National Vision
National Vision's revenue rose 9.0% to $2.0 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 3.0%, up from −0.6% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $73 million, up 92.6%. It paid out $3 million in dividends and buybacks, 4% of free cash flow. The diluted share count rose 2.5%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share grew 5.4% a year and net income 9.3% a year, as new shares raised the share count by 41% and diluted each share's earnings.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Valuation
Two ways to value National Vision yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from National Vision's 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from National Vision's fiscal 2025 free cash flow of $73M, net cash of −$207M at January 3, 2026 and 81 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to National Vision: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, 6.5% a year; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 11%: 9% for a business of moderate risk (Specialty Stores), plus 1 point as a smaller company, worth $1.4B, plus 1 point for unsteady results (a loss in fiscal 2024); the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $17.80
- Value on these assumptions, against the last close
- —
- Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today
- —
- Everything after year 10, valued today
- —
- Plus net cash
- —
- Share of value from after year 10
How the value changes with two assumptions
Price-to-earnings (P/E) method
Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from National Vision's earnings per share of $0.61 (over the last four quarters). Each grows earnings for a year at the cash flow scenarios' rates and applies a multiple to next year's earnings: 17.7×, the middle of National Vision's own P/E today, its peers' median and its sector's median (the Consumer Discretionary median) for the base scenario, 20% less and more for the cautious and optimistic ones. The price is brought back a year at 12%, 11% and 10%. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $17.80
- Value at this multiple, against the last close
- —
- National Vision's P/E at the last close
- 29.2×
| Company | Last close | Earnings per share | P/E today |
|---|---|---|---|
| National VisionEYE | $17.80 | $0.61 | 29.2× |
| Five BelowFIVE | $230.00 | $11.16 | 20.6× |
| Academy Sports + OutdoorsASO | $59.61 | $5.99 | 10.0× |
| Sally BeautySBH | $17.43 | $1.92 | 9.1× |
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 306 | 229 | 150 | 74 | 39 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 570 | 568 | 461 | 350 | 246 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | 264 | 338 | 311 | 276 | 207 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 1.0x | 2.4x | 2.7x | 3.4x | 1.4x |
| Debt to equity | 0.6x | 0.6x | 0.6x | 0.4x | 0.3x |
| Interest coverage | 6.8x | 3.1x | 2.1x | −0.8x | 3.1x |
| Current ratio | 1.5x | 1.4x | 1.0x | 0.5x | 0.6x |
| Quick ratio | 1.1x | 1.0x | 0.7x | 0.3x | 0.3x |
Insider trades
Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, 1 insider bought $776,000 of National Vision shares on the open market, and 2 insiders sold $1.3 million, all of it under trading plans set up in advance.
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 5, 2026 | Michael J NicholsonDirector | Bought | 50,000 | $15.52 | $776,000 | Form 4 |
| Mar 11, 2026 | Alexander WilkesChief Executive Officer, Director | Sold plan | 35,000 | $26.54 | $928,900 | Form 4 |
| Mar 6, 2026 | Fahs L ReadeExecutive Chairman, Director | Sold plan | 11,672 | $29.58 | $345,217 | Form 4 |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Fail | Fail | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Fail | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Current ratio rose | Fail | Fail | Pass |
| Share count didn't rise | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| Gross margin rose | — | — | — |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| F-score | 5 of 8 | 6 of 8 | 7 of 8 |
| Accruals ratio | −10.7% | −7.8% | −5.8% |
Compare
Put National Vision side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Vision | FY25 | 9.0% | 3.0% | 3.7% | 3.9% | 1.4x | 7 | |
| MarineMax | FY25 | −5.0% | 1.5% | 0.5% | 1.4% | 11.3x | 5 | Compare |
| Sally Beauty | FY25 | −0.4% | 8.9% | 4.7% | 16.1% | 1.7x | 8 | Compare |
| Five Below | FY25 | 22.9% | 9.6% | 8.6% | 26.9% | −1.4x | 7 | Compare |
| Academy Sports + Outdoors | FY25 | 2.0% | 8.5% | 3.7% | 17.6% | 0.2x | 7 | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 1,196 | 1,375 | 1,537 | 1,724 | 1,712 | 2,080 | 1,645 | 1,756 | 1,823 | 1,988 |
| Revenue growth | 12.6% | 15.0% | 11.8% | 12.2% | −0.7% | 21.5% | −20.9% | 6.8% | 3.8% | 9.0% |
| Gross profit | 651 | 738 | 823 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Research and development | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating income | 64 | 64 | 42 | 74 | 87 | 175 | 53 | 24 | −10 | 59 |
| Net income | 13 | 43 | 24 | 33 | 36 | 128 | 42 | −66 | −28 | 30 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 0.23 | 0.70 | 0.30 | 0.40 | 0.44 | 1.43 | 0.52 | −0.84 | −0.36 | 0.37 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 57 | 62 | 79 | 82 | 83 | 96 | 80 | 79 | 79 | 81 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 98 | 90 | 107 | 165 | 235 | 259 | 119 | 173 | 134 | 146 |
| Capital expenditure | 90 | 93 | 104 | 101 | 77 | 96 | 114 | 115 | 96 | 73 |
| Free cash flow | 8 | −3 | 2 | 64 | 158 | 163 | 6 | 58 | 38 | 73 |
| Dividends paid | 0 | 171 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share buybacks | 0 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 1 | 73 | 84 | 28 | 3 | 3 |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stock-based compensation | 4 | 5 | 21 | 13 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 20 | 17 | 24 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 5 | 4 | 17 | 39 | 374 | 306 | 229 | 150 | 74 | 39 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 746 | 569 | 578 | 570 | 655 | 570 | 568 | 461 | 350 | 246 |
| Total assets | 1,531 | 1,582 | 1,661 | 2,033 | 2,334 | 2,293 | 2,291 | 2,172 | 2,008 | 1,984 |
| Total liabilities | 1,132 | 927 | 918 | 1,256 | 1,427 | 1,367 | 1,390 | 1,343 | 1,191 | 1,114 |
| Shareholders' equity | 400 | 655 | 743 | 776 | 906 | 926 | 901 | 829 | 816 | 870 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 54.5% | 53.7% | 53.6% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating margin | 5.4% | 4.7% | 2.8% | 4.3% | 5.1% | 8.4% | 3.2% | 1.4% | −0.6% | 3.0% |
| Net margin | 1.1% | 3.1% | 1.5% | 1.9% | 2.1% | 6.2% | 2.6% | −3.8% | −1.6% | 1.5% |
| Free cash flow margin | 0.6% | −0.2% | 0.1% | 3.7% | 9.2% | 7.9% | 0.3% | 3.3% | 2.1% | 3.7% |
| Return on capital | — | 5.5% | 3.4% | 5.6% | 6.5% | 12.6% | 3.0% | 1.0% | −0.7% | 3.9% |
| Return on equity | — | 8.2% | 3.4% | 4.3% | 4.3% | 14.0% | 4.6% | −7.6% | −3.5% | 3.5% |
| Return on assets | — | 2.8% | 1.5% | 1.8% | 1.7% | 5.5% | 1.8% | −3.0% | −1.4% | 1.5% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 6.3x | 4.5x | 4.8x | 3.3x | 1.6x | 1.0x | 2.4x | 2.7x | 3.4x | 1.4x |