Beyond (NYSE:BYON) and Qurate Retail (NASDAQ:QRTEA) Critical Contrast

Beyond (NYSE:BYON) and Qurate Retail (NASDAQ:QRTEA) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

76.3% of Beyond shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.1% of Qurate Retail shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Beyond shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.2% of Qurate Retail shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Beyond and Qurate Retail’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Beyond	-19.72%	-16.92%	-11.38%
Qurate Retail	-1.33%	14.46%	0.80%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Beyond and Qurate Retail, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Beyond	0	2	4	0	2.67
Qurate Retail	0	1	0	0	2.00

Beyond presently has a consensus price target of $39.00, indicating a potential upside of 98.07%. Qurate Retail has a consensus price target of $1.10, indicating a potential upside of 31.25%. Given Beyond’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Beyond is more favorable than Qurate Retail.

Volatility and Risk

Beyond has a beta of 3.92, indicating that its share price is 292% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Qurate Retail has a beta of 2.75, indicating that its share price is 175% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Beyond and Qurate Retail’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Beyond	$1.56 billion	0.58	-$307.84 million	($6.80)	-2.90
Qurate Retail	$10.92 billion	0.03	-$145.00 million	($0.37)	-2.32

Qurate Retail has higher revenue and earnings than Beyond. Beyond is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Qurate Retail, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Qurate Retail beats Beyond on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Beyond

Beyond, Inc. operates as an online retailer of furniture and home furnishings products in the United States and Canada. The company offers furniture, bedding and bath, patio and outdoor gear, area rugs, tabletop and cookware, décor, storage and organization, small appliances, home improvement, and other products under the Bed Bath & Beyond brand. The company provides its products and services through its e-commerce platform accessible through its mobile application, which includes bedbathandbeyond.com, bedbathandbeyond.ca, and overstockgovernment.com. It also offers businesses advertising products or services on its website; Marketplace, a service that allows its partners to sell their products through third party sites; product sales to international customers using third party logistics providers; and Supplier Oasis, a singular integration point that enables partners to manage their products, inventory, and sales channels, as well as access multi-channel fulfillment services through its distribution network. The company was formerly known as Overstock.com, Inc. and changed its name to Beyond, Inc. in November 2023. Beyond, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Midvale, Utah.

About Qurate Retail

Qurate Retail, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the video and online commerce industries in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company markets and sells various consumer products primarily through merchandise-focused televised shopping programs, Internet, and mobile applications. It also operates as an online retailer offering women's, children's, and men's apparel; and other products, such as home, accessories, and beauty products through its app, mobile, and desktop applications. The company serves various homes through multiple streaming services, social pages, websites, print catalogs, and in-store destinations. The company was formerly known as Liberty Interactive Corporation and changed its name to Qurate Retail, Inc. in April 2018. Qurate Retail, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.