Home Compare CASY vs ULTA
Stock Comparison · Industry comparison · Specialty Retail

Casey's General Stores vs Ulta Beauty: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

Ulta Beauty holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across valuation and profitability. Casey's General Stores still has the edge on stability, which keeps the comparison from looking entirely one-sided. In the market, Casey's General Stores carries the stronger setup — intact trend against Ulta Beauty's broken trend. That leaves a split case: the structural lead stays with Ulta Beauty, but the market is not currently confirming it.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the Russell 1000 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-05-17

The clearest separation starts in valuation, but profitability adds another real layer to the result. The overall score gap is 21 points in favour of Ulta Beauty, Inc..

INDUSTRY COMPARISON

Both operate in: Specialty Retail

This comparison is based on industry proximity, not on functional trajectory similarity. CASY and ULTA share the same industry classification.

For a similarity-based comparison, see how Casey's General Stores and Ulta Beauty each position within their functional peer groups in AssetNext.

Peer-Relative Score
CASY
Casey's General Stores, Inc.
42
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000
vs
ULTA
Ulta Beauty, Inc.
63
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

Score differences across key dimensions.

Dimension spread: CASY vs ULTA Profitability 24 61 Stability 78 41 Valuation 39 81 Growth 41 60 CASY ULTA
Gap Ranking
#1 Valuation +42
#2 Profitability +37
#3 Stability +37
#4 Growth +19
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for CASY and ULTA Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer CASYULTA Relative valuation Structural strength

The two profiles are relatively close, but the price setup still leans toward Ulta Beauty, Inc..

Valuation position uses peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Entry today — historical context

Where CASY and ULTA each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY CASY Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 24 pct gap ULTA Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 99th 75th
Today ULTA sits in the upper-middle of its own 5-year history (75th percentile), while CASY sits higher in its own history (99th). Within each stock's own 5-year context, ULTA is at a historically more favourable entry position than CASY. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger — peer-relative analysis is a separate question addressed above.

Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Valuation
On valuation, Ulta Beauty, Inc. ranks near the top of the group; Casey's General Stores, Inc. sits in the weaker half.
Profitability
Ulta Beauty, Inc. sits in the stronger part of the group on profitability, while Casey's General Stores, Inc. is closer to mid-pack.
Valuation — Dominant Gap
CASY
39
ULTA
81
Gap+42in favour of ULTA

The multiple-based pricing edge comes from a forward P/E that is 27 turns lower.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

There is still a strong counterforce in stability, so the lead stays clear without becoming a sweep.

What this means for the comparison

The lead is built on both valuation and profitability — though stability still provides a counterweight.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the CASY vs ULTA comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

Explore full breakdown →
Other comparisons with conflicting dimension signals

Explore how CASY and ULTA each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.