Ralph Lauren Corporation RL

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-cyclical

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
83/100
Strong

About Ralph Lauren Corporation

Ralph Lauren Corporation designs, markets, and distributes lifestyle products in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It offers apparel, including a range of men's, women's, and children's clothing; footwear and accessories, which comprise casual shoes, dress shoes, boots, sneakers, sandals, eyewear, watches, fashion and fine jewelry, scarves, hats, gloves, and umbrellas, as well as leather goods comprising handbags, luggage, small … Full RL analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Margins Consistently Above Peers Gross margin at 69.9% (top 4%) and operating margin at 14.5% (top 4%) indicate strong pricing power.
  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.96), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.

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

Strong
96

Where RL ranks in Apparel Manufacturing

Ralph Lauren Corporation ranks #1 of 26 scored companies in Apparel Manufacturing by moat score — the top 4%. That makes it the widest moat in the group.

Moat scores for companies ranked near RL in Apparel Manufacturing
# Company Moat score Rating
1 Ralph Lauren Corporation RL 83/100 Strong
2 Kontoor Brands, Inc. KTB 73/100 Moderate
3 Levi Strauss & Co LEVI 69/100 Moderate
4 Gildan Activewear, Inc. GIL 69/100 Moderate
5 Ermenegildo Zegna N.V. ZGN 68/100 Moderate
6 FIGS, Inc. FIGS 67/100 Moderate
7 Columbia Sportswear Company COLM 67/100 Moderate
8 PVH Corp. PVH 64/100 Moderate
9 Canada Goose Holdings Inc. Subo GOOS 61/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How RL scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 96 · 20% of the moat score

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

Cost Advantage

Score 68 · 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 73 · 15% of the moat score

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

Capital Efficiency

Score 95 · 18% of the moat score

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

Resilience

Score 74 · 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 85 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding RL's moat

What is Ralph Lauren Corporation's moat score?

Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL) scores 83 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as strong. It ranks #1 of 26 scored companies in Apparel Manufacturing, the top 4%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 25 companies in Apparel Manufacturing. Its strongest defense is Pricing Power (96/100) and its weakest is Cost Advantage (68/100).

How does Ralph Lauren Corporation compare with other Apparel Manufacturing companies?

Ralph Lauren Corporation ranks #1 of 26 scored companies in Apparel Manufacturing by moat score. That is the widest moat in Apparel Manufacturing. The companies ranked closest are Kontoor Brands, Inc. (KTB) at 73 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 25 companies in Apparel Manufacturing. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Ralph Lauren Corporation 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 Ralph Lauren Corporation?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and RL scores: Pricing Power (96), Cost Advantage (68), Customer Stickiness (73), Capital Efficiency (95), Resilience (74), Scale & Market Position (85). 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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