Columbia Sportswear vs Gildan Activewear
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The short version
- Gildan Activewear is the larger business, with $3.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $3.4B for Columbia Sportswear.
- Gildan Activewear grew revenue faster (10.7%, against 0.9%).
- Gildan Activewear kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (17.1% operating margin, against 6.1%).
- Gildan Activewear turned more of its sales into free cash flow (13.8% FCF margin, against 6.4%).
- Columbia Sportswear earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (17.0%, against 9.9%).
| Latest fiscal year | COLM · FY25 | GIL · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $3.1B | $6.2B |
| Revenue | $3.4B | $3.6B |
| Free cash flow | $217M | $500M |
| Net income | $177M | $399M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 0.9% | 10.7% |
| 5-year growth | 6.3% | 12.8% |
| Share count change | −6.4% | −6.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 50.5% | 31.2% |
| Operating margin | 6.1% | 17.1% |
| Net margin | 5.2% | 11.0% |
| FCF margin | 6.4% | 13.8% |
| Return on capital | 17.0% | 9.9% |
| Return on equity | 10.2% | 15.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$791M | $4.0B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −3.0x | 5.3x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $267M | $135M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 16.0x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
COLM $2.4B
GIL $2.6B
FY17
COLM $2.5B
GIL $2.8B
FY18
COLM $2.8B
GIL $2.9B
FY19
COLM $3.0B
GIL $2.8B
FY20
COLM $2.5B
GIL $2.0B
FY21
COLM $3.1B
GIL $2.9B
FY22
COLM $3.5B
GIL $3.2B
FY23
COLM $3.5B
GIL $3.2B
FY24
COLM $3.4B
GIL $3.3B
FY25
COLM $3.4B
GIL $3.6B
COLM
GIL
Operating margin
FY16
COLM 10.8%
GIL 14.4%
FY17
COLM 10.7%
GIL 14.6%
FY18
COLM 12.5%
GIL 13.9%
FY19
COLM 13.0%
GIL 10.2%
FY20
COLM 5.5%
GIL −9.1%
FY21
COLM 14.4%
GIL 22.3%
FY22
COLM 11.4%
GIL 18.6%
FY23
COLM 8.9%
GIL 20.2%
FY24
COLM 8.0%
GIL 18.9%
FY25
COLM 6.1%
GIL 17.1%
COLM
GIL
Free cash flow
FY16
COLM $225M
GIL $408M
FY17
COLM $288M
GIL $521M
FY18
COLM $224M
GIL $431M
FY19
COLM $162M
GIL $232M
FY20
COLM $247M
GIL $364M
FY21
COLM $320M
GIL $490M
FY22
COLM −$83.7M
GIL $174M
FY23
COLM $582M
GIL $343M
FY24
COLM $431M
GIL $356M
FY25
COLM $217M
GIL $500M
COLM
GIL
Return on capital
FY16
COLM 24.7%
GIL —
FY17
COLM 13.7%
GIL 14.5%
FY18
COLM 28.8%
GIL 14.7%
FY19
COLM 30.1%
GIL 11.2%
FY20
COLM 9.6%
GIL −6.1%
FY21
COLM 33.1%
GIL 28.9%
FY22
COLM 23.7%
GIL 23.1%
FY23
COLM 17.9%
GIL 22.1%
FY24
COLM 19.0%
GIL 16.8%
FY25
COLM 17.0%
GIL 9.9%
COLM
GIL
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.