One-glance verdict
Within fair range
$37.58 our estimate vs market $25.27
Wall Street consensus: $27.33 (-27.3% lower than our fair-value estimate)
33% below our estimate
Fundamentals snapshot
Upbound Group, Inc.
UPBD · NMS · Technology · Software - Application
Current price
$25.27
52-week range
$14.98 - $25.36
Market cap
$1.47B
Balance sheet
Distressed
1.98x Concerning
Net debt $1.51B. 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 0.7% last year.
- Reward Returns 15.5% on equity, ahead of 16% of its peers.
- Risk Net debt grew 13.5% over 3 years.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 4.0% (peer median: 10.4%).
What this company does
Upbound Group, Inc.
Upbound Group provides furniture and electronics to people through payment plans, mainly through its Acima and Rent-A-Center brands. They make money by collecting these payments over time, and it matters because it helps them fund new loans and services. The company also offers financial tools and products through apps, which adds to their overall income streams.
How the company got here
Upbound Group, Inc. wasn't always called Upbound. It used to be known as Rent-A-Center, Inc., a name that hints at its original business. Founded in 1986, the company built its business by offering furniture and other household items through a lease-to-own model. This means customers could take items home and pay for them over time, without needing traditional credit. In February 2023, the company rebranded to Upbound Group, Inc. to reflect its evolution into a broader technology and data-driven financial solutions provider, moving beyond just its lease-to-own roots.
What it actually does
At its core, Upbound Group provides financial solutions and access to merchandise for consumers, particularly those who may not qualify for traditional loans or credit. Think of it as offering a way for people to get the things they need, like furniture, appliances, or electronics, and pay for them in manageable installments. They also offer financial health tools through apps, aiming to help users manage their money better. The company operates in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.
Acima
Acima is a significant part of Upbound Group, focusing on providing lease-to-own solutions for consumers. This segment partners with third-party retailers, meaning you might see Acima's offerings within another store. They allow customers to acquire items like furniture, electronics, and appliances and pay for them over time, even if they have less-than-perfect credit. This business line is a key driver of Upbound's revenue, representing a substantial portion of its overall operations.
Rent-A-Center
This is the segment that carries the company's original name and business model. Rent-A-Center operates its own retail stores, both company-owned and franchised, where customers can lease-to-own a wide variety of merchandise. This includes furniture, mattresses, tires, consumer electronics, and appliances. Customers can shop in physical stores or through e-commerce platforms like rentacenter.com, paying in installments for the items they take home.
Brigit
Brigit represents Upbound's move into digital financial health. This segment offers various financial tools and products through mobile and web applications. These services are designed to help users manage their personal finances, potentially offering features like budgeting tools, credit score monitoring, and access to earned wages before payday. While newer than the traditional lease-to-own businesses, Brigit is a growing area focused on technology-driven financial wellness.
Mexico
This segment encompasses Upbound Group's operations in Mexico, which largely mirror its core lease-to-own business. It provides consumers in Mexico with access to furniture, appliances, and other merchandise through installment payment plans. This geographic expansion allows the company to tap into new markets and diversify its revenue streams beyond the United States and Puerto Rico.
What management is betting on now
Upbound Group's management is focused on transforming the company into a technology and data-driven financial solutions provider. This means leveraging technology to offer more innovative financial products and services, like those provided by Brigit, and enhancing the efficiency of its existing lease-to-own businesses through Acima and Rent-A-Center. They are betting that by integrating data analytics and digital platforms, they can better serve a wider range of consumers and drive future growth in a competitive market.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q4
$-74.03M
FY2025 Q1
$127.16M
FY2025 Q2
$-10.43M
FY2025 Q3
$97.93M
FY2025 Q4
$24.05M
FY2026 Q1
$154.70M
FY2026 Q2
$107.80M
FY2026 Q3
$147.01M
Revenue
$1.15B
Net income
$34.27M
Diluted EPS
0.58
Operating cash flow
$163.14M
Free cash flow
$147.01M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.16B
Net income
$21.58M
Diluted EPS
0.37
Operating cash flow
$123.30M
Free cash flow
$107.80M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.22B
Net income
$35.79M
Diluted EPS
0.61
Operating cash flow
$170.66M
Free cash flow
$154.70M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.20B
Net income
$19.74M
Diluted EPS
0.35
Operating cash flow
$41.58M
Free cash flow
$24.05M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.16B
Net income
$13.22M
Diluted EPS
0.22
Operating cash flow
$118.44M
Free cash flow
$97.93M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.16B
Net income
$15.48M
Diluted EPS
0.26
Operating cash flow
$7.81M
Free cash flow
$-10.43M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.18B
Net income
$24.79M
Diluted EPS
0.42
Operating cash flow
$137.74M
Free cash flow
$127.16M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.08B
Net income
$30.98M
Diluted EPS
0.55
Operating cash flow
$-61.95M
Free cash flow
$-74.03M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $37.58 vs current price $25.27
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $27.33 (-27.3% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $37.58 a share — about 48.7% away from today's price of $25.27, so the stock currently looks fairly priced.
Is it drowning in debt?
Distressed
Net debt $1.5B. Interest coverage 2.0x.
Net debt
$1.51B
Interest coverage
1.98x
Upbound Group, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 2.0 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here.
Distressed
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
UPBD
BASELINE
Upbound Group, Inc.
Total debt $1.63B Interest coverage 1.98x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $6.72B Interest coverage 22.54x +1,040% vs UPBD Carries about 11.4x more debt cushion than UPBD.
Total debt $5.41B Interest coverage 3.51x +78% vs UPBD Carries about 1.8x more debt cushion than UPBD.
Total debt $268.73M Interest coverage 26.50x +1,240% vs UPBD Carries about 13.4x more debt cushion than UPBD.
Total debt $1.53B Interest coverage 759.10x +38,299% vs UPBD Carries about 384.0x more debt cushion than UPBD.
Total debt $233.64M Interest coverage 4.13x +109% vs UPBD Carries about 2.1x more debt cushion than UPBD.
What you should know
The case for and against UPBD
3 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 0.7% last year.
-
Returns 15.5% on equity, ahead of 16% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
Risks
-
Net debt grew 13.5% over 3 years.
-
Insider ownership is only 4.0% (peer median: 10.4%).
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)
13.30x
Forward P/E
5.49x
P/B
1.96x
P/S
0.31x
EV/EBITDA
6.22x
PEG ratio
1.39x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
49.7%
Operating margin
7.2%
Net margin
2.4%
ROE
15.5%
ROA
6.7%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
2.17x
Current ratio
3.08x
Quick ratio
0.47x
Total debt
$1.63B
Total cash
$125.10M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$4.73B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
0.6%
EPS TTM
1.90
EPS 5Y CAGR
81.2%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$498.69M
Free CF TTM
$238.71M
FCF margin
5.1%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
6.2%
Payout ratio
82.1%
Last ex-div date
2026-10-06