One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$126.23 our estimate vs market $63.69
Wall Street consensus: $70.67 (-44.0% lower than our fair-value estimate)
50% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Columbia Sportswear Company
COLM · NMS · Consumer Cyclical · Apparel Manufacturing
Current price
$63.69
52-week range
$47.47 - $69.06
Market cap
$3.26B
Balance sheet
Healthy
13.21x Strong cushion
Net cash $62.79M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
2 Risks
3 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 0.0% last year.
- Reward Returns 10.3% on equity, ahead of 33% of its peers.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 12.4% to 5.4% over 3 years.
- Risk Stock trades 6.9% above its 5-year average P/E.
What this company does
Columbia Sportswear Company
Columbia Sportswear Company makes and sells outdoor clothing, footwear, and gear under familiar brands like Columbia and SOREL. It makes money by selling items in bulk to other retailers (like sporting goods chains) and also directly to customers through its own stores and websites. This is important because selling directly to people allows Columbia to keep a larger portion of the profit from each sale instead of sharing it with a middleman.
How the company got here
Columbia Sportswear started in 1938 as a small, family-owned hat distributor in Portland, Oregon, after the founders fled Nazi Germany. Frustration with suppliers led the family to begin manufacturing their own products, officially becoming Columbia Sportswear Company in 1960. A key turning point came in the 1980s with the launch of the Bugaboo parka, an innovative jacket with a waterproof shell and a removable liner that transformed the company into a major skiwear brand. The company went public in 1998, raising money to expand, and later acquired other brands like SOREL and Mountain Hardwear to broaden its offerings.
What it actually does
Columbia Sportswear designs and sells outdoor clothing, footwear, and equipment for activities like hiking, fishing, skiing, and camping. You would recognize their jackets, boots, fishing shirts, and ski pants. The company sells its products in a few main ways: through other retailers (called wholesale distribution), directly to customers in its own branded stores and online (known as direct-to-consumer), and through international distributors.
Columbia
This is the company's main and largest brand, making up the vast majority of its business. It offers a wide range of outdoor apparel, footwear, and equipment known for being functional and providing good value. This segment is famous for its innovative technologies like 'Omni-Heat' for warmth and 'OutDry' for waterproofing, which are featured in its popular jackets and boots. Customers for this brand are everyday outdoor enthusiasts who participate in activities like hiking, fishing, and skiing.
SOREL
Acquired in 2000, SOREL started as a brand known for durable men's utility boots but has since transformed into a fashion-forward footwear company. This segment focuses on stylish and weather-protective boots and shoes for both men and women, blending outdoor functionality with modern design. SOREL is considered the company's fastest-growing brand and targets consumers who want lifestyle footwear that is both practical and fashionable.
prAna
Purchased in 2014, the prAna brand focuses on apparel for activities like yoga, climbing, and travel, as well as everyday casual wear. This part of the business is known for using sustainable materials and targeting consumers with an active, mindful lifestyle. It represents a smaller portion of the company's overall sales and offers products like yoga pants, climbing shorts, and travel-friendly clothing.
Mountain Hardwear
Mountain Hardwear, acquired in 2003, serves the high-performance end of the outdoor market. This segment creates premium and technical gear, such as tents, sleeping bags, and specialized apparel, for serious climbers, mountaineers, and trail athletes. It is a smaller, more niche brand within the company, focused on customers who demand a high level of performance and durability from their equipment.
What management is betting on now
The company's current strategy, called 'ACCELERATE', focuses on attracting younger consumers by creating innovative products and increasing brand engagement through marketing. A major priority is growing sales in footwear and expanding in international markets, which have been showing strong growth. Management is also investing heavily in its direct-to-consumer business, which means improving its e-commerce (online sales) websites and physical retail stores to enhance the customer experience.
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How the company got here
Columbia Sportswear started in 1938 as a small, family-owned hat distributor in Portland, Oregon, after the founders fled Nazi Germany. Frustration with suppliers led the family to begin manufacturing their own products, officially becoming Columbia Sportswear Company in 1960. A key turning point came in the 1980s with the launch of the Bugaboo parka, an innovative jacket with a waterproof shell and a removable liner that transformed the company into a major skiwear brand. The company went public in 1998, raising money to expand, and later acquired other brands like SOREL and Mountain Hardwear to broaden its offerings.
What it actually does
Columbia Sportswear designs and sells outdoor clothing, footwear, and equipment for activities like hiking, fishing, skiing, and camping. You would recognize their jackets, boots, fishing shirts, and ski pants. The company sells its products in a few main ways: through other retailers (called wholesale distribution), directly to customers in its own branded stores and online (known as direct-to-consumer), and through international distributors.
Columbia
This is the company's main and largest brand, making up the vast majority of its business. It offers a wide range of outdoor apparel, footwear, and equipment known for being functional and providing good value. This segment is famous for its innovative technologies like 'Omni-Heat' for warmth and 'OutDry' for waterproofing, which are featured in its popular jackets and boots. Customers for this brand are everyday outdoor enthusiasts who participate in activities like hiking, fishing, and skiing.
