LULU vs SBUX: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Lululemon Athletica Inc. and Starbucks Corporation — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-09-21.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. · Consumer Cyclical
$98.06
+1.5% upside to fair value
Low Conviction
Grade C
VS
Starbucks Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$96.67
+12.3% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade C
QuantHub Verdict
SBUX has more upside to fair value
(+12.3%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
LULU |
SBUX |
| Current Price |
$98.06 |
$96.67 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$99.50 |
$108.52 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+1.5%
|
+12.3%
|
| Market Cap |
$11.1B |
$110.2B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
4.6x
|
22.0x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.0x
|
2.9x
|
| Price / FCF |
8.2x
|
30.4x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
-4.3%
|
-1.4%
|
| Gross Margin |
56.1%
|
31.7%
|
| Operating Margin |
17.8%
|
9.4%
|
| Return on Equity |
29.7%
|
-24.3%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
2.57% |
| FCF Yield |
12.24%
|
3.29%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Sell
|
Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Lululemon Athletica designs and retails premium athletic apparel and accessories through company-owned stores and direct-to-consumer channels, with roughly 39,000 employees and a brand built on technical fabrics and community-led fitness positioning. The business still earns high returns on equity of 29.7% and generates $12.00 of free cash flow per share on $97.70 of revenue per share, with TTM g…
Starbucks is the world's largest specialty coffee retailer, operating company-owned and licensed coffeehouses across North America, International, and Channel Development segments, with a brand that has historically supported premium pricing and global scale. The business quality is currently strained: revenue declined 1.4% year over year in the most recent quarter, TTM operating margin is 9.4%, …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
LULU |
SBUX |
| Zone Low |
$74.62 |
$81.39 |
| Zone High |
$84.58 |
$92.24 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|