EL vs ELF Stock Comparison

Estee Lauder Companies and e.l.f. Beauty Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
EL Estee Lauder Companies Inc
$108.67 +9.9% 1M +9.2% 1Y
Market cap
$39.40B
P/E
216.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.05B
Div. yield
0.01%
Cosmetics Consumer Staples
3 wins
ELF e.l.f. Beauty, Inc.
$114.17 +13.4% 1M -8.7% 1Y
Market cap
$6.66B
P/E
111.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.76B
Div. yield
–
Cosmetics Consumer Staples
8 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

e.l.f. Beauty leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (e.l.f. Beauty 8, Estee Lauder Companies 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionELELFLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $39.40B $6.66B EL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 216.5x 111.7x ELF
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 34.2x 33.6x ELF
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.0% +31.2% ELF
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 1.2% 3.4% ELF
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 2.4% 4.6% ELF
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.4x 2.2x ELF
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +9.2% -8.7% EL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -19.8%/yr +30.2%/yr ELF
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 48.6% 70.5% EL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 42/100 59/100 ELF

Percentile Scorecard

ELELF

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

AxisELELF
Valuation 35 #33 of 50 39 #31 of 50
Growth 60 #20 of 49 85 #8 of 49
Profitability 58 #19 of 44 63 #17 of 44
Financial Health 37 #35 of 55 69 #18 of 55
Shareholder Returns 20 #25 of 31 40 #19 of 31
Overall 42 59
  • EL ranked among 59 companies in Household and Personal Products
  • ELF ranked among 59 companies in Household and Personal Products

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodELELFSPY
1 month +9.9%+13.4% -1.0%
3 months +35.4%+47.5% +2.9%
6 months +39.6%+72.3% +6.4%
Year to date +3.8%+50.1% +11.4%
1 year +9.2%-8.7% +13.1%
3 years -21.3%+3.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year -7.7%+1.2% +21.5%
5 years -66.8%+273.3% +67.7%
5 years, per year -19.8%+30.2% +10.9%
10 years +25.6%+325.8% +255.2%
10 years, per year +2.3%+15.6% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureELELFSPY
Volatility, 1Y 48.6%70.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 51.5%82.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.301.69 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.19-0.12 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -86.5%-77.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.1%-13.3% -2.5%
52-week high $119.61$131.70 $779.14
52-week low $67.23$49.57 $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.

MultipleELELF
P/E now vs peer median 216.3xmedian 18.7x 113.3xmedian 18.7x
P/S now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 1.6x 3.8xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 27.4xmedian 13.0x 32.6xmedian 13.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 29.9xmedian 19.0x 24.0xmedian 19.0x
P/B now vs peer median 10.3xmedian 2.3x 5.8xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median -4.96median 0.97 -6.64median 0.97

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 monthsELELF
Revenue $15.05B $1.76B
Gross profit $11.36B $1.31B
Operating income $780.00M $127.36M
Net income $182.00M $59.61M
Free cash flow $1.32B $280.16M
EPS (diluted) $0.50 $1.00
Cash & equivalents $3.50B $344.24M
Total debt $29.26B $832.00M
Shares (diluted) 364.80M 59.73M
Enterprise value $27.48B $5.63B

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
MetricELELF
P/E 216.3x 113.3x
P/FCF 29.9x 24.0x
P/Operating cash flow 22.2x 22.7x
P/S 2.6x 3.8x
P/B 10.3x 5.8x
P/Tangible book 173.4x 10.7x
EV/EBITDA 27.4x 32.6x
EV/EBIT 55.4x 56.7x
EV/Revenue 2.9x 4.1x
EV/FCF 32.8x 25.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.4x 24.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -4.96 -6.64

Growth

14 metrics
MetricELELF
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.0% 31.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.8% 37.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.2% 38.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 0.0% 41.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 199.4% -18.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -19.7% 5.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 116.1% -39.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -43.5% -15.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 115.9% -41.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -43.6% -17.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 39.4% 85.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.8% 46.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 96.4% 107.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 21.8% 44.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricELELF
Gross margin 75.5% 74.4%
EBITDA margin 10.5% 12.6%
Operating margin 5.2% 7.2%
Pretax margin 3.4% 4.7%
Net margin 1.2% 3.4%
FCF margin 8.7% 15.9%
Operating cash flow margin 11.8% 16.9%
Return on equity 4.7% 5.2%
Return on assets 0.9% 2.5%
Return on invested capital 2.4% 4.6%
Return on capital employed 5.8% 6.1%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 9.7x 5.0x
Stock comp / revenue 2.1% 5.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricELELF
Debt / assets 37.0% 33.8%
Debt / equity 1.9x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.4x 2.2x
Debt / FCF 5.6x 3.0x
Liabilities / assets 80.7% 52.5%
Equity / assets 19.3% 47.5%
Interest coverage 2.3x –
Current ratio 1.2x 2.5x
Quick ratio 0.8x 1.5x
Cash ratio 0.6x 1.0x
Altman Z-score 3.26 4.22

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricELELF
Dividend yield 1.3% –
Net buyback yield 0.0% 1.4%
Shareholder yield 1.3% 1.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 279.1% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 38.6% –
Dividend growth (1Y) -17.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -18.1% –

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.

ConsensusELELF
Forward P/E 34.2xFY2027 33.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.18FY2027 $3.40FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +28.7%FY2027 +8.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.9% +7.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $16.39BFY2027 $2.10BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.9%FY2027 +27.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -1.8% -3.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersELELF
Held by institutions 92.8% 87.3%
Institutions holding 832 430
Change in shares held, QoQ 0.0% -9.9%
Institutions buying 439 214
Institutions selling 282 158
Buyers to sellers 1.56 1.35

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.

ELELF
EL 1.00 0.46
ELF 0.46 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, EL and ELF?

Estee Lauder Companies (EL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Estee Lauder Companies (EL) $39.40B, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) $6.66B.

Which stock is cheaper, EL and ELF?

e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 216.5x, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) 111.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) is cheapest (Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 34.2x, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) 33.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Estee Lauder Companies (EL) +5.0%, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) +31.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) has the highest net margin (Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 1.2%, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) 3.4%). On return on invested capital, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) leads (Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 2.4%, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) 4.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Estee Lauder Companies (EL) returned the most: Estee Lauder Companies (EL) +9.2%, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) -8.7%. Over five years, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) compounded fastest (Estee Lauder Companies (EL) -19.8%/yr, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) +30.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 0.01%, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) 0.00%. e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Estee Lauder Companies (EL) has been the steadiest (Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 48.6%, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) 70.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do EL and ELF move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.46, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, EL and ELF?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) leads on 8. 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.