LEVI — Levi Strauss & Co
Snapshot dated October 5, 2026.
Levi Strauss & Co. is a global apparel company primarily recognized for its denim jeans, casual wear, and related accessories sold under the Levi's, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co., and Beyond Yoga brands. The company operates through distinct regional segments across the Americas, Europe, and Asia, managing a distribution network that spans retail stores, e-commerce platforms, and wholesale partnerships with third-party retailers. Its products are sold in more than 100 countries, serving a diverse consumer base ranging from legacy denim enthusiasts to fitness apparel customers. Levi Strauss occupies a prominent position in the branded apparel sector, historically competing with other global fashion and denim manufacturers like VF Corporation and Gap Inc. A notable recent strategic development includes the company's focus on shifting toward a direct-to-consumer model, alongside the acquisition and integration of the premium activewear brand Beyond Yoga into its portfolio.
Fair Value / Share
$16.62
Price on October 5, 2026
$20.37
Upside to fair value
-18.43%
Data by Equibles and SEC filings. Figures are as of October 5, 2026 and are not live.
Earnings Yield
Earnings Yield shows how much profit a company generates relative to its share price. EPS ÷ Stock Price.
Stock Price
$20.37
Market Cap
$7,936,708,167
Net Income (TTM)
$639,200,000
Diluted Shares
389.6 million
EPS (TTM)
$1.64
Earnings Yield
8.05%
AI Analysis
Levi Strauss & Co. currently shows an earnings yield of 8.05%, derived from an EPS of $1.64 and a stock price of $20.37. This percentage sits above the 4-5% benchmark associated with safe, alternative investments like bonds. Mechanically, this yield implies that for every dollar of the current share price, the market is assigning a value based on the company's present annual earnings that exceeds what a risk-free bond would provide. If the share price rises without a corresponding increase in earnings, this yield will compress. Conversely, if earnings grow while the price remains constant, the yield will expand. This metric does not capture the company's debt levels, future growth trajectory, or broader macroeconomic risks that could impact business operations.
Return on Capital
EBIT ÷ (Net Working Capital + Net Fixed Assets) — how efficiently the business turns capital into profit.
EBIT (TTM)
$698,900,000
Net Working Capital
$264,400,000
Net Fixed Assets
$659,800,000
Invested Capital
$924,200,000
Return on Capital
75.62%
AI Analysis
Levi Strauss & Co generated an EBIT of $698.9M against an estimated invested capital of $924.2M. Based on these figures, the business produced a Return on Capital of 75.62%. This metric evaluates how effectively the company generates operating profit relative to the tangible capital required to support its day-to-day operations. When measured against the framework's efficiency benchmark of 30%, this result indicates a high level of capital efficiency, suggesting the business requires relatively low amounts of invested capital to sustain its current level of operating profit. It is important to note that this measure focuses exclusively on the efficiency of capital deployed within the business and does not capture external factors such as changes in industry-wide capital intensity or shifts in how management allocates profits back into the company for future growth.
Acquirer's Multiple
Enterprise Value ÷ Operating Earnings — how many years of operating earnings it would take to buy the whole business.
| Company | Operating earnings | Enterprise value | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEVILevi Strauss & Co | $698.9M | $8.1B | 11.6x |
| PVHPVH CORP. | $363M | $4.7B | 13.0x |
| TPRTapestry, Inc. | $1.9B | $26B | 13.6x |
Where LEVI sits: 11.6x against a peer median of 13.3x (peers: 13.0x and 13.6x) — 12.6% below the median.
Show the enterprise value bridge for each companyHide the enterprise value bridge
LEVI
Debt $1.0B. This is the company's reported total debt — borrowings due within a year plus long-term borrowings. The company separately reports $1.3B of operating lease liabilities as of 2026-05-31 ($984.3M non-current, $268.3M current). These are excluded from debt because operating lease cost already sits inside operating earnings — counting the liability again as debt would charge the business twice for the same thing.
PVH
Named as a competitor: Competes directly in global branded apparel, lifestyle denim, and casualwear
Debt $2.2B. This is the company's reported total debt — borrowings due within a year plus long-term borrowings. The company separately reports $1.9B of operating lease liabilities as of 2026-08-02 ($1.6B non-current, $349.3M current). These are excluded from debt because operating lease cost already sits inside operating earnings — counting the liability again as debt would charge the business twice for the same thing.
