Cintas Corporation vs Ralph Lauren Corporation, two Apparel stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Where CTAS and RL diverge most: on p/s, CTAS reads 7.08 and RL reads 2.72; on fcf yield, CTAS reads 2.5% and RL reads 4.8%. The rest of the comparable metrics sit closer together. On valuation, today's CTAS price has a different growth bar priced in than RL (+27.7% implied for CTAS vs +22.3% for RL); 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 RL'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 | RL |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $202.32 | $370.55 |
| Market cap | $81.8B | $22.7B |
| Sector | Apparel | Apparel |
| Stage | Mature | Growth |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +27.7% | +22.3% |
| P/E | 39.9 | 23.4 |
| P/B | 15.72 | 8.35 |
| P/S | 7.08 | 2.72 |
| EV/EBITDA | 28.4 | 15.0 |
| Revenue growth | +9.5% | +14.8% |
| Gross margin | 51.5% | 73.7% |
| Operating margin | 23.6% | 17.5% |
| Net margin | 17.8% | 11.8% |
| Return on equity | 39.6% | 36.1% |
| Return on assets | 19.3% | 12.8% |
| Return on invested capital | 28.3% | 24.1% |
| FCF yield | 2.5% | 4.8% |
| Dividend yield | 0.9% | 1.0% |
| Debt / equity | 0.47 | 0.46 |
| Current ratio | 1.45 | 2.04 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 9.21 | 5.86 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 8 / 9 | 7 / 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.