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DESIGNER BRANDS INC.

DBI · Consumer Discretionary · $268M mkt cap · FY2026 filings · Shallow moat ·

Price verdict withheld — value if growth stopped today unreliable

Shallow moat
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The five investor questions

30

2022–2026 (latest 5 aligned FYs; v3 window cap 5): revenue $3.2B to $2.9B, decreasing; diluted EPS 2.00 to -0.17, decreasing.

27

Median gross margin 31.5% over 10y, variable.

73

Median ROIC 17.9%, above the 12% hurdle in 50% of years.

51

Net debt/EBITDA 3.5x, no material interest expense disclosed.

40

Owner earnings changed -18.8%/yr over up to the ten most recent annual observations.

Price vs. value if growth stopped today

A cautious baseline, not a price target: what the shares may support if normalized owner earnings simply hold steady.

Above value if growth stopped todayBelow value if growth stopped today
40% below value if growth stopped today
$40.2M
$9.09
$9.09
$5.46
40% below value if growth stopped today

A discount this large is often a warning rather than a bargain — the market may expect earnings to keep falling. See the revenue trend above.

How to read this

What today’s price assumes: owner earnings shrinking ~10%/yr over 5 years. The estimate assumes owner earnings stay flat (0% growth).

We solve for the constant annual change in owner earnings that would make the five-year zero-growth estimate equal today’s price. This keeps the existing model inputs and calculation unchanged; it is an expectations lens, not a forecast.

This zero-growth estimate assumes trailing owner earnings persist — unreliable for declining businesses. DBI revenue fell in each of the three most recent year-over-year FY comparisons, so this estimate is flagged as unreliable for this company.

Among the current top-score group, the median current price is 239% above the zero-growth estimate across 48 of the current top 50 companies by Moat Score with both values.

Score records captured Jul 26, 2026.

Exactly which 50 companies?

FTNT, META, MEDP, IBEX, MSFT, GOOGL, LULU, ANF, IDXX, TXRH, FHI, QLYS, FFIV, ADBE, LLY, MANH, VEEV, GRMN, SSD, MNST, DOCS, MCO, CPRT, NTAP, LRCX, NVDA, CORT, SFM, MPTI, ULTA, SN, RMD, ROL, PAYC, IRMD, INTU, DECK, MORN, LGCY, DAL, GWW, ISRG, MPWR, CTAS, LOPE, MRK, CMG, FAST, BKNG, ORLY

Missing a usable price or zero-growth estimate: ANF, BKNG.

Model details under moat-index@3.0.0: zero-growth multiple 11.1×, capped-growth comparison at no more than 18×; 9% discount rate; high-end growth 0% (capped at 4%) using min(5y revenue CAGR, 5y diluted-EPS CAGR), clamped to 0%–4%; maintenance capex uses min(capex, D&A); abstain when D&A is unavailable. This is a disclosed model range, not intrinsic value as fact.

18 years of fundamentals

The business, in plain English

DESIGNER BRANDS INC. booked $2.9B of revenue in FY2026 in the Consumer Discretionary sector and kept 43.6% of it as gross profit — a solid-margin business by that measure. After every other cost, −0.3% of each revenue dollar reached the bottom line.

Across the filed record, revenue grew from $1.6B (FY2010) to $2.9B (FY2026) — about 3.8% a year compounded over 16 years.

It earned 4.7% on invested capital in the latest filed year, FY2026. Across the full 14-year measurable filed record, median ROIC was 18.7%. Over the v3 recent window (8 measurable filed years), median ROIC was 17.9%. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 73/100.

The balance sheet carried $428M of total debt in FY2026 against $19.1M of owner earnings — roughly 22.4 years of owner earnings to retire it all. Balance-Sheet Safety scores it 51/100.

Put together: Returns on Capital is the strongest of the five filters (73/100) and Pricing Power the weakest (27/100), which is how DBI lands at 44/100 — a Shallow moat.

This breakdown is generated from the filed numbers and sub-scores above — no outside narrative, no estimates. Where a filing doesn’t disclose an input, the sentence that would need it is omitted instead of guessed.

