Tractor Supply vs Ulta Beauty
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Tractor Supply and Ulta Beauty side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Tractor Supply is the larger business, with $15.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $12.4B for Ulta Beauty.
- Ulta Beauty grew revenue faster (9.7%, against 4.3%).
- Ulta Beauty kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (12.4% operating margin, against 9.5%).
- Ulta Beauty turned more of its sales into free cash flow (8.6% FCF margin, against 4.8%).
- Ulta Beauty earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (55.8%, against 28.5%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Ulta Beauty’s earnings: a P/E of 22.8x against 16.9x for Tractor Supply.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 11 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Tractor Supply
TSCO
1/11
Return on equity
Ulta Beauty
ULTA
9/11
Revenue growth5-year growthGross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | TSCO FY25 | ULTA FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $17.1B | $27.0B |
| Revenue | $15.5B | $12.4B |
| Free cash flow | $740M | $1.1B |
| Net income | $1.1B | $1.2B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 4.3% | 9.7% |
| 5-year growth | 7.9% | 15.0% |
| Share count change | −1.4% | −5.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 36.4% | 39.1% |
| Operating margin | 9.5% | 12.4% |
| Net margin | 7.1% | 9.3% |
| FCF margin | 4.8% | 8.6% |
| Return on capital | 28.5% | 55.8% |
| Return on equity | 45.2% | 43.6% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.6B | −$432M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.8x | −0.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $849M | $901M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 16.9x | 22.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.