TPR
Named as a competitor: Competes in premium branded apparel, lifestyle accessories, and global retail
Debt $2.4B. This is the company's reported total debt — borrowings due within a year plus long-term borrowings. The company separately reports $1.6B of operating lease liabilities as of 2026-06-27 ($1.3B non-current, $307.8M current). These are excluded from debt because operating lease cost already sits inside operating earnings — counting the liability again as debt would charge the business twice for the same thing.
Operating earnings — LEVI
AI Analysis
The Acquirer's Multiple measures the price paid for a company's operating earnings, calculated by dividing enterprise value by operating earnings. For LEVI, an enterprise value of $8.1B and operating earnings of $698.9M result in a multiple of 11.6x. Among the competitors, PVH has an enterprise value of $4.7B and operating earnings of $363.0M, resulting in a multiple of 13.0x, while TPR has an enterprise value of $26.0B and operating earnings of $1.9B, resulting in a multiple of 13.6x. PVH currently holds the lowest multiple among the peers, while TPR holds the highest. LEVI sits at 11.6x against a peer median of 13.3x (peers: 13.0x and 13.6x) — 12.6% below the median. This comparison would shift if the companies had different debt loads or operating margins, as the multiple is sensitive to capital structure and the underlying earning power of the core business.
FS-Score
A 10-check read on financial health, across profitability, balance-sheet stability and operating momentum.
FS-Score
7/10
Decent score — worth a deeper look before investing.
Section 1
Current Profitability
2/3
Profitability is mixed, as the company remains profitable on both an accounting and cash flow basis, though earnings quality is currently a point of focus.
- Return on Assets is positive at 8.44%.
- Free Cash Flow to Total Assets is positive at 4.50%.
- The accruals check failed with a Cash Flow from Operations to Net Income ratio of 0.92.
A score of 2/3 reflects consistent profitability, but the failure of the accruals check suggests that net income is currently outpacing cash generation.
Return on Assets (ROA > 0)
PassFree Cash Flow to Total Assets (FCFTA > 0)
PassAccruals (CFO / Net Income > 1)
FailSection 2
Stability
3/3
The stability of the balance sheet is strong, with improvements across debt management, liquidity, and share count.
- Leverage decreased from 0.16 to 0.15 year over year.
- Liquidity improved as the current ratio rose from 1.42 to 1.55.
- Diluted shares outstanding decreased from 402.4 million to 399.7 million.
A perfect 3/3 score here indicates that the company is not currently relying on external financing or shareholder dilution to fund its operations.
Change in Leverage (↓ or unchanged)
PassChange in Liquidity (↑ Current Ratio)
PassNet Dilution (annual diluted weighted-average shares, this year vs last)
PassSection 3
Recent Operational Improvements
2/4
Operational improvements are mixed, with gains in pricing power and returns offset by lower cash flow intensity and asset efficiency.
- Return on Assets improved significantly from 3.30% to 8.44%.
- Free Cash Flow to Total Assets fell from 10.52% to 4.50%.
- Gross Margin increased from 60.63% to 61.73%.
- Asset Turnover declined from 0.95 to 0.92.
This mixed result shows that while margins and returns are expanding, the company is generating less revenue and cash flow per dollar of assets compared to the prior year.
Change in ROA (↑)
PassChange in FCFTA (↑)
FailChange in Gross Margin (↑)
PassChange in Asset Turnover (↑)
FailFramework conclusion
The total score of 7/10 suggests a solid but mixed financial profile, driven primarily by strong balance sheet stability and positive current profitability. This score indicates that the company is generally healthy, though the lack of a higher score is due to declining asset turnover and a year-over-year drop in cash flow generation. These signals help distinguish whether the company's current price reflects a temporary operational transition or a deeper structural decline.
- Gross Margin improved to 61.73%, suggesting resilient pricing power.
- The Current Ratio increased to 1.55, indicating a stronger short-term buffer.
- Free Cash Flow to Total Assets remains positive at 4.50% despite the year-over-year decline.