FY2009–FY2026 · 18 fiscal years, normalized from DBI’s SEC filings

Sales, as filed$2.9B FY2026
$0$2B2009201520212026
Revenue kept after cost of goods43.6% FY2026
0%20%40%2009201520212026
Standard ROIC or separately labeled Operating ROICROIC 4.7% FY2026

Not meaningful FY2018: invested capital is negative (cash exceeds debt + equity)

−200%0%2009201520212026
Cash an owner could take out$19.1M FY2026
−$250M$02009201520212026

The explained ROIC gaps have filed inputs but no meaningful positive invested-capital denominator. Other gaps mean the item is not in the filings for that year. The series is never interpolated or estimated. The Table view lists every filed value, including operating and net margins, total debt, and share count.

Flagship explainer

How DESIGNER BRANDS INC. makes its money

DESIGNER BRANDS INC.'s filing does not supply enough comparable lines for a truthful flow chart — here's what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of revenueSource
$2.9B100%
$1.3B44%
$47.8M2%
Income before tax$2.2M0%
Income tax$7M0%
−$8.4M−0%
Source: · event Jan 31, 2026 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Flagship explainer

What DESIGNER BRANDS INC. owns — and owes

DESIGNER BRANDS INC.'s filing tags don't support a full breakdown — here's what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of assetsSource
Total assets$1.9B100%
Cash and equivalents$50.9M3%
$428M22%
Stockholders’ equity$282M15%
Source: · event Jan 31, 2026 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Flagship explainer

What drives DESIGNER BRANDS INC.’s return on equity?

ROE is five filed business factors multiplied together.

DuPont return on equity factor treeReturn on equity branches into tax burden, interest burden, operating margin, asset turnover, and the equity multiplier.Return on equity−3%Tax burden−375%net income ÷ pretax incomeInterest burden5%pretax ÷ operating incomeOperating margin2%operating income ÷ revenueAsset turnover1.46×revenue ÷ average assetsEquity multiplier7.05×average assets ÷ average equityAs of 2026-01-31 · 2 SEC filing sourcesBuy Like Buffett · buylikebuffett.com
DuPont source inputs
InputValueFiscal yearSource
−$8.4MFY2026
Income before tax$2.2MFY2026
Operating income$47.8MFY2026
$2.9BFY2026
Ending assets$1.9BFY2026
Beginning assets$2.0BFY2025
$282MFY2026
$278MFY2025
Source:
  • SEC filingFiling detailsAccession 0001319947-25-000012
  • SEC filingFiling detailsAccession 0001319947-26-000022
· event Jan 31, 2026 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set
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Flagship explainer

Where DESIGNER BRANDS INC.'s cash went

DESIGNER BRANDS INC.’s filing does not supply enough provenance-matched cash-flow lines for a truthful flow chart — here’s what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of cash from operationsSource
Cash from operations$110M100%
Depreciation and amortization$59.1M54%
Source: · event Jan 31, 2026 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Curated 19-manager tier

Who reported holding DESIGNER BRANDS INC.

Delayed public 13F reports for 2026-Q2—not live positions, trades, or recommendations.

0 holding0 exited0 not holding0/19 resolved19 unavailable

Named manager positions and quarter-over-quarter changes
ManagerReported positionQuarter-over-quarterFiling accession
Abrams CapitalUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Akre CapitalUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Baupost GroupUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Berkshire HathawayUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Brave Warrior AdvisorsUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Dodge & CoxUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
First EagleUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
FundsmithUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Gardner Russo & QuinnUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Gates Foundation TrustUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Mairs & PowerUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Markel / Markel-GaynerUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Oakmark / Harris AssociatesUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Pershing SquareUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Polen CapitalUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Sequoia / Ruane CunniffUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Southeastern Asset ManagementUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Tweedy, BrowneUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Yacktman Asset ManagementUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable

Position size uses shares and filed value from each manager’s 13F. Portfolio weight uses the eligible long-share filing denominator. Changes compare only with the immediately preceding calendar quarter.

Source: Filing source unavailable · event Jun 30, 2026 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026

Flagship explainer

What DESIGNER BRANDS INC. insiders reported

Insider activity is unavailable from the source; no zero-activity claim is shown.

Unavailable: Form 4 activity could not be retrieved for this rendering.

Moat Score history

15 logged readings since Jul 17, 2026 · append-only, never rewritten

Moat Score over timeLast scored reading of each day, on the 0–100 scale44.3 / 100
0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatJul 17, 2026Jul 26, 2026

Breaks in the line mark methodology or normalizer upgrades — readings across versions aren’t compared, so a level shift there isn’t a change in the business.

