Quality Investor

Ralph Lauren Corporation

Rank #26Capital ReturnWatchlistCompare with other stocks

RL · NYSE · Consumer Cyclical

Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL) — Rank #26 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.74) · ROE 34.6% · Piotroski F-Score 8 / 9.

As-of 2026-10-30 · CIK 0001037038 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Ralph Lauren Corporation designs, markets, and distributes lifestyle products in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally.

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The company offers apparel, including a range of men's, women's, and children's clothing; footwear and accessories, which comprise casual shoes, dress shoes, boots, sneakers, sandals, eyewear, watches, fashion and fine jewelry, scarves, hats, gloves, and umbrellas, as well as leather goods comprising handbags, luggage, small leather goods, and belts; home products, such as bed and bath lines, furniture, fabric and wall coverings, lighting, dining, floor coverings, decorative accessories, and giftware; and fragrances. The company sells apparel and accessories under the Ralph Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Lauren Ralph Lauren, RLX Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children, and Chaps brands; women's fragrances under the Ralph Lauren Collection, Woman by Ralph Lauren, Romance Collection, and Ralph Collection brand names; and men's fragrances under the Ralph's Club, Purple Label, Polo Blue, Polo Red, Polo Green, Polo Black, Polo 67, Safari, Polo Sport, and Big Pony Men's brand names. Its restaurant collection includes The Polo Bar in New York City; RL Restaurant in Chicago; Ralph's in Paris; The Bar at Ralph Lauren located in Milan; Ralph's Bar located in Chengdu, China; and Ralph's Coffee concept. The company sells its products to department stores, specialty stores, and golf and pro shops, as well as directly to consumers through its retail stores, concession-based shop-within-shops, and its digital commerce sites. It operates retail stores and concession-based shop-within-shops; and operates Ralph Lauren stores and shops through licensing partners.

Ralph Lauren Corporation was founded in 1967 and is based in New York, New York.

Industry
Apparel Manufacturing
Sector
Consumer Cyclical
State
DE
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
March 28

Company Snapshot

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

Market Cap

—

P/E (annual)

—

P/S (annual)

—

P/B

—

P/OCF (annual)

—

Shareholder Yield

—

Employees

15,600

Industry

Apparel Manufacturing

Exchange

NYSE

8/9

Flags passed

RL passes 8/9 quality flags

1 caution to review

  • CAUTION
    Disclosure regression

    A previously-disclosed line item is no longer reported — worth checking the filing for why

  • PASS
    Gross margin holding
  • PASS
    Dilution within 2%
  • PASS
    Revenue not declining
  • PASS
    Operating margin holding
  • PASS
    Passes safety gate
  • PASS
    Balance sheet stable
  • PASS
    SBC not compressing margin
  • PASS
    No valuation convergence

Strengths Revenue growth accelerating · Operating leverage expanding · Deferred revenue growing · Sequential beat (rev + EPS)

No data FCF vs investment · Free cash flow · Competitive position — not counted as a pass.

A count of the 12 warning flags that could be evaluated. Unweighted: colour follows the worst flag.

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.74
Return on equity
34.6%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
1.81
Current ratio
2.04×
Net cash
$702.20M

Cash Flow

1/1 pass
Positive FCF
N/A
Cash-backed earnings
N/A
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
1.4%

Growth

2/2 pass
Revenue growth
14.6%
Piotroski F-Score
8 / 9
Share dilution
-2.7%

FCF yield, shareholder yield, and buyback activity are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Does it make money well?

No warning flags · GP/assets 0.74

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.74

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

Return on equity

34.6%

Gross margin

69.9%

Revenue growth (YoY)

14.6%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2023202420252026
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

8.0%

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

13.0%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

21.7%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

—

Cash Flow Health

Is the cash real?

No data

Free cash flow

—

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

N/A

FCF vs net income

—

(FCF − net income) ÷ |net income|. Positive: cash above earnings. Negative: below.

FCF not below net income

Fails when free cash flow is below net income (yellow flag).

N/A

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

1.4%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Balance Sheet Strength

Can it survive a storm?

No warning flags · net cash $702.20M, F-Score 8/9

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

1.81

Current ratio

2.04×

Quick ratio

1.24×

Net cash

$702.20M

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Piotroski F-Score

8 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Valuation

Is the price reasonable?

No warning flags

Valuation History

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

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

24.8xExpensive
11.3xmed 17.5x24.8x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

2.9xExpensive
1.1xmed 1.9x2.9x

P / B

Price / book value per share

8.2xExpensive
2.7xmed 4.0x8.2x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

4.1xExpensive
1.6xmed 2.8x4.1x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

N/A
12.3xmed 17.4x40.7x

Dividend safety

Composite score

2.5 / 5

Fair
Payout ratio
23.0%5/5 Strong
FCF coverage
N/A0/5 Weak
Dividend growth streak
2 yr1/5 Weak
Balance-sheet health
D/E 1.81 · IC 21.76×4/5 Strong

Capital allocation quality

Composite score

2.0 / 5

Fair
Share count trend(net buybacks)
-2.7%4/5 Strong
Buyback timing
vs own P/E history0/5 Weak
Dividend growth consistency
2 yr1/5 Weak
Net debt trajectory
-1.5%3/5 Good

Flag: heavy buybacks timed at a peak valuation.

Lifecycle Phase History

20212026
Decline
Hypergrowth
Capital Return
Value

Price History

RL+245.5% · +28.0% CAGRSPY+84.0% · +12.9% CAGR