DBIDesigner Brands Inc.

Retail-Shoe Stores

Revenue: $2.9B; 3.9% YoY
Operating margin: 1.7%; 42% YoY
EBITDA: $107M; 8.2% YoY
Market cap: $613M
Employees: 13,000; $223K revenue each
Net debt / EBITDA: 3.4×; $365M net debt
AI in 10-K: 2.6; mentions per 10K words

Takeover score 3 of 13

Fixable underperformance 1 of 7

TSR below peersYes
4 of 5 years
3+ of last 5 years
High CEO pay despite TSRNo
$8M median
Median CEO pay ≥ $15M while TSR trails
Earnings not backed by cashNo
—
Cash flow under 80% of net income
Dilutive SBCNo
1% of revenue
Over 10% of revenue
Payouts exceed cash flowNo
9% of cash flow
Buybacks + dividends over cash flow
Goodwill-heavyNo
7% of assets
Over 40% of assets
Shareholder dissentNo
90% lowest support
Any vote under 80% support

Buyer economics 1 of 4

Low revenue per employeeNo
$223K · 67th pct
Bottom quartile of its SIC industry
Quiet on AINo
2.6 per 10K words · 64th pct
Bottom quartile of AI mentions in 10-Ks
Net cashNo
3.4× EBITDA net debt
More cash than debt, positive EBITDA
Buyout-sizedYes
$613M market cap
Market cap $500M–$5B

Catalysts 1 of 2

Active 13DYes
1 filing
Active-intent 13D in 18 months
Net insider sellingNo
−$2M net
Net sales over $10M in 12 months

Financials

Metric	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	FY2026	YoY	Trend
Revenue	$3.2B	$3.3B	$3.1B	$3.0B	$2.9B	3.9%
Operating income	$205M	$187M	$72M	$35M	$48M	37%
Net income	$154M	$163M	$29M	−$11M	−$8M	21%
Operating cash flow	$171M	$201M	$162M	$82M	$110M	34%
Capex	$33M	$55M	$55M	$51M	$32M	38%
Stock-based comp	$24M	$29M	$29M	$19M	$19M	1.8%
Buybacks	$0	$148M	$102M	$69M	$0	100%
Dividends	$0	$13M	$12M	$10M	$10M	7.7%

Deal filings

None.

13D filers

Filed	Filer	Form	Stake	Intent
Oct 7, 2026	Stone House Capital Management, LLC	SCHEDULE 13D/A	12.7%	Passive
Sep 15, 2026	Stone House Capital Management, LLC	SCHEDULE 13D/A	46.3%	Passive
Jun 11, 2026	Stone House Capital Management, LLC	SCHEDULE 13D	16.3%	Active
Oct 1, 2021	SCHOTTENSTEIN JAY L	SC 13D/A	19.3%	Passive

Insider trading

Open-market buys, 12 mo: $0 · 0
Open-market sells, 12 mo: $2M · 6
Net: −$2M

Pay vs performance

Year	CEO total comp	Comp actually paid	TSR (indexed)	Peer TSR
FY2026	$8M	$10M	58	122
FY2025	$5M	−$989K	44	135
FY2024	$6M	$5M	78	102
FY2023	$9M	$5M	87	94
FY2022	$10M	$12M	104	101