Tier changesSame-methodology and same-normalizer crossings of the Wide / Narrow / Shallow bars

  1. Normalizer upgraded unstamped (version unknown)moat-xbrl-normalizer@1.1.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 26, 2026
  2. Methodology upgraded moat-index@2.0.0moat-index@3.0.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 23, 2026
  3. Methodology upgraded moat-index@1.2.0moat-index@2.0.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 20, 2026

Scores are logged append-only and never overwritten — this record cannot be reconstructed retroactively, which is exactly why it’s worth keeping.

Insider activity

Form 4 reports mix P/S market or private transactions with compensation-plan mechanics. Activity casually described as “insider selling” can include compensation mechanics; awards, tax withholding, and option exercises are shown by their exact filed class here, never collapsed into “Bought” or “Sold.”

These are disclosed filing facts and arithmetic aggregates, not a signal or verdict.

The insider-filing service is temporarily unavailable, so no partial or guessed answer is shown for DBI.

Track record

How DESIGNER BRANDS INC.’s moat rated in each of the years we can reconstruct from its filings — scored only on what was knowable at the time — and what its price and returns did afterward. The score never saw a price; the two are joined only in hindsight, for education, not as a signal.

Point-in-time scores 2011–2025, one methodology version · reconstructed from filings on file each Dec 31 — never with hindsight

Point-in-time Moat Score (dot colored by tier)Indexed price (total-return (dividends reinvested))Rated Wide-moat that year

How to read this: each dot is what the engine would have scored DBI on that December 31; the line below is its total-return price path (dividends reinvested) in the years since.

0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatPoint-in-time Moat Score50100200Indexed price · log scale (2012 = 100)201120142017202020232026

Two tracks, one timeline: the score has its own 0–100 scale (top), the price its own 100-based scale (bottom) — never a shared axis. The price path is a total-return (dividends reinvested) index built from the same data the forward returns use; gaps in the score line are years with no reconstructed rating (see the table for why). The Table view carries every value.

What followed, in the years it rated Wide

In the reconstructed history shown, DBI did not rate Wide-moat in any year, so there is no wide-moat track record to report. That absence is itself the honest answer — we don’t manufacture a comparison where the rating never earned one.

Consumer Discretionary context

#257 of 487 scored Consumer Discretionary companies, ranked by Moat Score.

Nearest peers by Moat Score

  1. #255SVV Savers Value Village, Inc.44.4Shallow moat
  2. #256MGM MGM Resorts International44.3Shallow moat
  3. #258KPEA KUN PENG INTERNATIONAL LTD.44.2Shallow moat
  4. #259RAIL FREIGHTCAR AMERICA, INC.44.1Shallow moat

Compare DBI with its nearest peers →All Consumer Discretionary companies on the Index →

Common questions about DBI

Does DESIGNER BRANDS INC. have an economic moat?
Based on its FY2026 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores DESIGNER BRANDS INC. (DBI) 44.3 out of 100 — a Shallow moat. The five questions behind that score begin at 20% each; if exactly one genuinely lacks data, the other four weights are renormalized and disclosed. revenue and EPS trend 30, pricing power 27, returns on capital 73, balance-sheet safety 51, capital allocation 40.
Is DBI trading below the conservative owner-earnings estimate?
The value if growth stopped today — a zero-growth baseline — is $9.09 per share. It capitalizes normalized owner earnings at a 9% rate and assumes 0% growth. Versus a recent price of $5.46, that is 40% below value if growth stopped today. The model also publishes a capped-growth comparison, but the zero-growth estimate is the cautious baseline. It assumes trailing owner earnings persist and is unreliable for declining businesses. This is an educational estimate from primary SEC filings, not intrinsic value as a fact or investment advice.
How has DBI's Moat Score changed over time?
The record logs 15 readings since Jul 17, 2026; the latest reads 44.3 out of 100 (shallow moat). No tier changes on record yet. (Methodology or normalizer upgrades on Jul 20, 2026, Jul 23, 2026, Jul 26, 2026 re-based the score; readings across versions aren't compared.) The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.

Scored from primary SEC filings via the public methodology. Educational only — not a recommendation to buy or sell DBI. See the disclaimer.