Potbelly (PBPB) Competitors

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) and Potbelly (NASDAQ:PBPB) are both small-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, media sentiment, valuation, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of ARCO or PBPB?

55.9% of Arcos Dorados shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.6% of Potbelly shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.2% of Potbelly shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts recommend ARCO or PBPB?

Arcos Dorados currently has a consensus price target of $8.80, suggesting a potential upside of 27.09%. Potbelly has a consensus price target of $18.00, suggesting a potential upside of 42.52%. Given Potbelly's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Potbelly is more favorable than Arcos Dorados.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arcos Dorados	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Potbelly	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is ARCO or PBPB more profitable?

Arcos Dorados has a net margin of 2.89% compared to Potbelly's net margin of 2.30%. Arcos Dorados' return on equity of 24.54% beat Potbelly's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arcos Dorados	2.89%	24.54%	4.10%
Potbelly	2.30%	16.31%	3.56%

Which has more volatility and risk, ARCO or PBPB?

Arcos Dorados has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Potbelly has a beta of 1.5, suggesting that its share price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor ARCO or PBPB?

In the previous week, Potbelly had 3 more articles in the media than Arcos Dorados. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Potbelly and 2 mentions for Arcos Dorados. Arcos Dorados' average media sentiment score of 1.43 beat Potbelly's score of 1.05 indicating that Arcos Dorados is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Arcos Dorados	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Potbelly	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, ARCO or PBPB?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Arcos Dorados	$4.47B	0.33	$148.76M	$0.63	10.99
Potbelly	$462.60M	0.83	$40.29M	$0.35	36.09

Summary

Potbelly beats Arcos Dorados on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.