Five Below, Inc. vs Macy's, Inc., two Discount Stores stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Five Below chases teenagers with cheap trend goods; Macy's chases everyone with apparel and home in the mall. Five Below keeps a much wider net margin, 8.67% of sales to Macy's 2.94%, and runs debt-free while Macy's carries 0.50 against equity. But Macy's is the cash and value story: a 20.14% free cash yield to Five Below's 4.82%, a 10.72 earnings multiple to 23.76, and a 1.46 book multiple to 4.53. Macy's pays 2.81% while Five Below pays nothing. Returns on equity favor Macy's slightly less, 13.79% to Five Below's 19.05%. The clean-balance-sheet growth name versus the cheap cash-throwing turnaround.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | FIVE | M |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $189.25 | $22.65 |
| Market cap | $10.5B | $6.2B |
| Sector | Discount Stores | Discount Stores |
| Stage | Growth | Mature |
| P/E | 23.9 | 9.4 |
| P/B | 4.55 | 1.28 |
| P/S | 2.07 | 0.27 |
| EV/EBITDA | 13.1 | 3.8 |
| Revenue growth | +25.9% | -0.2% |
| Operating margin | 12.0% | 2.3% |
| Net margin | 8.7% | 2.9% |
| Return on equity | 19.1% | 13.8% |
| Return on assets | 8.7% | 4.1% |
| Return on invested capital | 18.4% | 9.8% |
| FCF yield | 4.8% | 23.1% |
| Dividend yield | — | 3.2% |
| Debt / equity | 0.00 | 0.50 |
| Current ratio | 2.10 | 1.48 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 4.26 | 7.58 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 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.