Quality Investor

Columbia Sportswear Company

Rank #50Op. Leverage

COLM · Nasdaq · Consumer Cyclical

Columbia Sportswear Company (COLM) — Rank #50 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.61) · ROE 11.1% · Piotroski F-Score 5 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0001050797 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Columbia Sportswear Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, marketing, and distribution of outdoor, active, and lifestyle products in the United States, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Canada.

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It provides apparel, accessories, and equipment for hiking, trail running, snow, fishing, hunting, and outdoor activities. The company also offers footwear products that include hiking boots; trail running shoes; rugged cold weather boots; sandals and shoes for use in water activities; and footwear for lifestyle wear. It serves its products through wholesale distribution channel comprising small independently operated specialty outdoor and sporting goods stores, sporting goods chains, department store chains, internet retailers, and international distributors, as well as through direct-to-consumer distribution channel, including a network of branded, outlet, temporary clearance and employee retail stores, brand-specific e-commerce sites, and shop-in-shop retail locations. It sells its products under the Columbia, Mountain Hardwear, PRANA, and SOREL brands.

Columbia Sportswear Company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.

Industry
Apparel Manufacturing
Sector
Consumer Cyclical
State
OR
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
December 31

Price History

COLM-40.2% · -9.8% CAGRSPY+80.5% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/E and reverse DCF are the primary valuation lenses at this stage.

Market Cap

$2.89B

P/E (annual)

17.4

P/S (annual)

0.8

P/B

1.8

P/OCF (annual)

10.2

Shareholder Yield

24.5%

Employees

9,620

Industry

Apparel Manufacturing

Exchange

Nasdaq

Signal Flags

2 green1 red
Revenue growth acceleratingGrowth rate increasing year over year
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 2-quarter streak
Operating margin decliningOperating margin lower than prior year

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.61
Return on equity
11.1%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
0.75
Current ratio
2.49×
Net cash
$624.60M

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
0.7%

Growth

2/2 pass
Revenue growth
21.2%
Piotroski F-Score
5 / 9
Share dilution
-22.2%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 2/5 Terry Smith thresholds

1 of 5 threshold not computable from filed data.

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

3.1%

incredible deal

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Buyback tailwind: -22.2% — per-share value needs a total required return of -19.1% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 12.6%

within its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

-1.0%

r = 10% (base)

3.1%

r = 12%

6.6%

Net debt / market cap: -20.2%

Base FCF: $216.7M3Y mean FCF: $203.3M

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

17.3xCheap
17.3xmed 33.0x70.3x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

2.0xCheap
1.9xmed 2.7x3.1x

P / B

Price / book value per share

3.1xCheap
3.1xmed 4.1x4.7x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

3.8xCheap
3.8xmed 5.5x6.7x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

19.2xCheap
19.2xmed 30.6x35.4x

Operating margin expansion and free cash flow are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.61

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

Return on equity

11.1%

Gross margin

50.5%

Revenue growth (YoY)

21.2%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2018201920202021
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

6.3%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

FCF CAGR (3Y)

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

0.75

Current ratio

2.49×

Quick ratio

1.20×

Net cash

$624.60M

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$216.74M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

0.22

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

0.7%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

2.8 / 5

Fair
Payout ratio
37.0%4/5 Strong
FCF coverage
3.31×5/5 Strong
Dividend growth streak
0 yr0/5 Weak
Balance-sheet health
D/E 0.75 · IC N/A2/5 Fair

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

5 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20162021
Op. Leverage
Capital Return
Decline