Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. ELF scored 49.7, BTI scored 50.3 — BTI leads.
Compare another set
Different reporting periods. ELF's fundamentals are as of June 2026, but BTI's are as of December 2025 — a 6-month gap. Growth, margin and valuation figures below therefore describe different windows and aren't strictly like-for-like.
ELF
e.l.f. Beauty, Inc.
Household & Personal Products · Quality-Growth
49.7
$109.23 · $6.4B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
0.6
BTI leads
BTI
British American Tobacco p.l.c.
Tobacco · Quality-Growth
50.3
$55.50 · $119.4B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestBTI14.2x
Fastest growthELF+24.6%
Strongest balance sheetBTI0.72
Highest qualityBTI74 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueBTI-1%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
ELF
stronger →← stronger
BTI
48
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
74
87
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
28
30
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
71
BTI is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
ELF
BTI
$280mC
FCF
$8.9bB+
+24.6%A-
Rev
-1.0%D+
0.80B
D/E
0.72B
111.5xD
P/E
14.2xA-
1.37B
PEG
1.40B
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
ELF
BTI
49% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
1% below
~26%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~1%/yr
-48%
1-yr DCF upside
+6%
-33%
5-yr DCF upside
+1%
-5%
10-yr DCF upside
-6%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
ELF
Why this score
Diluting shareholders
BTI
Why this score
Raising its dividend
Foreign reporter (GBP)
The companies
ELFe.l.f. Beauty, Inc.
Household & Personal Products · $109.23 · beta 1.60
Why now
Household & Personal Products · market cap $6.4b. Down 23% from 52-week high of $141.50 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +25%, comfortably above the S&P median. 16 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $105.00 (implying -4% upside).
Moat
Free cash flow runs well ahead of reported net income.
Risk
Trailing P/E 111.5x prices in sustained high growth — any quarter that disappoints triggers sharp re-rating. Beta 1.60 implies above-market volatility — position-size to the drawdowns this name will produce in a market correction, not to its bull-case return. Net margin 3.4% is thin — operating leverage cuts both ways; input-cost inflation or pricing pressure hits the bottom line first.
BTIBritish American Tobacco p.l.c.
Tobacco · $55.50 · beta 0.10
Why now
Tobacco · market cap $119.4b. 18% off the 52-week high of $67.30. 6 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $70.43 (implying +27% upside).
Moat
Net margin 30% is exceptional — pricing-power territory rare outside premium software, branded staples, and specialty pharma. ROE 16% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately. FCF converts 106% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Dividend payout 84% of earnings on a 6.0% yield — distribution coverage is thin; one earnings stumble could force a dividend cut.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where ELF and BTI diverge
On the headline score the gap is 0.6 points in favor of BTI. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
GrowthELF 87.1 · BTI 28.2ELF +58.9
ValueELF 29.6 · BTI 71.0BTI +41.4
QualityELF 47.7 · BTI 74.1BTI +26.4
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is BTI or ELF the better stock?
BTI scores higher: BTI 50.3, ELF 49.7 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do BTI and ELF differ most?
The widest gap is growth, where ELF leads by 59 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. Neither name sweeps: they trade the lead across the three pillars, so the comparison is a trade-off rather than one being better on every measure.
How are BTI and ELF scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.