- Shareholders saw net buybacks as the diluted share count fell to 399.7 million.
Intrinsic Value (DCF)
A 10-year discounted cash flow, then the bridge from business value to value per share.
Reported cash flow → unlevered free cash flow
Free Cash Flow (reported)
$559.3M
+ After-Tax Interest Expense
$40.8M
= Unlevered Free Cash Flow
$600.1M
Business value (10-year DCF)
PV of Years 1–10
$3.8B
PV of Terminal Value
$2.9B
= Business Value
$6.7B
Terminal value share
43.27%
Business value → share value
Intrinsic Value (business)
$6.7B
+ Cash & Equivalents
$849.3M
− Debt
$1B
= Shareholders' Value
$6.5B
÷ Diluted Shares
389.6 million
= Fair Value / Share
$16.62
Divided by 389.6 million diluted shares — the weighted-average diluted count from the most recent quarterly income statement, for the quarter ended 2026-05-31.
Risk bucket → discount rate
mid (12%)
Year-1 FCF
$600.1M
Trailing twelve months.
FY2023 $121.9M · FY2024 $670.9M · FY2025 $308.2M
Growth rate (yrs 1–10)
3%
Terminal growth (after yr 10)
3%
AI Analysis
Levi Strauss & Co is assigned a mid-risk bucket with a 12% discount rate. This classification balances the company's 170-year brand legacy and the protective growth of its direct-to-consumer channel against the significant operational challenges it faces. The business operates within the cyclical apparel industry, and its historical free cash flow has exhibited extreme volatility, swinging from $570.4M to negative $39.0M in a single year. While these factors prevent a low-risk classification, the brand's durability protects it from the existential risks often associated with high-risk, fad-driven entities. The forecast uses a fixed Year-1 free cash flow of $600.1M, representing the unlevered cash generation. The 3.00% growth rate applied over the next ten years reflects the difficulty of extrapolating a stable trend from highly erratic historical results, which dropped from $570.4M in 2021 to $308.2M in 2025. This modest rate accounts for constraints in the global denim market and competitive pressures. A 3% terminal growth rate is applied to the final year, a figure fixed for all companies to ensure consistency rather than as a specific judgment on Levi Strauss. Using the DCF framework, the business value is derived by calculating the present value of future cash flows, adding cash and equivalents of $849.3M, and subtracting $1.0B in debt before dividing by the 389.6 million shares outstanding. This results in a fair value per share of $16.62. Given the current price of $20.37, the upside to fair value is -18.43%. Because the current price sits above the computed fair value, there is no margin of safety. If the underlying assumptions were to change, the discount rate associated with the risk bucket would likely influence the result more significantly than the growth rate.
Overall Verdict
How the five signals above stack up together, then the full synthesis.
Earnings Yield
8.05% vs ~4-5% bond-yield benchmark
Return on Capital
75.62% ROC vs ~30% benchmark
Acquirer's Multiple
11.6x against a peer median of 13.3x (peers: 13.0x and 13.6x) — 12.6% below the median.
FS-Score
7/10 — Solid but mixed
Intrinsic Value
-18.43% upside to fair value
These five checks present a mixed profile for Levi Strauss & Co, contrasting strong operating metrics with a valuation that currently sits above the calculated intrinsic value. The Returns on Capital of 75.62% and an Earnings Yield of 8.05% demonstrate a high level of operating efficiency and relative yield compared to bond benchmarks. Concurrently, the Acquirer's Multiple of 11.6x remains 12.6% below the peer median, indicating the company generates operating earnings that are priced lower than its competitors. However, the FS-Score of 7/10 suggests a generally sound but mixed balance sheet and operating history. This operational performance stands against the Intrinsic Value check, which shows a -18.43% upside to fair value, meaning the current market price exceeds the model's fair value estimate. The central tension here exists between the robust operating returns and the price point relative to the intrinsic value estimate. If the company's operating earnings were to expand further or the fair value estimates were revised upward, the valuation picture would shift most significantly.
Comments
Notes from readers on LEVI — one each. Comments stay with the company, so they carry across to a later snapshot, and each one shows the date it was written.
Loading comments…