Designer Brands

DBI

Apparel - Retail · Consumer Cyclical

Price

$5.72

-0.18 (-3.05%)

Market Cap

$290.4M

Winston Score

Winston is serious

Below-average fundamentals — multiple weak pillars.

Share count falling — buybacks

−36.4% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 77.3M (2022) → 49.1M (2026)

Designer Brands Inc. is a footwear and accessories retailer that sells shoes, handbags, and related products to everyday shoppers. It operates the DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse chain, which is one of the largest footwear retailers in the United States, offering a wide selection of brand-name and designer shoes at moderate prices. The company also designs and sells its own private-label brands, giving it some control over what products end up on its shelves.

The company makes money primarily through retail sales at its roughly 500 DSW stores across the U.S. and Canada, as well as through its e-commerce website. With a gross margin above 43%, it keeps a decent share of each sale, but its operating margin of just 1.7% shows how much of that gets eaten up by store costs and overhead. The main risk the business faces is intense competition from online giants like Amazon and off-price retailers, which puts constant pressure on pricing and customer traffic.

Winston Score History

Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+0.0% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow revenue growth

EPS Growth

+43.7% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (4%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

43.3%ownership

↑ Rising

Insiders increasing their stake — aligned with shareholders

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$51M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Growth context

Designer Brands is growing revenue at 0% year-over-year. The Winston Score measures business quality today — these growth metrics show what could matter tomorrow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

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Quality

Gross Margin

42.4%

Healthy — 42.4% gross margin

Operating Margin

-1.1%

Losing money on operations — -1.1%

ROCE

-1.1%

Weak — -1.1% return on capital

Negative ROIC means the business is losing money on every dollar invested in it.

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Growth

Sales YoY

-2.4%

Shrinking sales (-2.4% YoY)

EPS YoY

N/A

Data not available

EPS Consistency

2/8 quarters

Earnings rarely grow — volatile business

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion

N/A

Data not available

FCF Margin

5.7%

Thin free cash flow (5.7%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

Debt / Equity

1.54

Elevated debt (1.54)

Interest Cover

0.78x

Dangerous — barely covers interest (0.8x)

Interest coverage below 1. Their profits don't cover the interest bill.

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

25.5x

Growth-priced — P/E 25.5

P/E above the market average. People are paying up for expected growth.

P/E vs Forward

+11.3

GROWING

Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (25.5 → 14.2)

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Dividends

Dividend Yield

3.62%

Moderate income — 3.62% yield

Standard yield zone for stable dividend payers. A meaningful piece of total return.

Dividend Growth

+0.0%

Dividend flat

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