YSG vs MLKMF vs ELF Stock Comparison

Yatsen Holding, Waldencast and e.l.f. Beauty Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
YSG Yatsen Holding Ltd
$2.38 -7.0% 1M -68.7% 1Y
Market cap
$222.11M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$653.85M
Div. yield
–
Cosmetics Consumer Staples
1 win
MLKMF Waldencast plc
$0.85 -17.5% 1M -55.7% 1Y
Market cap
$100.38M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Cosmetics Consumer Staples
ELF e.l.f. Beauty, Inc.
$112.97 +13.5% 1M -8.0% 1Y
Market cap
$6.70B
P/E
112.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.76B
Div. yield
–
Cosmetics Consumer Staples
6 wins

Head to Head

7 decided of 12

e.l.f. Beauty leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (e.l.f. Beauty 6, Yatsen Holding 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionYSGMLKMFELFLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $222.11M $100.38M $6.70B ELF
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -9.7x — 112.4x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — — 33.0x –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +25.6% — +31.2% ELF
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -3.5% — 3.4% ELF
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 4.6% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 2.2x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -68.7% -55.7% -8.0% ELF
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -30.6%/yr -38.6%/yr +29.0%/yr ELF
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 82.5% 100.6% 70.6% ELF
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 — 60/100 YSG

Percentile Scorecard

YSGMLKMFELF

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

AxisYSGMLKMFELF
Valuation 63 #20 of 52 – 41 #31 of 52
Growth 82 #10 of 50 – 86 #8 of 50
Profitability 50 #23 of 45 – 64 #17 of 45
Financial Health 84 #10 of 56 66 #20 of 56 67 #19 of 56
Shareholder Returns – – 40 #19 of 31
Overall 69 – 60
  • YSG ranked among 60 companies in Household and Personal Products
  • MLKMF ranked among 60 companies in Household and Personal Products
  • ELF ranked among 60 companies in Household and Personal Products

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodYSGMLKMFELFSPY
1 month -7.0%-17.5%+13.5% -0.8%
3 months -30.2%-50.6%+34.5% +3.5%
6 months -15.0%+10.4%+77.3% +7.0%
Year to date -38.8%-54.8%+48.6% +12.2%
1 year -68.7%-55.7%-8.0% +13.0%
3 years -48.4%-90.4%+10.5% +86.3%
3 years, per year -19.8%-54.2%+3.4% +23.1%
5 years -83.9%-91.2%+257.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year -30.6%-38.6%+29.0% +11.0%
10 years ——+323.7% +258.0%
10 years, per year ——+15.5% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureYSGMLKMFELFSPY
Volatility, 1Y 82.5%100.6%70.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 93.8%88.2%82.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.131.341.69 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.83-0.55-0.11 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -88.1%-93.5%-77.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -68.1%-72.4%-14.2% -1.8%
52-week high $7.46$3.08$131.70 $779.14
52-week low $2.19$0.75$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.

MultipleYSGMLKMFELF
P/E now vs peer median -9.7xmedian 18.6x —median 18.6x 112.1xmedian 18.6x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 1.6x —median 1.6x 3.8xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 13.0x —median 13.0x 32.3xmedian 13.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 18.4x —median 18.4x 23.8xmedian 18.4x
P/B now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 2.1x 0.2xmedian 2.1x 5.7xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median 0.98median 0.97 —median 0.97 -6.57median 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 monthsYSGMLKMFELF
Revenue $653.85M – $1.76B
Gross profit $505.96M – $1.31B
Operating income -$47.33M – $127.36M
Net income -$31.82M – $59.61M
Free cash flow – – $280.16M
R&D $22.34M – –
EPS (diluted) $-0.25 – $1.00
Cash & equivalents $104.68M $7.82M $344.24M
Total debt – $631.43M $832.00M
Shares (diluted) 93.13M 114.07M 59.73M
Enterprise value -$350.20M $38.41M $5.67B

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
MetricYSGMLKMFELF
P/E -9.7x – 112.1x
P/FCF – – 23.8x
P/Operating cash flow – – 22.4x
P/S 0.7x – 3.8x
P/B 1.1x 0.2x 5.7x
P/Tangible book 1.4x 0.3x 10.6x
EV/EBITDA – – 32.3x
EV/EBIT -6.2x – 56.1x
EV/Revenue 0.4x – 4.1x
EV/FCF – – 25.5x
EV/Operating cash flow – – 24.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.98 – -6.57

Growth

14 metrics
MetricYSGMLKMFELF
Revenue growth (1Y) 25.6% – 31.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 9.6% – 37.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 24.9% – 38.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 12.2% – 41.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 45.0% – -18.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 11.5% – 5.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 56.2% – -39.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 11.0% – -15.9%
EPS growth (1Y) -537.4% – -41.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -9.9% – -17.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – – 85.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 46.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – – 107.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 44.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricYSGMLKMFELF
Gross margin 77.4% – 74.4%
EBITDA margin – – 12.6%
Operating margin -7.2% – 7.2%
Pretax margin -4.6% – 4.7%
Net margin -3.5% – 3.4%
FCF margin – – 15.9%
Operating cash flow margin – – 16.9%
Return on equity -7.8% – 5.2%
Return on assets -5.7% – 2.5%
Return on invested capital – – 4.6%
Return on capital employed -10.1% – 6.1%
Asset turnover 1.2x – 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – – 5.0x
Stock comp / revenue – – 5.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricYSGMLKMFELF
Debt / assets – 23.1% 33.8%
Debt / equity – 0.4x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 2.2x
Debt / FCF – – 3.0x
Liabilities / assets 32.0% 39.5% 52.5%
Equity / assets 68.0% 60.5% 47.5%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 3.7x 4.8x 2.5x
Quick ratio 2.1x 0.1x 1.5x
Cash ratio 1.7x 0.1x 1.0x
Altman Z-score -0.15 – 4.18

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricYSGMLKMFELF
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – – 1.4%
Shareholder yield – – 1.4%
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.

ConsensusYSGMLKMFELF
Forward P/E – – 33.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.16FY2026 $-0.51FY2026 $3.42FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – – +9.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – – +7.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $638.64MFY2026 $272.64MFY2026 $2.10BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.9%FY2026 +0.2%FY2026 +27.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +13.5% +10.6% -2.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersYSGMLKMFELF
Held by institutions 6.8% – 87.3%
Institutions holding 43 – 430
Change in shares held, QoQ -11.7% – -9.9%
Institutions buying 15 – 214
Institutions selling 18 – 158
Buyers to sellers 0.83 – 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.

YSGMLKMFELF
YSG 1.00 0.15 0.18
MLKMF 0.15 1.00 0.07
ELF 0.18 0.07 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, YSG, MLKMF and ELF?

e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) is the largest by market capitalisation: Yatsen Holding (YSG) $222.11M, Waldencast (MLKMF) $100.38M, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) $6.70B.

Which company is growing faster?

e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Yatsen Holding (YSG) +25.6%, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) +31.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) has the highest net margin (Yatsen Holding (YSG) -3.5%, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) 3.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) returned the most: Yatsen Holding (YSG) -68.7%, Waldencast (MLKMF) -55.7%, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) -8.0%. Over five years, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) compounded fastest (Yatsen Holding (YSG) -30.6%/yr, Waldencast (MLKMF) -38.6%/yr, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) +29.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) has been the steadiest (Yatsen Holding (YSG) 82.5%, Waldencast (MLKMF) 100.6%, e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) 70.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, YSG, MLKMF 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 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.