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SALLY BEAUTY HOLDINGS, INC.

SBH · Consumer Discretionary · $1.4B mkt cap · FY2025 filings · Narrow moat ·

Price verdict withheld — value if growth stopped today unreliable

Narrow moat
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The five investor questions

43

2021–2025 (latest 5 aligned FYs; v3 window cap 5): revenue $3.9B to $3.7B, decreasing; diluted EPS 2.10 to 1.89, decreasing.

85

Median gross margin 50.1% over 10y, very stable.

100

Median ROIC 20.0%, above the 12% hurdle in 100% of years.

40

Net debt/EBITDA 1.7x, interest coverage 5x.

53

Owner earnings changed -1.4%/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
34% below value if growth stopped today
$196M
$22.24
$25.15
$14.64
34% 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 ~8%/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. SBH 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 1% (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.

19 years of fundamentals

The business, in plain English

SALLY BEAUTY HOLDINGS, INC. booked $3.7B of revenue in FY2025 in the Consumer Discretionary sector and kept 51.6% of it as gross profit — a solid-margin business by that measure. After every other cost, 5.3% of each revenue dollar reached the bottom line.

Across the filed record, revenue grew from $2.6B (FY2008) to $3.7B (FY2025) — about 2.0% a year compounded over 17 years.

It earned 16.1% on invested capital in the latest filed year, FY2025. Across the full 17-year measurable filed record, median ROIC was 22.8%. Over the v3 recent window (10 measurable filed years), median ROIC was 20.0%. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 100/100.

The balance sheet carried $866M of total debt in FY2025 against $196M of owner earnings — roughly 4.4 years of owner earnings to retire it all. Balance-Sheet Safety scores it 40/100.

Put together: Returns on Capital is the strongest of the five filters (100/100) and Balance-Sheet Safety the weakest (40/100), which is how SBH lands at 64/100 — a Narrow 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.

FY2007–FY2025 · 19 fiscal years, normalized from SBH’s SEC filings

Sales, as filed$3.7B FY2025
$0$2B$4B2007201320192025
Revenue kept after cost of goods51.6% FY2025
0%20%40%2007201320192025
Standard ROIC or separately labeled Operating ROICROIC 16.1% FY2025
0%10%20%2007201320192025
Cash an owner could take out$196M FY2025
$0$200M2007201320192025

Gaps in a line mean that item isn’t in SBH’s 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 SALLY BEAUTY HOLDINGS, INC. makes its money

Start with a dollar of revenue and follow what the filing says remains.

revenueBranching filed flows with values and percentages directly labeled. Missing filing concepts are omitted rather than estimated.Revenue$3.7B · 100%Cost of revenue$1.8B · 48%Gross profit$1.9B · 52%Operating income$328M · 9%Income before tax$263M · 7%Income tax$67.5M · 2%Net income$196M · 5%As of 2025-09-30 · 1 SEC filing sourceBuy Like Buffett · buylikebuffett.com

Honest partial: the filing did not provide a normalized tag for Research and development, Selling, general and administrative; those components are omitted, not plugged.

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of revenueSource
$3.7B100%
Cost of revenue$1.8B48%
$1.9B52%
$328M9%
Income before tax$263M7%
Income tax$67.5M2%
$196M5%
Source: · event Sep 30, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set
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Flagship explainer

What SALLY BEAUTY HOLDINGS, INC. owns — and owes

SALLY BEAUTY HOLDINGS, INC.'s filing tags don't support a full breakdown — here's what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of assetsSource
Total assets$2.9B100%
Cash and equivalents$149M5%
$866M30%
Stockholders’ equity$794M28%
Source: · event Sep 30, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Flagship explainer

What drives SALLY BEAUTY HOLDINGS, 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 equity28%Tax burden74%net income ÷ pretax incomeInterest burden80%pretax ÷ operating incomeOperating margin9%operating income ÷ revenueAsset turnover1.31×revenue ÷ average assetsEquity multiplier3.98×average assets ÷ average equityAs of 2025-09-30 · 1 SEC filing sourceBuy Like Buffett · buylikebuffett.com
DuPont source inputs
InputValueFiscal yearSource
$196MFY2025
Income before tax$263MFY2025
Operating income$328MFY2025
$3.7BFY2025
Ending assets$2.9BFY2025
Beginning assets$2.8BFY2024
$794MFY2025
$629MFY2024
Source:
  • SEC filingFiling detailsAccession 0001193125-25-280122
· event Sep 30, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set
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Flagship explainer

Where SALLY BEAUTY HOLDINGS, INC.'s cash went

SALLY BEAUTY HOLDINGS, 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$275M100%
Depreciation and amortization$99.9M36%
Source: · event Sep 30, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Curated 19-manager tier

Who reported holding SALLY BEAUTY HOLDINGS, INC.

Delayed public 13F reports for 2026-Q1—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 Mar 31, 2026 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026

Flagship explainer

What SALLY BEAUTY HOLDINGS, INC. insiders reported

Records still being gathered — partial as of retrieval Aug 11, 2026.

Partial coverage: the incomplete Form 4 walk cannot establish no activity, an activity date, or zero counts.

Moat Score history

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

Moat Score over timeLast scored reading of each day, on the 0–100 scale63.9 / 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.

This machine-readable surface covers SEC ownership filings from 2003; it does not represent earlier paper-era records.

Records still being gathered — partial as of retrieval Aug 11, 2026.

Trailing-12-month totals and the 90-day cluster result are withheld because this issuer walk is incomplete.

No reported Form 4 rows were captured for SBH; the incomplete walk cannot establish zero activity, zero counts, or a negative cluster result.

A filing source-event date will appear when a Form 4 row is captured.

Retrieved .

Track record

How SALLY BEAUTY HOLDINGS, 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 SBH on that December 31; the line below is its total-return price path (dividends reinvested) in the years since.

0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatPoint-in-time Moat Score50100Indexed 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 1 year SBH rated Wide-moat (2013), the median forward total return that followed — measured only after each year’s filings were public — was:

  • 1 year −0% vs the S&P 500’s 12% (price basis) · median over 1 year
  • 3 years −14% vs the S&P 500’s 23% (price basis) · median over 1 year
  • 5 years −43% vs the S&P 500’s 37% (price basis) · median over 1 year

These are medians computed from the data, not a claim about any one year. The company figures are total returns (dividends reinvested); the S&P 500 is the price-only ^GSPC index, which excludes dividends and so understates the index — the gap flatters the company. A quality rating is not a return forecast, and past returns don’t predict future ones. Educational only, not investment advice.

Consumer Discretionary context

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

Nearest peers by Moat Score

  1. #106WLDN Willdan Group, Inc.64.2Narrow moat
  2. #107TTEK TETRA TECH, INC.64.1Narrow moat
  3. #109YUM YUM! BRANDS, INC.63.5Narrow moat
  4. #110TILE INTERFACE INC63.2Narrow moat

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

Common questions about SBH

Does SALLY BEAUTY HOLDINGS, INC. have an economic moat?
Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores SALLY BEAUTY HOLDINGS, INC. (SBH) 63.9 out of 100 — a Narrow 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 43, pricing power 85, returns on capital 100, balance-sheet safety 40, capital allocation 53.
Is SBH trading below the conservative owner-earnings estimate?
The value if growth stopped today — a zero-growth baseline — is $22.24 per share. It capitalizes normalized owner earnings at a 9% rate and assumes 0% growth. Versus a recent price of $14.64, that is 34% 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 SBH's Moat Score changed over time?
The record logs 16 readings since Jul 17, 2026; the latest reads 63.9 out of 100 (narrow 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 SBH. See the disclaimer.