Potbelly (PBPB) Competitors

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

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in 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 hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

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 preferable valuation & 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	$4.50B	0.32	$148.76M	$0.63	10.89
Potbelly	$469.14M	1.10	$40.29M	$0.35	48.79

Does the media prefer ARCO or PBPB?

In the previous week, Arcos Dorados had 1 more articles in the media than Potbelly. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Arcos Dorados and 4 mentions for Potbelly. Potbelly's average media sentiment score of 0.49 beat Arcos Dorados' score of 0.00 indicating that Potbelly is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

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

Which has more volatility and risk, ARCO or PBPB?

Arcos Dorados has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Potbelly has a beta of 1.52, suggesting that its stock price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend ARCO or PBPB?

Arcos Dorados presently has a consensus target price of $8.80, indicating a potential upside of 28.30%. Potbelly has a consensus target price of $17.41, indicating a potential upside of 1.98%. Given Arcos Dorados' higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Arcos Dorados is more favorable than Potbelly.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arcos Dorados	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.50
Potbelly	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Summary

Arcos Dorados beats Potbelly on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.