CVS HEALTH Corp vs WILLIAMS-SONOMA, INC., two Retail stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
CVS is a $133.5B pharmacy-and-insurance combine whose net margin fell to 0.24% after charges, leaving return on equity at 1.26%. Williams-Sonoma is a $28.7B home-furnishings seller keeping 13.81% of every sale, one of the healthiest margins in retail, with no net debt on the books. Despite the gap in reported profit, CVS still yields more free cash, 5.54% against 3.81%, and pays a larger dividend, 2.55% to 1.1%. CVS trades at 1.72 times book while Williams-Sonoma carries none of that leverage. Vast scale on thin margins beside a focused brand keeping real profit per sale.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | CVS | WSM |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $104.17 | $221.72 |
| Market cap | $133.2B | $26.6B |
| Sector | Retail | Retail |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | — | +33.2% |
| P/E | — | 24.9 |
| P/B | 1.72 | 14.22 |
| P/S | 0.33 | 3.37 |
| EV/EBITDA | 17.5 | 17.6 |
| Revenue growth | +7.6% | +1.8% |
| Gross margin | — | 44.0% |
| Operating margin | 4.7% | 16.2% |
| Net margin | 0.2% | 13.8% |
| Return on equity | 1.3% | 58.2% |
| Return on assets | 0.4% | 21.5% |
| Return on invested capital | 3.2% | 58.7% |
| FCF yield | 5.5% | 4.1% |
| Dividend yield | 2.5% | 1.2% |
| Debt / equity | 0.78 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 0.87 | 1.33 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 2.42 | 7.26 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 4 / 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.