEVI and GIL?

Levi Strauss (LEVI) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Columbia Sportswear (COLM) 15.2x, Levi Strauss (LEVI) 14.2x, Gildan Activewear (GIL) 30.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Gildan Activewear (GIL) is cheapest (Columbia Sportswear (COLM) 14.4x, Levi Strauss (LEVI) 14.7x, Gildan Activewear (GIL) 8.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Gildan Activewear (GIL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Columbia Sportswear (COLM) -0.1%, Levi Strauss (LEVI) +6.6%, Gildan Activewear (GIL) +38.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Levi Strauss (LEVI) has the highest net margin (Columbia Sportswear (COLM) 6.0%, Levi Strauss (LEVI) 8.8%, Gildan Activewear (GIL) 4.5%). On return on invested capital, Levi Strauss (LEVI) leads (Levi Strauss (LEVI) 17.4%, Gildan Activewear (GIL) 5.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Columbia Sportswear (COLM) returned the most: Columbia Sportswear (COLM) +13.4%, Levi Strauss (LEVI) +5.3%, Gildan Activewear (GIL) -33.2%. Over five years, Gildan Activewear (GIL) compounded fastest (Columbia Sportswear (COLM) -9.4%/yr, Levi Strauss (LEVI) -3.3%/yr, Gildan Activewear (GIL) +2.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Levi Strauss (LEVI) has been the steadiest (Columbia Sportswear (COLM) 36.1%, Levi Strauss (LEVI) 33.2%, Gildan Activewear (GIL) 42.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, COLM, LEVI and GIL?

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