Guess?, Inc. GES

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-cyclical

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
57/100
Moderate

Ranked against 33 peers in Apparel Retail

About Guess?, Inc.

Guess?, Inc. designs, markets, distributes, and licenses lifestyle collections of apparel and accessories for men, women, and children. It operates through five segments: Americas Retail, Americas Wholesale, Europe, Asia, and Licensing. The company's clothing collection includes jeans, pants, skirts, dresses, shorts, blouses, shirts, jackets, activewear, knitwear, and intimate apparel. It also grants licenses to design, manufacture, and distribute various products … Full GES analysis →

Key strengths

  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.76), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
  • Revenue Growth Consistent Revenue growth volatility is low (stability score 1.00), suggesting sticky customer base.

Key risks

  • Elevated Debt Risk Debt serviceability is weak (score 0.28), raising refinancing risk.
  • Inconsistent Cash Generation Cash generation is inconsistent (score 0.44), indicating operational challenges.

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
67
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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 GES ranks in Apparel Retail

Guess?, Inc. ranks #15 of 34 scored companies in Apparel Retail by moat score — the top 44%. The widest moat in the group is lululemon athletica inc. (LULU) at 83/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
11 American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. AEO 60/100 Moderate
12 Carter's, Inc. CRI 59/100 Moderate
13 Shoe Carnival, Inc. SCVL 58/100 Moderate
14 BrilliA Inc - Class A BRIA 58/100 Moderate
15 Guess?, Inc. GES 57/100 Moderate
16 Genesco Inc. GCO 52/100 Moderate
17 Victorias Secret & Co. VSCO 52/100 Moderate
18 Lands' End, Inc. LE 48/100 Developing
19 Torrid Holdings Inc. CURV 46/100 Developing

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How GES scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 67 · 20% of the moat score

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

Cost Advantage

Score 57 · 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 66 · 15% of the moat score

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

Capital Efficiency

Score 62 · 18% of the moat score

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

Resilience

Score 38 · 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 51 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding GES's moat

What is Guess?, Inc.'s moat score?

Guess?, Inc. (GES) scores 57 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #15 of 34 scored companies in Apparel Retail, the top 44%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 33 companies in Apparel Retail. Its strongest defense is Pricing Power (67/100) and its weakest is Resilience (38/100).

How does Guess?, Inc. compare with other Apparel Retail companies?

Guess?, Inc. ranks #15 of 34 scored companies in Apparel Retail by moat score. The widest moat in Apparel Retail is lululemon athletica inc. (LULU) at 83/100. The companies ranked closest are BrilliA Inc - Class A (BRIA) at 58 just above it and Genesco Inc. (GCO) at 52 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 33 companies in Apparel Retail. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Guess?, 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 Guess?, Inc.?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and GES scores: Pricing Power (67), Cost Advantage (57), Customer Stickiness (66), Capital Efficiency (62), Resilience (38), Scale & Market Position (51). 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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