FASTENAL CO vs Ross Stores, Inc., two Retail stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Where FAST and ROST diverge most: on debt / equity, FAST reads 0.05 and ROST reads 0.20; on dividend yield, FAST reads 1.8% and ROST reads 0.7%. The rest of the comparable metrics sit closer together. On valuation, today's FAST price has a different growth bar priced in than ROST (+28.8% implied for FAST vs +21.7% for ROST); the higher figure is the steeper assumption to clear, not a better or worse stock. What FAST's price implies is a demanding bet versus history and the cohort (whole-company basis). The bull and bear cases for each are in their full reports below.
| Metric | FAST | ROST |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $47.72 | $251.00 |
| Market cap | $54.9B | $80.6B |
| Sector | Retail | Retail |
| Stage | Growth | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +28.8% | +21.7% |
| P/E | 32.7 | 35.1 |
| P/B | 13.49 | 12.79 |
| P/S | 6.27 | 3.39 |
| EV/EBITDA | 28.1 | 22.7 |
| Revenue growth | +12.5% | +11.9% |
| Gross margin | 44.6% | — |
| Operating margin | 21.0% | 13.4% |
| Net margin | 15.4% | 9.7% |
| Return on equity | 33.2% | 36.7% |
| Return on assets | 25.5% | 14.9% |
| Return on invested capital | 31.8% | 29.8% |
| FCF yield | 2.1% | 3.3% |
| Dividend yield | 1.8% | 0.7% |
| Debt / equity | 0.05 | 0.20 |
| Current ratio | 4.18 | 1.54 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 9.67 | 8.35 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 5 / 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.