Burlington Stores vs Ross Stores
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The short version
- Ross Stores is the larger business, with $22.8B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $11.6B for Burlington Stores, about 2.0 times as much.
- Burlington Stores grew revenue faster (8.8%, against 7.7%).
- Ross Stores turned more of its sales into free cash flow (9.7% FCF margin, against 1.5%).
- Ross Stores earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (67.0%, against 28.1%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Ross Stores’s earnings: a P/E of 27.8x against 22.2x for Burlington Stores.
| Latest fiscal year | BURL · FY25 | ROST · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $15.8B | $73.2B |
| Revenue | $11.6B | $22.8B |
| Free cash flow | $172M | $2.2B |
| Net income | $610M | $2.1B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 8.8% | 7.7% |
| 5-year growth | 15.0% | 12.7% |
| Share count change | −0.7% | −2.0% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 43.9% | 27.7% |
| Operating margin | — | 11.9% |
| Net margin | 5.3% | 9.4% |
| FCF margin | 1.5% | 9.7% |
| Return on capital | 28.1% | 67.0% |
| Return on equity | 38.4% | 36.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $818M | −$3.1B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.6x | −1.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $278M | $1.6B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 22.2x | 27.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
BURL $5.6B
ROST $12.9B
FY17
BURL $6.1B
ROST $14.1B
FY18
BURL $6.7B
ROST $15.0B
FY19
BURL $7.3B
ROST $16.0B
FY20
BURL $5.8B
ROST $12.5B
FY21
BURL $9.3B
ROST $18.9B
FY22
BURL $8.7B
ROST $18.7B
FY23
BURL $9.7B
ROST $20.4B
FY24
BURL $10.6B
ROST $21.1B
FY25
BURL $11.6B
ROST $22.8B
BURL
ROST
Operating margin
FY16
BURL —
ROST —
FY17
BURL —
ROST —
FY18
BURL —
ROST —
FY19
BURL —
ROST —
FY20
BURL —
ROST —
FY21
BURL —
ROST —
FY22
BURL —
ROST 10.7%
FY23
BURL —
ROST 11.3%
FY24
BURL —
ROST 12.2%
FY25
BURL —
ROST 11.9%
BURL
ROST
Free cash flow
FY16
BURL $428M
ROST $1.3B
FY17
BURL $339M
ROST $1.3B
FY18
BURL $344M
ROST $1.7B
FY19
BURL $563M
ROST $1.6B
FY20
BURL −$54.1M
ROST $1.8B
FY21
BURL $481M
ROST $1.2B
FY22
BURL $149M
ROST $1.0B
FY23
BURL $376M
ROST $1.8B
FY24
BURL −$17.0M
ROST $1.6B
FY25
BURL $172M
ROST $2.2B
BURL
ROST
Return on capital
FY16
BURL 22.9%
ROST 54.6%
FY17
BURL 41.3%
ROST 65.7%
FY18
BURL 40.2%
ROST 73.4%
FY19
BURL 43.1%
ROST 73.8%
FY20
BURL −26.3%
ROST 8.7%
FY21
BURL 36.7%
ROST —
FY22
BURL 20.0%
ROST 80.1%
FY23
BURL 27.0%
ROST 75.2%
FY24
BURL 30.9%
ROST 71.9%
FY25
BURL 28.1%
ROST 67.0%
BURL
ROST
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.