Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (SBH)
Beauty supply stores and distribution, 27,000. Read October 3, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending September 30, 2025, filed November 13, 2025. Ranked 4 of the 75 Consumer Cyclical companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
28%
End of 2028
37%
Employees, annual report
27,000
Leading staffing pattern
Health and Personal Care Retailers
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
- Now28%
- End of 202735%
- End of 202837%
- End of 203038%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 62%
- Becomes checking a model's work 28%
- Handed over with lighter checks 9%
The filing states the total and the full-time count and nothing by location, so stores and distribution take their shares by description (c), said so.
The figures on this page come from the company's own annual report and from BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. They are estimates with a stated method. Nothing here says what the company will do: within reach is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
What follows from the reading
Share of working time within reach of AI, on the long-run pace at four in five: 28% now, 35% at the end of 2027, 37% at the end of 2028, 38% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 38% desk work, 23% people work and 40% body work. These are the site's industry estimates weighted by the shares below: estimates with a stated method and range, not a forecast of what the company will do. By the same patterns, at the end of 2028 about 62% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 28% becomes checking a model's work and 9% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
27,000 employees as of September 30, 2025 (stated). Not stated as a count; U.S. revenue 82%, other countries 18%.
The filing: “As of September 30, 2025, we had approximately 27,000 global associates, including approximately 11,000 full-time associates.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Health and Personal Care Retailers | 80% | Sally Beauty Supply stores (57% of revenue) and the Beauty Systems Group stores that sell to salon professionals, with the support center inside under rule 6; the filing names stores, direct sales, distribution centers and headquarters without counts, so by description (c). |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4242 and 4246 only) | 20% | Beauty Systems Group's direct sales consultants and full-service distribution to salons (part of 43% of revenue) with the distribution centers; no count, so by description (c). |
What the filing says about the workforce: About 27,000 associates, about 11,000 full-time; medical, dental and vision options for part-time associates; six weeks of paid parental leave since fiscal 2023.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Health and Personal Care Retailers, largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- CVS Health (CVS, 300,000 employees)31% now, 44% by 2028
- Ulta Beauty, Inc. (ULTA, 66,820 employees)29% now, 35% by 2028
- Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI, 60,735 employees)28% now, 34% by 2028
- The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (EL, 55,000 employees)26% now, 35% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
15 sentences in the filing name AI. Fifteen sentences: the early stages of integrating machine learning and generative AI tools in operations and customer-facing interactions, third-party products with AI inside, and the risks of each.
- “The integration and use of artificial intelligence ("AI") and similar technology in our business presents risks and challenges that could adversely affect our business, reputation, and results of operations.”
- “We are in the early stages of integrating AI in our business, including machine-learning AI and generative AI tools that collect and analyze data to support our business operations and customer-facing interactions.”
- “We also use products and services from third parties that use integrated AI technology.”
- “The use of AI tools and technology presents many challenges and risks to our business.”
- “Data sets used by AI may be overbroad, insufficient or contain flawed or otherwise biased information.”
Its annual reports, year by year
Sentences naming AI in each annual report, counted by one rule, beside the median report in the Index that year. Each count links its filing. Every company, by year and sector
- Fiscal 20210median 0
- Fiscal 20220median 0
- Fiscal 20230median 1
- Fiscal 202414median 4
- Fiscal 202515median 10
Headcount by filing year
As reported in each year's annual report, with the filing. A year marked not read had no figure the reading could take from the report's text.
| Period | Employees | Filed | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-09-30 | 27,000 | 2025-11-13 | 10-K |
| 2024-09-30 | 27,000 | 2024-11-14 | 10-K |
| 2023-09-30 | 27,000 | 2023-11-16 | 10-K |
| 2022-09-30 | 29,000 | 2022-11-17 | 10-K |
| 2021-09-30 | 29,000 | 2021-11-22 | 10-K |
| 2020-09-30 | 30,000 | 2020-11-24 | 10-K |
| 2019-09-30 | 30,050 | 2019-11-25 | 10-K |
| 2018-09-30 | 29,970 | 2018-11-14 | 10-K |
| 2017-09-30 | 29,475 | 2017-11-15 | 10-K |
| 2016-09-30 | 29,665 | 2016-11-15 | 10-K |
| 2015-09-30 | 28,330 | 2015-11-12 | 10-K |
| 2014-09-30 | 27,470 | 2014-11-13 | 10-K |
| 2013-09-30 | 26,450 | 2013-11-14 | 10-K |
| 2012-09-30 | 25,525 | 2012-11-15 | 10-K |
| 2011-09-30 | 24,615 | 2011-11-16 | 10-K |
| 2010-09-30 | 22,900 | 2010-11-18 | 10-K |
| 2009-09-30 | 22,410 | 2009-11-19 | 10-K |
| 2008-09-30 | 21,140 | 2008-11-20 | 10-K |
| 2007-09-30 | 18,500 | 2007-11-29 | 10-K |
| 2006-09-30 | 15,800 | 2006-12-22 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- No U.S. share stated; U.S. revenue is 82%.
- No count by location kind: shares by description (c).
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001193125-25-280122, the filing. Read by Claude Fable 5.1 under rubric version 1, by the method. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
Questions about this company
- How much of Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc.'s working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 28% now and 37% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc.'s own annual report describes and BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. It is an estimate with a stated method. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings, and it says nothing about what the company will do.
- How many people does Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. employ?
- 27,000 as of September 30, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending September 30, 2025 states.
- What kinds of work make up Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc.'s workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 2 industry staffing patterns, the largest Health and Personal Care Retailers; by those patterns the work is about 38% desk work, 23% people work and 40% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc.'s annual report say about AI?
- 15 sentences in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 0, 0, 0, 14 and 15 sentences, year by year. They are counted and quoted on this page, never judged: a count says how much a filing talks about AI, not what the company does with it.
- How is this estimated?
- Claude Fable 5.1 read the annual report under the Index's written rubric (version 1) on October 3, 2026: the stated headcount, the share in the U.S. when stated, and the workforce as a blend of industry staffing patterns. The estimates are the site's industry estimates weighted by those shares, from O*NET tasks with estimated lengths and METR's measurements of how long a task AI models can finish. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.