Ross Stores, Inc. vs WILLIAMS-SONOMA, INC., two Retail stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Ross Stores clears discounted branded apparel through bargain stores, a $68.5B off-price chain keeping 9.74% of sales and returning 36.73% on equity. Williams-Sonoma sells home furnishings under its own brands, a $28.7B retailer keeping a fatter 13.81% with no net debt. Both stay clean of leverage, Ross near 0.2. Williams-Sonoma trades cheaper at 26.82 times earnings against Ross's 29.78 and pays a larger dividend, 1.1% versus 0.76%. The furniture brand yields marginally less free cash, 3.81% to 3.84%. One profits by moving cheap stock quickly; the other by charging brand prices on higher-ticket goods. Both keep more of each sale than most of retail.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | ROST | WSM |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $222.82 | $221.72 |
| Market cap | $71.6B | $26.6B |
| Sector | Retail | Retail |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +24.3% | +33.2% |
| P/E | 31.1 | 24.9 |
| P/B | 11.35 | 14.22 |
| P/S | 3.01 | 3.37 |
| EV/EBITDA | 20.0 | 17.6 |
| Revenue growth | +11.9% | +1.8% |
| Gross margin | — | 44.0% |
| Operating margin | 13.4% | 16.2% |
| Net margin | 9.7% | 13.8% |
| Return on equity | 36.7% | 58.2% |
| Return on assets | 14.9% | 21.5% |
| Return on invested capital | 29.8% | 58.7% |
| FCF yield | 3.7% | 4.1% |
| Dividend yield | 0.7% | 1.2% |
| Debt / equity | 0.20 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 1.54 | 1.33 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 8.35 | 7.26 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 7 / 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.