Which Market Offer More Value? – Tesla, Inc. (TSLA), Vitamin Shoppe, Inc. (VSI)

The shares of Tesla, Inc. have increased by more than 1.05% this year alone. The shares recently went down by -0.83% or -$2.63 and now trades at $314.62. The shares of Vitamin Shoppe, Inc. (NYSE:VSI), has jumped by 4.55% year to date as of 01/04/2018. The shares currently trade at $4.60 and have been able to report a change of 5.75% over the past one week.

The stock of Tesla, Inc. and Vitamin Shoppe, Inc. were two of the most active stocks on Thursday. Investors seem to be very interested in what happens to the stocks of these two companies but do investors favor one over the other? We will analyze the growth, profitability, risk, valuation, and insider trends of both companies and see which one investors prefer.

Profitability and Returns

Growth alone cannot be used to see if the company will be valuable. Shareholders will be the losers if a company invest in ventures that aren’t profitable enough to support upbeat growth. In order for us to accurately measure profitability and return, we will be using the EBITDA margin and Return on Investment (ROI), which balances the difference in capital structure. TSLA has an EBITDA margin of 2.85%, this implies that the underlying business of TSLA is more profitable. The ROI of TSLA is -5.80% while that of VSI is 6.00%. These figures suggest that VSI ventures generate a higher ROI than that of TSLA.

Cash Flow

The value of a stock is ultimately determined by the amount of cash flow that the investors have available. Over the last 12 months, TSLA’s free cash flow per share is a negative -22.18, while that of VSI is also a negative -0.8.

Liquidity and Financial Risk

The ability of a company to meet up with its short-term obligations and be able to clear its longer-term debts is measured using Liquidity and leverage ratios. The current ratio for TSLA is 1.10 and that of VSI is 2.10. This implies that it is easier for TSLA to cover its immediate obligations over the next 12 months than VSI. The debt ratio of TSLA is 2.12 compared to 0.65 for VSI. TSLA can be able to settle its long-term debts and thus is a lower financial risk than VSI.

Valuation

TSLA currently trades at a P/B of 11.17, and a P/S of 4.98 while VSI trades at a forward P/E of 14.24, a P/B of 0.51, and a P/S of 0.09. This means that looking at the earnings, book values and sales basis, VSI is the cheaper one. It is very obvious that earnings are the most important factors to investors, thus analysts are most likely to place their bet on the P/E.

Analyst Price Targets and Opinions

The mistake some people make is that they think a cheap stock has more value to it. In order to know the value of a stock, there is need to compare its current price to its likely trading price in the future. The price of TSLA is currently at a 0.63% to its one-year price target of 312.65. Looking at its rival pricing, VSI is at a 15% relative to its price target of 4.00. This figure implies that over the next one year, VSI is a better investment.

When looking at the investment recommendation on say a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being a strong buy, 3 a hold, and 5 a sell), TSLA is given a 3.00 while 3.00 placed for VSI. This means that analysts are equally bullish on their outlook for the two stocks stocks.

Insider Activity and Investor Sentiment

Short interest or otherwise called the percentage of a stock’s tradable shares currently being shorted is another data that investors use to get a handle on sentiment. The short ratio for TSLA is 5.24 while that of VSI is just 8.78. This means that analysts are more bullish on the forecast for TSLA stock.

Conclusion

The stock of Tesla, Inc. defeats that of Vitamin Shoppe, Inc. when the two are compared, with TSLA taking 5 out of the total factors that were been considered. TSLA happens to be more profitable, generates a higher ROI, has higher cash flow per share, higher liquidity and has a lower financial risk. When looking at the stock valuation, TSLA is the cheaper one on an earnings, book value and sales basis. Finally, the sentiment signal for TSLA is better on when it is viewed on short interest.

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