Cintas Corporation vs KONTOOR BRANDS, INC., two Apparel stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Where CTAS and KTB diverge most: on implied growth (priced in), CTAS reads +27.7% and KTB reads +0.4%; on p/s, CTAS reads 7.08 and KTB reads 1.19. The rest of the comparable metrics sit closer together. On valuation, today's CTAS price has a different growth bar priced in than KTB (+27.7% implied for CTAS vs +0.4% for KTB); the higher figure is the steeper assumption to clear, not a better or worse stock. What CTAS's price implies is a demanding bet versus history and the cohort (whole-company basis). What KTB's price implies is a bet that sits within the historical range (whole-company basis). The bull and bear cases for each are in their full reports below.
| Metric | CTAS | KTB |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $202.32 | $65.58 |
| Market cap | $81.8B | $3.6B |
| Sector | Apparel | Apparel |
| Stage | Mature | Growth |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +27.7% | +0.4% |
| P/E | 39.9 | 13.7 |
| P/B | 15.72 | 5.88 |
| P/S | 7.08 | 1.19 |
| EV/EBITDA | 28.4 | 11.2 |
| Revenue growth | +9.5% | +34.1% |
| Gross margin | 51.5% | — |
| Operating margin | 23.6% | 15.5% |
| Net margin | 17.8% | 8.7% |
| Return on equity | 39.6% | 43.3% |
| Return on assets | 19.3% | 10.1% |
| Return on invested capital | 28.3% | 17.3% |
| FCF yield | 2.5% | 11.6% |
| Dividend yield | 0.9% | 3.2% |
| Debt / equity | 0.47 | 1.85 |
| Current ratio | 1.45 | 1.83 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 9.21 | 2.71 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 8 / 9 | 5 / 9 |
Each week boothcheck ranks the stocks whose prices are betting on the most. Read the most stretched bets archive →
boothcheck is also on Android. Get the app on Google Play →
The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.