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Five Below vs Ulta Beauty: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

Ulta Beauty holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across valuation and stability. Five Below still has the edge on growth, which keeps the comparison from looking entirely one-sided. In the market, Five Below 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 stability adds another real layer to the result. Ulta Beauty, Inc. leads by 11 points on the overall comparison score.

INDUSTRY COMPARISON

Both operate in: Specialty Retail

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

For a similarity-based comparison, see how Five Below and Ulta Beauty each position within their functional peer groups in AssetNext.

Peer-Relative Score
FIVE
Five Below, Inc.
52
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.

The largest gaps do not all point in the same direction.

Dimension spread: FIVE vs ULTA Profitability 56 61 Stability 19 41 Valuation 58 81 Growth 73 60 FIVE ULTA
Gap Ranking
#1 Valuation +23
#2 Stability +22
#3 Growth +13
#4 Profitability +5
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for FIVE and ULTA Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer FIVEULTA Relative valuation Structural strength

The structural gap is limited here, but current pricing still leans against Five Below, Inc..

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

Entry today — historical context

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

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY FIVE Elevated · near norm 0th 50th 100th 20 pct gap ULTA Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 94th 75th
Today ULTA sits in the upper-middle of its own 5-year history (75th percentile), while FIVE sits higher in its own history (94th). Within each stock's own 5-year context, ULTA is at a historically more favourable entry position than FIVE. 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
Both profiles are strong on valuation, but Ulta Beauty, Inc. leads clearly.
Stability
Ulta Beauty, Inc. sits higher in the group on stability, adding to the overall structural advantage.
Valuation — Dominant Gap
FIVE
58
ULTA
81
Gap+23in favour of ULTA

The multiple-based pricing edge comes from a forward P/E that is 7.9 turns lower.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

Earnings growth also leans toward FIVE, which keeps the score lead from reading as a full growth sweep.

What this means for the comparison

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

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

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

Explore full breakdown →
Similar valuation-and-stability comparisons

Explore how FIVE 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.