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The Estée Lauder Companies key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2026, The Estée Lauder Companies had return on equity of 4.7%, an operating margin of 5.2%, debt equal to 192.0% of equity and a current ratio of 1.22. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Fiscal year2010Jun 20102011Jun 20112012Jun 20122013Jun 20132014Jun 20142015Jun 20152016Jun 20162017Jun 20172018Jun 20182019Jun 20192020Jun 20202021Jun 20212022Jun 20222023Jun 20232024Jun 20242025Jun 20252026Jun 2026LTMSept 2026
Gross margin76.5%78.0%79.5%80.1%80.3%80.5%80.6%79.4%79.2%77.2%75.2%76.4%75.7%71.3%71.7%74.0%75.5%76.0%
Operating margin10.1%12.4%13.5%15.0%16.7%14.9%14.3%14.4%15.0%15.6%4.2%16.1%17.9%9.5%6.2%−5.5%5.2%6.7%
Net margin6.1%8.0%8.8%10.0%11.0%10.1%9.9%10.6%8.1%12.0%4.8%17.7%13.5%6.3%2.5%−7.9%1.2%2.4%
Free-cash-flow margin8.8%7.7%7.3%7.5%9.3%13.6%11.2%10.9%14.1%11.9%11.6%18.5%11.3%4.6%9.2%4.7%8.7%9.9%
Return on equity24.5%30.6%32.0%33.9%33.7%29.0%30.9%31.4%24.4%39.3%16.4%57.4%41.0%18.0%7.2%−24.7%4.7%9.4%
Return on assets9.0%12.1%13.3%14.8%16.0%13.5%12.8%12.0%9.2%13.9%4.4%14.4%11.1%4.5%1.7%−5.5%0.9%1.9%
Asset turnover1.461.521.511.481.461.341.291.141.131.160.920.820.830.720.690.690.760.77
Current ratio1.991.901.812.222.351.961.581.761.861.571.721.841.601.461.391.301.221.25
Debt to equity63.0%46.3%47.1%40.9%34.8%44.6%62.8%81.5%75.6%77.8%155.9%91.9%96.8%145.3%146.2%189.3%192.0%167.1%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)———24.2x30.8x26.8x22.7x16.5x16.1x17.4x3.8x15.1x19.0x5.9x2.6xn/m2.3x3.1x
Effective tax rate29.9%31.4%31.8%30.6%32.0%29.9%27.9%22.3%43.6%22.2%33.5%13.7%20.7%27.7%47.0%—64.8%51.1%
R&D as % of revenue1.0%1.0%1.4%1.4%1.4%—————————————
SG&A as % of revenue65.0%64.7%65.1%64.8%63.7%65.6%65.2%63.1%62.5%59.6%60.4%57.8%55.7%60.2%61.6%66.0%64.4%63.8%
Capital spending as % of revenue3.5%4.0%4.3%4.5%4.7%4.4%4.7%4.3%4.6%5.0%4.4%3.9%5.9%6.3%5.9%4.2%3.0%2.8%
Free cash flow ÷ net income143.4%96.5%82.4%75.0%85.1%135.0%113.4%103.0%174.5%99.3%242.3%104.3%83.7%72.4%369.5%—723.1%412.2%
Dividends ÷ net income22.8%21.1%23.8%41.1%25.1%32.1%37.9%38.9%49.3%34.1%73.5%26.2%35.1%91.9%242.8%—279.1%137.8%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow54.8%80.6%112.8%105.4%94.5%90.7%103.9%69.9%67.5%122.1%84.2%49.6%157.4%164.3%68.1%97.5%43.9%37.5%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

2 of 6 checks passed · September 30, 2026
What it owns · $20.0bn
Short-term assets $7.8bnLonger-term assets $12.1bn
What it owes, and who funded it · $10.3bn
Short-term liabilities $6.3bnShareholders' equity $4.0bn
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $7.8bn of assets due within a year against $6.3bn of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
  • More cash than debt $3.2bn of cash against $6.7bn of debt.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 167% of equity.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 84% to 167% over five years.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $1.9bn of operating cash flow against $6.7bn of debt.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $1.0bn against $331m of interest.

From The Estée Lauder Companies's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

58 /100

Moderate moat

How hard The Estée Lauder Companies's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 9 / 20

    Net income has been a median 6.4% of total assets over 10 years.

  • Pricing power 19 / 20

    Gross margin has been a median 75.7%, moving by 2.6 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.

  • Durability 2 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median 10.9%; its worst year was -3.4%.

  • Cash conversion 15 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 10.6% of revenue.

  • Discipline 17 / 20

    The diluted share count fell 0.8% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 1.8% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (63 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

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Figures from The Estée Lauder Companies's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved November 2, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to The Estée Lauder Companies.