When everyday investors look for steady returns and income from retail stocks, Premier Investments Ltd (ASX: PMV) and Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR) are frequent contenders. Both are household names on the ASX with customer followings and large store footprints, but their investment cases have diverged after a restructuring. If you're deciding between Premier Investments and Myer shares, here's how the fundamentals compare right now.
Premier Investments is a specialist retail group now focused on two leading brands: Peter Alexander, a premium sleepwear and home lifestyle name, and Smiggle, a children's stationery retailer famous for its colourful products. After spinning off its apparel chains (like Just Jeans and Jay Jays) to Myer in 2025, Premier now embraces a simpler model that's less exposed to discount apparel cycles and more to lifestyle and gift-buying. It still retains a large shareholding in Myer.
Highlights of Premier Investments right now:
Myer is one of Australia's largest department store operators, now even bigger following its acquisition of Premier's former apparel brands (Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans, Dotti, and Jacqui E) in 2025. Alongside its network of around 60 MYER-branded department stores (as of its public company description), Myer now controls a large stable of retail brands with national reach, targeting value-conscious fashion and home shoppers across the country.
Considerations for Myer Holdings today:
Here's how metrics stack up side by side for income, value, and risk:
Premier is the much larger business by market cap and currently trades at a far lower P/E ratio, supported by positive earnings. Myer, despite a higher yield, has negative EPS at the latest read and a higher multiple—usually a signal investors expect future profit recovery, but with added risk.
Comparing recent momentum using both companies' closing prices as of 23 September 2026:
So while both shares are down for 2026, Myer has underperformed Premier over the year, with its stock falling much further.
Looking at both the numbers and the business setup, I think Premier Investments makes the stronger case at present. It's profitable, sports a healthy franked yield, and is trading on a much lower P/E ratio than Myer. Its focus on brands with pricing power and some international growth runway adds conviction. By contrast, Myer faces a tough turnaround task post-demerger, with negative earnings and a much weaker share price, despite its large footprint and similar headline yield. If I had to pick a retail stock between these two today, my choice would be Premier Investments.