Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (SBH) stock analysis
Close on Nov 12, 2026Market cap $1.72BP/E 9.1Yield –
StockData Score
Prices as of Nov 11, 2026How the score works
Mixed14 of 30 checks passed
Sally Beauty passes 14 of the 30 checks behind our score; 6 could not be run for lack of data and count as not passed. Each dot in the shape is one check — hover it for the numbers.
- Valuation
- 4/6
- Growth
- 2/6
- Past performance
- 5/6
- Financial health
- 3/6
- Dividend
- 0/6
What stands out
Margin of safety over 20%
The price is 24.6% below fair value, more than the 20% cushion we look for.
Trading below fair value
The share price of $19.22 is below our fair value estimate of $25.48.
Return on equity over 15%
Return on equity was 23.8% over the last twelve months and averaged 37.6% over five years.
Return on capital over 10%
Return on invested capital was 16.0%, above the 10% that usually covers the cost of capital.
What to watch
High debt
Debt is 88.6% of shareholders' equity, above the 40% we consider low.
Earnings shrank over 5 years
Net income shrank 3.6% a year on average over the last five fiscal years.
Revenue growing under 10% a year
Revenue grew 0.1% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.
EPS growing under 10% a year
Diluted EPS grew 6.1% a year over the last three fiscal years.
Valuation4/6
P/E above its 5-year median
Sally Beauty's P/E of 9.5 is above its own 5-year median of 7.7.
P/E below the industry
Sally Beauty's P/E of 9.5 is below the Miscellaneous Retail median of 17.9.
EV/EBITDA above its 5-year median
Sally Beauty's EV/EBITDA of 5.7 is above its 5-year median of 5.2.
P/B below the industry
Sally Beauty's price-to-book of 2.02 is below the Miscellaneous Retail median of 2.05.
Trading below fair value
The share price of $19.22 is below our fair value estimate of $25.48.
Margin of safety over 20%
The price is 24.6% below fair value, more than the 20% cushion we look for.
Growth2/6
Revenue growing under 10% a year
Revenue grew 0.1% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.
EPS growing under 10% a year
Diluted EPS grew 6.1% a year over the last three fiscal years.
Earnings growth accelerating
Net income grew 2.1% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of -3.6% a year.
Growing slower than the industry
Revenue grew 0.9% over the last twelve months; the Miscellaneous Retail median is 2.6%.
Guidance lowered
Sally Beauty lowered its Full Year Consolidated Net Sales outlook on Aug 3, 2026.
Gross margin improving
Gross margin was 52.0% over the last twelve months, against 51.6% a year earlier.
Past performance5/6
Return on equity over 15%
Return on equity was 23.8% over the last twelve months and averaged 37.6% over five years.
Return on capital over 10%
Return on invested capital was 16.0%, above the 10% that usually covers the cost of capital.
Return on equity above the industry
Sally Beauty's return on equity of 23.8% is above the Miscellaneous Retail median of -3.7%.
Earnings shrank over 5 years
Net income shrank 3.6% a year on average over the last five fiscal years.
Net margin above its 5-year average
Net margin was 5.4% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 4.9%.
Net margin above the industry
Sally Beauty's net margin of 5.4% is above the Miscellaneous Retail median of -2.5%.
Financial health3/6
High debt
Debt is 88.6% of shareholders' equity, above the 40% we consider low.
Debt falling against equity
Debt to equity fell from 493% five years ago to 88.6%.
Debt covered by cash flow
Operating cash flow over the last twelve months equals 40.9% of total debt.
Interest coverage
Interest expense is not reported separately.
Short-term assets cover short-term debts
Current assets are 2.37 times current liabilities.
Bankruptcy risk in the grey zone
The Altman Z-score is 2.99; above 3 is the safe zone and below 1.8 the distress zone.
Dividend0/6
No dividend
Sally Beauty has not paid a dividend in the last twelve months.
Yield against Treasuries
No dividend.
Yield against the market
No dividend.
Dividend stability
No dividend.
Earnings cover
No dividend.
Cash-flow cover
No dividend.
