Winmark Corporation Common Stock (WINA)

FairStock Score: 42/100 — MIXED

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

I look for a simple, understandable business with a durable edge, and Winmark has pieces of that. It franchises resale brands—Plato's Closet, Once Upon A Child, Style Encore—and earns royalties from a network of stores while employing only 87 people. That asset-light model shows up in a FairStock-calculated ROCE of 78.07%, and the Altman Z-Score of 7.67 suggests a safe balance sheet. Free cash flow is $41.0M on a $1.0B market cap, a 4.1% FCF yield. The latest filed quarter, fiscal Q3 2026 (quarter ended 2026-09-26), had revenue of $27.9M, net income of $11.8M, and diluted EPS of $3.21, versus revenue of $22.6M, net income of $11.1M, and diluted EPS of $3.02 in fiscal Q3 2025 (quarter ended 2025-09-27). Revenue rose smartly, but profit rose only modestly. The longer record is sobering: FY2025 revenue was $86.1M, net income $41.7M, EPS $11.30; FY2024 revenue $81.3M, net income $40.0M, EPS $10.89; FY2023 revenue $83.2M, net income $40.2M, EPS $11.04. Profits have basically gone sideways for three years, and the Lynch category is Slow Grower, with profit growth of 6.9% a year over five years. At the 2026-10-13 close of $282.38, FairStock calculates a P/E of 25.62, EV/EBITDA of 18.63, and dividend yield of 1.44%. That is a full price for a slow grower. A wonderful franchise can still be a poor investment if paid too dearly; I would want either faster profit growth or a wider margin of safety.

In plain English: Winmark is a small company that makes money by franchising gently used clothing and children's resale stores, including Plato's Closet and Once Upon A Child. The business itself looks strong because it earns high profits on very little capital, and the latest quarter showed solid sales and profit. But overall profit growth has been slow, and the stock price looks full or expensive compared with those profits.

The full AI analysis, bull and bear case and key monitorables are in FairStock Pro.

Data as of 2026-10-13 close · note generated 2026-10-15 · model deepseek-flash

Sources (SEC EDGAR): fiscal Q3 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-09-26) · fiscal Q2 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-06-27) · fiscal Q1 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-03-28) · fiscal Q3 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-09-27) · FY2025 10-K (period ended 2025-12-27) · FY2024 10-K (period ended 2024-12-28) · FY2023 10-K (period ended 2023-12-30)

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer