The business behind the dividend
| Measure | BBW | Median | Formula |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | 33.7% | 10.6% | Net income ÷ shareholders’ equity |
| Return on capital employed | — | — | Operating income ÷ (equity + total debt) |
| Owner earnings | $41.61m | $120.90m | Net income + depreciation & amortisation − capital expenditure |
| Free cash flow | $39.51m | $155.08m | Operating cash flow − capital expenditure |
| Operating margin | 12.7% | 14.3% | Operating income ÷ revenue |
| Net margin | 9.9% | 10.1% | Net income ÷ revenue |
| Debt to equity | — | — | Total debt ÷ shareholders’ equity |
| Interest cover | — | — | Operating income ÷ interest expense |
| Current ratio | 1.55x | 1.55x | Current assets ÷ current liabilities |
| Long-term debt to working capital | — | — | Long-term debt ÷ (current assets − current liabilities) |
| Cash conversion | 1.25x | 1.66x | Operating cash flow ÷ net income |
| Accruals | -3.7% | -3.1% | (Net income − operating cash flow) ÷ total assets |
Not computed here: Debt to equity, Long-term debt to working capital, Interest cover, Return on capital employed — why a blank is not a zero.
Ten years of it
The same measures, for every year the filings support. One year is a fact; a row is a business.
| Measure | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2017 | 2016 | Median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | 33.7% | 37.2% | 40.7% | 40.6% | 50.5% | -34.1% | 0.3% | -19.0% | 7.4% | 1.4% | 7.4% |
| Operating margin | 12.7% | 13.5% | 13.6% | 13.2% | 12.3% | -7.9% | 0.5% | -5.5% | 3.9% | 1.5% | 3.9% |
| Net margin | 9.9% | 10.4% | 10.9% | 10.3% | 11.5% | -9.0% | 0.1% | -5.3% | 2.2% | 0.4% | 2.2% |
| Current ratio | 1.55x | 1.59x | 1.53x | 1.46x | 1.33x | 1.12x | 1.15x | 1.78x | 1.58x | 1.33x | 1.46x |
| Cash conversion | 1.25x | 0.91x | 1.22x | 0.99x | 0.59x | — | — | — | 2.66x | 11.63x | 1.22x |
How it compares in consumer discretionary
Among the 169 consumer discretionary companies here measured on free cash flow, Build-A-Bear Workshop pays out less than 98 of them. The median for that group is 33.1%, against this company’s 29.2%.
Closest on free cash flow
- Escalade (ESCA) 29.0%
- Ralph Lauren (RL) 29.0%
- Brady (BRC) 29.6%
- La-Z-Boy (LZB) 29.7%
Same sector and same denominator, so the figures are comparable. All 197 in consumer discretionary →