SOREL
Acquired in 2000, SOREL started as a brand known for durable men's utility boots but has since transformed into a fashion-forward footwear company. This segment focuses on stylish and weather-protective boots and shoes for both men and women, blending outdoor functionality with modern design. SOREL is considered the company's fastest-growing brand and targets consumers who want lifestyle footwear that is both practical and fashionable.
prAna
Purchased in 2014, the prAna brand focuses on apparel for activities like yoga, climbing, and travel, as well as everyday casual wear. This part of the business is known for using sustainable materials and targeting consumers with an active, mindful lifestyle. It represents a smaller portion of the company's overall sales and offers products like yoga pants, climbing shorts, and travel-friendly clothing.
Mountain Hardwear
Mountain Hardwear, acquired in 2003, serves the high-performance end of the outdoor market. This segment creates premium and technical gear, such as tents, sleeping bags, and specialized apparel, for serious climbers, mountaineers, and trail athletes. It is a smaller, more niche brand within the company, focused on customers who demand a high level of performance and durability from their equipment.
What management is betting on now
The company's current strategy, called 'ACCELERATE', focuses on attracting younger consumers by creating innovative products and increasing brand engagement through marketing. A major priority is growing sales in footwear and expanding in international markets, which have been showing strong growth. Management is also investing heavily in its direct-to-consumer business, which means improving its e-commerce (online sales) websites and physical retail stores to enhance the customer experience.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q2
$-10.87M
FY2024 Q3
$-199.45M
FY2024 Q4
$549.58M
FY2025 Q1
$-47.60M
FY2025 Q2
$-45.32M
FY2025 Q3
$-287.17M
FY2025 Q4
$596.83M
FY2026 Q1
$-89.99M
Revenue
$779.01M
Net income
$34.31M
Diluted EPS
0.65
Operating cash flow
$-77.54M
Free cash flow
$-89.99M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.07B
Net income
$93.17M
Diluted EPS
1.73
Operating cash flow
$616.35M
Free cash flow
$596.83M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$943.42M
Net income
$52.01M
Diluted EPS
0.95
Operating cash flow
$-270.56M
Free cash flow
$-287.17M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$605.25M
Net income
$-10.20M
Diluted EPS
-0.19
Operating cash flow
$-30.85M
Free cash flow
$-45.32M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$778.45M
Net income
$42.25M
Diluted EPS
0.75
Operating cash flow
$-32.04M
Free cash flow
$-47.60M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.10B
Net income
$223.27M
Diluted EPS
1.75
Operating cash flow
$567.65M
Free cash flow
$549.58M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$931.77M
Net income
$90.16M
Diluted EPS
1.56
Operating cash flow
$-185.50M
Free cash flow
$-199.45M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$570.24M
Net income
$-11.74M
Diluted EPS
-0.20
Operating cash flow
$2.12M
Free cash flow
$-10.87M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $126.23 vs current price $63.69
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $70.67 (-44.0% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $126.23 a share — about 98.2% above today's price of $63.69, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net cash $62.8M - more cash than debt. Interest coverage 13.2x.
Net debt
$-62.79M
Interest coverage
13.21x
Columbia Sportswear Company's profit covers its interest bill about 13.2 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here and 1 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
COLM
BASELINE
Columbia Sportswear Company
Total debt $472.57M Interest coverage 13.21x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $4.98B Interest coverage 3.64x -72% vs COLM Carries about 3.6x less debt cushion than COLM.
Total debt $375.19M Interest coverage 499.17x +3,678% vs COLM Carries about 37.8x more debt cushion than COLM.
Total debt $1.94B Interest coverage -1.17x -100% vs COLM This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with COLM.
Total debt $785.10M Interest coverage 4.58x -65% vs COLM Carries about 2.9x less debt cushion than COLM.
Total debt $553.46M Interest coverage 2.25x -83% vs COLM Carries about 5.9x less debt cushion than COLM.
What you should know
The case for and against COLM
3 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 0.0% last year.
-
Returns 10.3% on equity, ahead of 33% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 9/10 years.
Risks
-
Operating margin compressed from 12.4% to 5.4% over 3 years.
-
Stock trades 6.9% above its 5-year average P/E.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
20.35x
Forward P/E
15.09x
P/B
2.06x
P/S
0.96x
EV/EBITDA
11.07x
PEG ratio
2.19x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
50.5%
Operating margin
5.4%
Net margin
5.0%
ROE
10.3%
ROA
5.5%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.30x
Current ratio
3.07x
Quick ratio
1.71x
Total debt
$472.57M
Total cash
$535.35M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$3.40B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
2.1%
EPS TTM
3.13
EPS 5Y CAGR
-13.2%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$237.40M
Free CF TTM
$216.74M
FCF margin
6.4%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
1.9%
Payout ratio
38.3%
Last ex-div date
2026-05-21