Cintas Corporation vs lululemon athletica inc., two Apparel stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Where CTAS and LULU diverge most: on debt / equity, CTAS reads 0.47 and LULU reads 0.00; on ev/ebitda, CTAS reads 28.4 and LULU reads 3.4. The rest of the comparable metrics sit closer together. What CTAS's price implies is a demanding bet versus history and the cohort (whole-company basis). What LULU'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 | LULU |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $202.32 | $94.52 |
| Market cap | $81.8B | $10.0B |
| Sector | Apparel | Apparel |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +27.7% | — |
| P/E | 39.9 | 7.8 |
| P/B | 15.72 | 2.08 |
| P/S | 7.08 | 0.90 |
| EV/EBITDA | 28.4 | 3.4 |
| Revenue growth | +9.5% | +1.9% |
| Gross margin | 51.5% | 60.5% |
| Operating margin | 23.6% | 18.8% |
| Net margin | 17.8% | 12.8% |
| Return on equity | 39.6% | 29.6% |
| Return on assets | 19.3% | 16.7% |
| Return on invested capital | 28.3% | 29.1% |
| FCF yield | 2.5% | 13.6% |
| Dividend yield | 0.9% | — |
| Debt / equity | 0.47 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 1.45 | 2.19 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 9.21 | 4.13 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 8 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
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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.