ANF · Consumer discretionary(retail-family clothing stores) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2026-01-31
Signed in, this page also says what this company is inside your own portfolio: its weight, its share of your risk, and what buying or selling some of it would change. Sign in ›
Abercrombie & Fitch Co reported revenue of $5.3 billion in fiscal 2026, after growing 4.2% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin widened from 1.9% in 2020 to 13.3%. Of the $3.0 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 42.6% went to buybacks and 38.7% back into the business; the share count fell 26.3%. On the accounting screens, it passes 5 of 7 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 6.43 is in the safe zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; 1 of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 20265.3B+4.2% a year over 9 years
Operating margin13.3%gross margin —
Return on invested capital—24.0% on average over 4 years
Free cash flow after stock pay339.3M6.4% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA—net debt —
Piotroski F-score5/7tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
-2B02B4B6B
2020Revenue 3.6BOperating income 70.1M
2020
2020
2020
2021Revenue 3.1BOperating income -20.5M
2022Revenue 3.7BOperating income 343.1M
2023Revenue 3.7BOperating income 92.6M
2024Revenue 4.3BOperating income 484.7M
2025Revenue 4.9BOperating income 740.8M
2026Revenue 5.3BOperating income 699.1M
2020202020202020202120222023202420252026
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+12.5%
+11.0%
+4.2%
Operating income
+96.1%
—
+29.1%
Net income
+464.6%
—
+32.8%
Earnings per share
+479.2%
—
+37.4%
Free cash flow per share
—
+10.0%
+20.2%
Shares
-2.5%
-5.0%
-3.3%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
GrossOperatingNetFree cash flow
-5%0%5%10%15%
2020Operating 1.9%Net 1.1%Free cash flow 2.7%
2020
2020
2020
2021Operating -0.7%Net -3.6%Free cash flow 9.7%
2022Operating 9.2%Net 7.1%Free cash flow 4.9%
2023Operating 2.5%Net 0.1%Free cash flow -4.5%
2024Operating 11.3%Net 7.7%Free cash flow 11.6%
2025Operating 15.0%Net 11.4%Free cash flow 10.7%
2026Operating 13.3%Net 9.6%Free cash flow 7.2%
2020202020202020202120222023202420252026
Return on invested capital
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 10.2%
-20%0%20%40%60%
2020Return on invested capital -16.5%
2020
2020
2020
2021Return on invested capital -3.6%
2022Return on invested capital 26.5%
2023Return on invested capital 1.4%
2024Return on invested capital 26.7%
2025Return on invested capital 41.4%
2026
2020202020202020202120222023202420252026
Economic profit
Economic profit
-400M-200M0200M400M600M
2020Economic profit -345.2M
2020
2020
2020
2021Economic profit -176.9M
2022Economic profit 184.2M
2023Economic profit -87.2M
2024Economic profit 206.9M
2025Economic profit 416.4M
2026
2020202020202020202120222023202420252026
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
36.1%
Return on assets
14.3%
Asset turnover
1.49×
Overheads (SG&A)
13.8% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
-200M0200M400M600M
2020Net income 39.4MFree cash flow 97.9MAfter stock-based pay 83.9M
2020
2020
2020
2021Net income -114.0MFree cash flow 303.0MAfter stock-based pay 284.3M
2022Net income 263.0MFree cash flow 180.8MAfter stock-based pay 151.5M
2023Net income 2.8MFree cash flow -166.9MAfter stock-based pay -195.9M
2024Net income 328.1MFree cash flow 495.6MAfter stock-based pay 455.5M
2025Net income 566.2MFree cash flow 527.5MAfter stock-based pay 488.8M
2026Net income 506.9MFree cash flow 378.4MAfter stock-based pay 339.3M
2020202020202020202120222023202420252026
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2020–2026
3.0B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 39%1.1B
Acquisitions 0%0
Dividends 2%64.1M
Share buybacks 43%1.3B
Kept, or used to pay down debt 17%489.4M
Over the same years it paid 208.8M in stock. The share count fell 26.3%. 1.1B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
-$5$0$5$10$15
2020Earnings per share $0.60Free cash flow per share $1.49Dividend per share $0.78
2020
2020
2020
2021Earnings per share $-1.82Free cash flow per share $4.84Dividend per share $0.20
2022Earnings per share $4.20Free cash flow per share $2.89Dividend per share $0.00
2023Earnings per share $0.05Free cash flow per share $-3.19Dividend per share $0.00
2024Earnings per share $6.22Free cash flow per share $9.40
2025Earnings per share $10.69Free cash flow per share $9.96
2026Earnings per share $10.46Free cash flow per share $7.81
2020202020202020202120222023202420252026
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
45M50M55M60M65M70M
2020Diluted shares 65.8M
2020
2020
2020
2021Diluted shares 62.6M
2022Diluted shares 62.6M
2023Diluted shares 52.3M
2024Diluted shares 52.7M
2025Diluted shares 53.0M
2026Diluted shares 48.5M
2020202020202020202120222023202420252026
Debt and liquidity
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
-800M-600M-400M-200M0
2020Net debt -439.3M
2020
2020
2020
2021Net debt -761.0M
2022Net debt -519.6M
2023Net debt -220.8M
2024Net debt -678.8M
2025Net debt -772.7M
2026
2020202020202020202120222023202420252026
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
—
Interest coverage
32× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
1.49 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
— collects in 10d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
5of 7 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✕Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforefailed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
–Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fell — not reportedno data
✓More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforepassed
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
–Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year before — not reportedno data
✕Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforefailed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
6.43safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets 0.15 × 6.56+1.01
Retained earnings ÷ assets 1.04 × 3.26+3.40
Operating income ÷ assets 0.20 × 6.72+1.33
Equity ÷ liabilities 0.66 × 1.05+0.69
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-2.20below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 1.31+1.20
Gross margin slipping 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)+0.53
Soft assets 1.08+0.44
Sales growth 1.06+0.95
Slower depreciation 1.13+0.13
Overheads vs sales 0.91-0.16
Profit not in cash -0.03-0.15
Leverage rising 0.91-0.30
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
Receivables are growing 39% against revenue growing 6%.