Fair value
How we estimate itOur estimate per share
$25.48
The share price is 25% below this estimate.
| Method | Multiple used | Own 5Y median | Industry median | Value per share | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 12.7× | 7.7× | 17.9× | $25.74 | 40% |
| EV/EBITDA | 8.0× | 5.2× | 10.8× | $29.74 | 35% |
| P/B | 2.1× | 2.1× | 2.1× | $19.89 | 10% |
| Earnings power | 10.4% cost of equity | – | – | $18.55 | 15% |
| Fair value | $25.48 | 100% | |||
Valuation over time
Using the earnings and balance sheet published at each date, not today's.
- P/E at month end
- Own 5-year median 7.7
- Miscellaneous Retail median 17.9
An estimate from reported numbers and market multiples, not a price target or investment advice. It can be far off for companies whose profits are about to change sharply.
Market risk
From the past year of daily prices.
Liquidity
Low risk
- Average value traded per day
- $26.19M
- Value traded per 1% price move
- $11.10M
Downside
Medium risk
- Typical loss in a bad month
- 16.8%
- Volatility (annualized)
- 44%
- Sharpe ratio, 1 year
- 0.73
- Beta to the S&P 500 (5Y)
- 1.10
Typical bad-month loss, week by week
Margins
Share of revenue, fiscal years 2012 to 2026
Gross margin
Operating margin
Net margin
Growth rates
Compound annual growth to fiscal 2026
| Per year | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years | 10 years | Five-year pace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | +0.9% | +0.1% | -0.7% | -0.6% | |
| Gross profit | +1.7% | +0.8% | -0.1% | -0.1% | |
| Operating income | -0.4% | +0.1% | -4.8% | -4.1% | |
| Net income | +2.1% | +2.7% | -3.6% | -1.1% | |
| EPS, diluted | +6.9% | +6.1% | -0.8% | +3.0% | |
| Free cash flow | +21.7% | +9.8% | -7.4% | +0.4% |
Returns and balance sheet
10 fiscal years. Hover a measure to see how it is calculated.
| Measure | FY2017 | FY2021 | FY2026 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | -67.2% | 162.0% | 23.8% | |
| Return on assets | 10.3% | 8.4% | 6.9% | |
| Current ratio | 1.99 | 2.08 | 2.37 | |
| Debt to equity | -5.14 | 4.93 | 0.89 | |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 3.05× | 1.89× | 1.47× | |
| Interest coverage | 3.6× | 4.5× | – | |
| Inventory turnover | 2.1× | 2.3× | 1.8× | |
| Capex to revenue | 2.3% | 1.9% | 3.0% | |
| Diluted shares | 138M | 114M | 99M |
Where the cash went
Fiscal 2022 to 2026, five years combined
Sally Beauty generated $1.25B from operations and spent $879.47M on capital expenditure, dividends and share buybacks. 58% of that went back into the business.
DuPont analysis
Return on equity split into margin, efficiency and leverage
| Fiscal year | Net margin | Asset turnover | Equity multiplier | Return on equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | 5.4% | 1.29× | 3.43× | 23.8% |
| FY2025 | 5.3% | 1.31× | 3.98× | 27.5% |
| FY2024 | 4.1% | 1.35× | 4.85× | 27.0% |
| FY2023 | 5.0% | 1.41× | 6.61× | 46.0% |
| FY2022 | 4.8% | 1.41× | 9.44× | 63.9% |
| FY2021 | 6.2% | 1.35× | 19.39× | 162.0% |
| FY2020 | 5.3% | 1.41× | -111.27× | -822.6% |
| FY2019 | 7.0% | 1.85× | -12.76× | -165.2% |
| FY2018 | 6.6% | 1.87× | -6.64× | -81.6% |
| FY2017 | 5.5% | 1.88× | -6.56× | -67.2% |
Piotroski F-Score
Nine tests of profitability, balance sheet and efficiency, fiscal 2026 against fiscal 2025
- ProfitableNet income above zero$200.08M
- Cash generatingOperating cash flow above zero$322.56M
- Return on assets improvedROA up on the prior year7.0% → 7.0%
- Earnings backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income$322.56M vs $200.08M
- Less leverageLong-term debt to assets fell30.0% → 27.0%
- Better liquidityCurrent ratio rose2.26 → 2.37
- No dilutionShare count did not rise104M → 99M
- Gross margin improvedGross margin up on the prior year51.62% → 52.05%
- More efficientAsset turnover rose1.33 → 1.30
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