Comparing Peloton Interactive (NASDAQ:PTON) & Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO)

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) and Peloton Interactive (NASDAQ:PTON) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Academy Sports and Outdoors and Peloton Interactive’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Academy Sports and Outdoors	6.27%	18.24%	7.18%
Peloton Interactive	-4.24%	N/A	-4.92%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

77.0% of Peloton Interactive shares are held by institutional investors. 3.6% of Academy Sports and Outdoors shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Peloton Interactive shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Academy Sports and Outdoors and Peloton Interactive”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Academy Sports and Outdoors	$5.93 billion	0.65	$418.45 million	$5.47	10.63
Peloton Interactive	$2.49 billion	1.12	-$118.90 million	($0.28)	-23.93

Academy Sports and Outdoors has higher revenue and earnings than Peloton Interactive. Peloton Interactive is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Academy Sports and Outdoors, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Academy Sports and Outdoors and Peloton Interactive, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Academy Sports and Outdoors	0	10	10	0	2.50
Peloton Interactive	1	8	8	0	2.41

Academy Sports and Outdoors currently has a consensus price target of $59.89, indicating a potential upside of 3.03%. Peloton Interactive has a consensus price target of $9.86, indicating a potential upside of 47.20%. Given Peloton Interactive’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Peloton Interactive is more favorable than Academy Sports and Outdoors.

Risk & Volatility

Academy Sports and Outdoors has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peloton Interactive has a beta of 2.4, meaning that its share price is 140% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Academy Sports and Outdoors beats Peloton Interactive on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Academy Sports and Outdoors

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a sporting goods and outdoor recreational retailer in the United States. The company outdoor division comprises camping products, such as coolers and drinkware, and camping accessories and equipment,; fishing products, including marine equipment and fishing rods, reels, and baits and equipment; and hunting products, which includes firearms, ammunition, archery and archery equipment, camouflage apparel, waders, shooting accessories, gun safes, optics, airguns, and hunting equipment. Its sports and recreation division offers fitness equipment, fitness accessories, and nutrition supplies; team and specialty sports equipment, including baseball, football, basketball, soccer, golf, racket sports, volleyball, backpacks, and sports bags; recreation products, which includes patio furniture, outdoor cooking, trampolines, play sets, watersports, and pet equipment, as well as wheeled goods including bicycles, skateboards, and other ride-on toys; and electronics and watches, as well as front-end products, such as consumables, batteries, etc. The company's apparel division provides outdoor and seasonal apparel, denim, work apparel, graphic t-shirts, and accessories; boys and girls outdoor, and athletic apparel; sporting and fitness apparel; and professional and collegiate team licensed apparel and accessories. Its footwear division offers casual shoes, slippers, seasonal footwear, and socks; work and western boots, shoes, and hunting footwear; boys and girls footwear; athletic footwear, such as running shoes, athletic lifestyle, and training shoes; and team and specialty sports footwear, and slides. The company sells its products under the Academy Sports + Outdoors, Magellan Outdoors, BCG, O'rageous, Game Winner, Outdoor Gourmet, and Freely brand names. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Katy, Texas.

About Peloton Interactive

Peloton Interactive, Inc. operates interactive fitness platform in North America and internationally. The company offers connected fitness products with touchscreen that streams live and on-demand classes under the Peloton Bike, Peloton Bike+, Peloton Tread, Peloton Tread+, Peloton Guide, and Peloton Row names. The company markets and sells its interactive fitness products directly through its retail showrooms and at onepeloton.com. Peloton Interactive, Inc. was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in New York, New York.