Columbia Sportswear vs Kontoor Brands
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The short version
- Columbia Sportswear is the larger business, with $3.4B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $3.2B for Kontoor Brands.
- Kontoor Brands grew revenue faster (20.9%, against 0.9%).
- Kontoor Brands kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (10.7% operating margin, against 6.1%).
- Kontoor Brands turned more of its sales into free cash flow (13.8% FCF margin, against 6.4%).
- Kontoor Brands earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (21.2%, against 17.0%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Columbia Sportswear’s earnings: a P/E of 16.0x against 15.9x for Kontoor Brands.
| Latest fiscal year | COLM · FY25 | KTB · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $3.1B | $4.2B |
| Revenue | $3.4B | $3.2B |
| Free cash flow | $217M | $435M |
| Net income | $177M | $228M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 0.9% | 20.9% |
| 5-year growth | 6.3% | 8.5% |
| Share count change | −6.4% | −0.4% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 50.5% | 45.2% |
| Operating margin | 6.1% | 10.7% |
| Net margin | 5.2% | 7.2% |
| FCF margin | 6.4% | 13.8% |
| Return on capital | 17.0% | 21.2% |
| Return on equity | 10.2% | 47.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$791M | $1.0B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −3.0x | 2.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $267M | $141M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 16.0x | 15.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
COLM $2.4B
KTB —
FY17
COLM $2.5B
KTB $2.8B
FY18
COLM $2.8B
KTB $2.8B
FY19
COLM $3.0B
KTB $2.5B
FY20
COLM $2.5B
KTB $2.1B
FY21
COLM $3.1B
KTB $2.5B
FY22
COLM $3.5B
KTB $2.6B
FY23
COLM $3.5B
KTB $2.6B
FY24
COLM $3.4B
KTB $2.6B
FY25
COLM $3.4B
KTB $3.2B
COLM
KTB
Operating margin
FY16
COLM 10.8%
KTB —
FY17
COLM 10.7%
KTB 12.6%
FY18
COLM 12.5%
KTB 12.1%
FY19
COLM 13.0%
KTB 6.6%
FY20
COLM 5.5%
KTB 5.9%
FY21
COLM 14.4%
KTB 11.4%
FY22
COLM 11.4%
KTB 13.6%
FY23
COLM 8.9%
KTB 12.2%
FY24
COLM 8.0%
KTB 13.1%
FY25
COLM 6.1%
KTB 10.7%
COLM
KTB
Free cash flow
FY16
COLM $225M
KTB —
FY17
COLM $288M
KTB $143M
FY18
COLM $224M
KTB −$117M
FY19
COLM $162M
KTB $755M
FY20
COLM $247M
KTB $224M
FY21
COLM $320M
KTB $273M
FY22
COLM −$83.7M
KTB $65.2M
FY23
COLM $582M
KTB $329M
FY24
COLM $431M
KTB $349M
FY25
COLM $217M
KTB $435M
COLM
KTB
Return on capital
FY16
COLM 24.7%
KTB —
FY17
COLM 13.7%
KTB —
FY18
COLM 28.8%
KTB —
FY19
COLM 30.1%
KTB 9.6%
FY20
COLM 9.6%
KTB 14.2%
FY21
COLM 33.1%
KTB 30.1%
FY22
COLM 23.7%
KTB 31.4%
FY23
COLM 17.9%
KTB 28.1%
FY24
COLM 19.0%
KTB 32.0%
FY25
COLM 17.0%
KTB 21.2%
COLM
KTB
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.