Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. ULTA scored 72.2, URBN scored 75.9 — URBN leads.
Compare another set
ULTA
Ulta Beauty, Inc.
Specialty Retail · Quality-Growth
72.2
$570.37 · $24.4B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
3.7
URBN leads
URBN
Urban Outfitters, Inc.
Apparel Retail · Quality-Growth
75.9
$82.18 · $7.0B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestURBN12.9x
Fastest growthULTA+11.2%
Strongest balance sheetURBN0.43
Highest qualityULTA85 / 100
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)
ULTA
stronger →← stronger
URBN
85
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
79
78
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
79
57
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
70
URBN is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
ULTA
URBN
$1.1bC+
FCF
$295mC
+11.2%B
Rev
+11.0%B
0.95B
D/E
0.43B+
20.8xC+
P/E
12.9xA-
1.77C+
PEG
1.23B
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
ULTA
URBN
6% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
60% above
~9%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~20%/yr
-14%
1-yr DCF upside
-44%
-6%
5-yr DCF upside
-37%
+9%
10-yr DCF upside
-28%
These two disagree on this pair: the Value pillar ranks cheapness against sector peers, while price-vs-fair-value is an absolute read. A name can be the better value in its sector and still the dearer one on cash flows.
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
ULTA
Why this score
Buying back stock
Durable high returns
URBN
Why this score
Buying back stock
Durable high returns
The companies
ULTAUlta Beauty, Inc.
Specialty Retail · $570.37 · beta 0.84
Why now
Specialty Retail · market cap $24.4b. Down 20% from 52-week high of $714.97 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +11%, comfortably above the S&P median. 25 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $631.44 (implying +11% upside).
Moat
ROE 46% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which.
Risk
Mature compounder — the risk is paying up for quality at a moment when growth is decelerating. Watch for sequential revenue + margin trends; the inflection from "compounder" to "ex-compounder" is hard to spot until the multiple already started compressing.
URBNUrban Outfitters, Inc.
Apparel Retail · $82.18 · beta 1.24
Why now
Apparel Retail · market cap $7.0b. 4% off the 52-week high of $85.43. Revenue growing +11%, comfortably above the S&P median. 14 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $89.43 (implying +9% upside).
Moat
ROE 20% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately.
Risk
Value re-rating depends on a catalyst. Without one — analyst day, divestiture, margin recovery, capital return — the stock can stay cheap on these multiples for years.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
ULTA leads URBN by 5.7 points (72.6 to 66.9), its sharpest advantage coming in FCF (grade C+). A contrarian could still prefer URBN for its stronger P/E (grade A-). Note they play different roles — ULTA screens as growth, URBN screens as value — so the model rewards different traits for each.
Our AI analyst is busy right now, so this verdict is drawn directly from the pillars, grades and DCF above.
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 ULTA and URBN diverge
On the headline score the gap is 3.7 points in favor of URBN. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
ValueULTA 57.0 · URBN 70.0URBN +13.0
QualityULTA 84.5 · URBN 79.1ULTA +5.4
GrowthULTA 78.2 · URBN 78.9level
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 URBN or ULTA the better stock?
URBN scores higher: URBN 75.9, ULTA 72.2 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 URBN and ULTA differ most?
The widest gap is value, where URBN leads by 13 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 URBN and ULTA 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.