Benign
A shift towards larger customers on longer terms, or sales concentrated at the end of the period.
Worrying
Sales are being made on looser credit, or revenue has been booked that may never be collected.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
Value per share, with these assumptions$156.25discounted at 10.2% a year · 51% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
14.9×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
8.9×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
1.4×
Free cash flow yield
4.5%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today3.7B
Everything after, today3.9B
The whole business7.6B
Minus net debt-0
What belongs to shareholders7.6B
Divided among 48.5M shares: <strong>$156.25</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
-0.25B00.25B0.50B0.75B1.00B
2020Reported 83.9M
2020
2020
2020
2021Reported 284.3M
2022Reported 151.5M
2023Reported -195.9M
2024Reported 455.5M
2025Reported 488.8M
2026Reported 339.3M
2027Projected 451.6M
2028Projected 497.0M
2029Projected 542.2M
2030Projected 586.5M
2031Projected 628.9M
2032Projected 668.4M
2033Projected 704.0M
2034Projected 734.9M
2035Projected 760.2M
2036Projected 779.2M
2020202020212023202520272029203120332035
Year by year
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
2036
Revenue
5.8B
6.4B
7.0B
7.6B
8.1B
8.7B
9.1B
9.5B
9.8B
10.1B
Growth
11.0%
10.1%
9.1%
8.2%
7.2%
6.3%
5.3%
4.4%
3.4%
2.5%
Cash margin
7.7%
7.7%
7.7%
7.7%
7.7%
7.7%
7.7%
7.7%
7.7%
7.7%
Free cash flow
451.6M
497.0M
542.2M
586.5M
628.9M
668.4M
704.0M
734.9M
760.2M
779.2M
Worth today
409.6M
408.9M
404.7M
397.1M
386.3M
372.4M
355.8M
336.9M
316.1M
293.9M
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
9.2%
161
170
181
193
207
9.7%
151
159
168
178
189
10.2%
142
149
156
165
175
10.7%
134
140
146
154
162
11.2%
126
132
137
144
151
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
7.0%
9.0%
11.0%
13.0%
15.0%
6.2%
113
122
132
143
154
7.0%
123
133
144
156
168
7.7%
133
144
156
169
183
8.5%
143
155
168
182
197
9.3%
153
166
180
195
211
All the inputs moving at once
5,000 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.0%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$108.80
Median$156.48
90th percentile$220.53
$100.00$200.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$129.99</b> and <b>$187.33</b>; one in ten below $108.80, one in ten above $220.53.
Does the long run make sense?
6.3×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 6.3 times that year's EBITDA.
13%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 19% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 13% on the new capital — it has earned 24% on average over the last five years.
51%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
What lenders charge, after the tax saving on interest: 6.74% × (1 − 28.5%) = <strong>4.82%</strong>.
Weighted by how much of each the company uses (book value (no price given)): <strong>10.24%</strong>, the rate every future cash flow is discounted at.
What it has filed lately
The last twelve months at the SEC, most important first: annual and quarterly reports, events, large holders and insiders.
Every Form 4 filed in the last twelve months, read line by line: 6 filings by 4 people. Open-market purchases and sales are counted apart from awards, option exercises and shares withheld for taxes.
Bought on the open market—none in the period
Sold on the open market$7.4M6 sale(s) by 4 insider(s)
Under pre-arranged plans0%of the sales followed a 10b5-1 plan set months earlier
A Form 4 says what happened, when, how many shares and at what price. It does not say why: a sale can be diversification, a tax bill or a plan fixed months earlier, and an award is pay, not a purchase. Nothing here is a reason to buy or sell anything.
Which large funds report holding it
From the Form 13F of the 28 institutions followed on this site, as of the end of their last reported quarter. A 13F is filed up to 45 days later and shows only long positions in US-listed shares.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.