Academy Sports + Outdoors vs Sally Beauty
Academy Sports + Outdoors reported revenue of $6.1 billion in fiscal 2025, 1.6 times Sally Beauty's $3.7 billion in fiscal 2025. Academy Sports + Outdoors' revenue grew 2.0% in its latest year, and Sally Beauty's fell 0.4%. Academy Sports + Outdoors had an operating margin of 8.5%, against 8.9% at Sally Beauty. Free cash flow was $222 million at Academy Sports + Outdoors and $173 million at Sally Beauty. Their fiscal years end in different months (January 31 and September 30), so the periods don't line up exactly.
Side by side
| Academy Sports + Outdoors | Sally Beauty | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest fiscal year | FY2025, Jan 31, 2026 | FY2025, Sep 30, 2025 |
| Revenue | $6.1B | $3.7B |
| Revenue growth | 2.0% | −0.4% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 5 years | 1.2% | 1.0% |
| Gross margin | 34.8% | 51.6% |
| Operating margin | 8.5% | 8.9% |
| Net margin | 6.2% | 5.3% |
| Free cash flow | $222M | $173M |
| Free cash flow margin | 3.7% | 4.7% |
| Return on capital | 17.6% | 16.1% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.2x | 1.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $234M | $54M |
| Change in diluted share count | −6.9% | −2.9% |
| Last close | $59.61 | $17.43 |
| P/E at the last close | 10.0× | 9.1× |
| Insider trades, last 12 months | sold $7.0 million | sold $879,931 |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 of 9 | 8 of 9 |
Amounts in each company's own currency, US$ unless marked (a foreign company may report in another), each company's latest fiscal year from its 10-K, or 20-F or 40-F for a foreign company. Growth rates compare with the year before; the five-year rate is the average a year. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business; P/E is the last close over the latest earnings per share. Banks are measured differently (return on equity, efficiency ratio), so some rows apply to one company only.
Ten years
Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
Academy Sports + OutdoorsSally Beauty
Operating margin
Percent of revenue
Academy Sports + OutdoorsSally Beauty
Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure.
Academy Sports + OutdoorsSally Beauty
Source: the companies' Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR, and the last close. For information only, not investment advice: the figures describe results, not which company is the better investment. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with either company. Full figures on the Academy Sports + Outdoors and Sally Beauty pages.