Designer Brands Inc. DBI

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-cyclical

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
39/100
Developing

Ranked against 14 peers in Footwear & Accessories

About Designer Brands Inc.

Designer Brands Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, production, and retailing of footwear and accessories in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments: U.S. Retail, Canada Retail, and Brand Portfolio. The company offers dress, casual, and athletic footwear and accessories, as well as handbags for women, men, and kids. It sells its products under … Full DBI analysis →

Key strengths

  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.83), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.

Key risks

  • ROIC Below WACC or Peers ROIC at 27.3th percentile suggests inefficient capital deployment.
  • Scale Without Profitability Despite scale, profitability lags peers (score 0.38), suggesting limited competitive advantage.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Moderate
61
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Signals, strengths and risks for Pricing Power

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Signals, strengths and risks for Cost Advantage

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Signals, strengths and risks for Customer Stickiness

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Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Efficiency

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Signals, strengths and risks for Resilience

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Signals, strengths and risks for Scale & Market Position

Where DBI ranks in Footwear & Accessories

Designer Brands Inc. ranks #9 of 15 scored companies in Footwear & Accessories by moat score — the top 60%. The widest moat in the group is Deckers Outdoor Corporation (DECK) at 84/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
5 Nike, Inc. NKE 61/100 Moderate
6 Rocky Brands, Inc. RCKY 55/100 Moderate
7 Steven Madden, Ltd. SHOO 45/100 Developing
8 Fossil Group, Inc. FOSL 43/100 Developing
9 Designer Brands Inc. DBI 39/100 Developing
10 Crocs, Inc. CROX 36/100 Developing
11 Vera Bradley, Inc. VRA 32/100 Developing
12 Wolverine World Wide, Inc. WWW 29/100 Developing
13 American Rebel Holdings, Inc. AREB 17/100 Weak

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How DBI scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 61 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 33 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 44 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 18 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 18 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 45 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding DBI's moat

What is Designer Brands Inc.'s moat score?

Designer Brands Inc. (DBI) scores 39 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #9 of 15 scored companies in Footwear & Accessories, the top 60%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 14 companies in Footwear & Accessories. Its strongest defense is Pricing Power (61/100) and its weakest is Resilience (18/100).

How does Designer Brands Inc. compare with other Footwear & Accessories companies?

Designer Brands Inc. ranks #9 of 15 scored companies in Footwear & Accessories by moat score. The widest moat in Footwear & Accessories is Deckers Outdoor Corporation (DECK) at 84/100. The companies ranked closest are Fossil Group, Inc. (FOSL) at 42 just above it and Crocs, Inc. (CROX) at 36 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 14 companies in Footwear & Accessories. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Designer Brands Inc. scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Designer Brands Inc.?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and DBI scores: Pricing Power (61), Cost Advantage (33), Customer Stickiness (44), Capital Efficiency (18), Resilience (18), Scale & Market Position (45). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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