Trip.com Group (NASDAQ:TCOM) and MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) are both large-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and dividends.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Trip.com Group and MercadoLibre's top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Trip.com Group | $5.13 billion | 4.30 | $1.01 billion | $1.16 | 32.08 |
| MercadoLibre | $2.30 billion | 34.42 | $-172,000,000.00 | ($1.68) | -943.29 |
Trip.com Group has higher revenue and earnings than MercadoLibre. MercadoLibre is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Trip.com Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Trip.com Group and MercadoLibre's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Trip.com Group | -9.55% | -2.45% | -1.25% |
| MercadoLibre | -0.12% | -0.22% | -0.08% |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
80.6% of MercadoLibre shares are held by institutional investors. 23.0% of Trip.com Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of MercadoLibre shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent recommendations for Trip.com Group and MercadoLibre, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Trip.com Group | 0 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 2.75 |
| MercadoLibre | 0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 2.82 |
Trip.com Group presently has a consensus price target of $38.9333, indicating a potential upside of 4.63%. MercadoLibre has a consensus price target of $1,716.4706, indicating a potential upside of 8.31%. Given MercadoLibre's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe MercadoLibre is more favorable than Trip.com Group.
Volatility & Risk
Trip.com Group has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MercadoLibre has a beta of 1.63, suggesting that its share price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
MercadoLibre beats Trip.com Group on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
