Contrasting Birkenstock (NYSE:BIRK) & Amer Sports (NYSE:AS)

Birkenstock (NYSE:BIRK) and Amer Sports (NYSE:AS) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Birkenstock and Amer Sports”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Birkenstock	$2.32 billion	2.59	$385.46 million	$2.13	15.84
Amer Sports	$6.57 billion	2.35	$427.40 million	$0.95	29.37

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

Volatility and Risk

Birkenstock has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amer Sports has a beta of 2.04, indicating that its stock price is 104% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

19.9% of Birkenstock shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.3% of Amer Sports shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Birkenstock and Amer Sports’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Birkenstock	14.82%	13.36%	7.21%
Amer Sports	7.35%	11.18%	7.02%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Birkenstock and Amer Sports, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Birkenstock	0	6	13	0	2.68
Amer Sports	0	3	11	1	2.87

Birkenstock currently has a consensus target price of $52.50, indicating a potential upside of 55.62%. Amer Sports has a consensus target price of $44.77, indicating a potential upside of 60.44%. Given Amer Sports’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Amer Sports is more favorable than Birkenstock.

Summary

Amer Sports beats Birkenstock on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Birkenstock

Birkenstock Holding plc manufactures and sells footwear products. It also offers sandals, shoes, closed-toe silhouettes, skincare products, and accessories. The company sells its products through e-commerce sites and a network of owned retail stores, as well as business-to-business channels. It operates in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Europe, APMA, and internationally. Birkenstock Holding plc was founded in 1774 and is based in London, the United Kingdom. Birkenstock Holding plc is a subsidiary of BK LC Lux MidCo S.à r.l.

About Amer Sports

Amer Sports, Inc. designs, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells sports equipment, apparel, footwear, and accessories in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, China, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through three segments: Technical Apparel, Outdoor Performance, and Ball & Racquet Sports. The Technical Apparel segment offers outdoor apparel, footwear, and accessories which includes climbing gear. The Outdoor Performance segment provides hiking and running footwear, functional apparel, skiing and snowboarding gear, and lifestyle footwear. The Ball & Racquet Sports segment offers sports equipment for tennis, baseball, american football, basketball, golf, and various other professional and recreational sports. This segment provides custom-fitting protective gear and apparel for baseball, softball, football, and lacrosse. It sells its products under the Arc'teryx, PeakPerformance, Salomon, Atomic, Armada, ENVE, Wilson, Louisville Slugger, DeMarini, EvoShield, and ATEC brands. The company distributes its products through retail stores, general sporting goods retailers, specialty stores, independently operated partner stores, and distributors, as well as its e-commerce websites, and retailer-owned and third-party e-commerce websites. The company was formerly known as Amer Sports Management Holding (Cayman) Limited and changed its name to Amer Sports, Inc. in August 2023. Amer Sports, Inc. was founded in 1950 and is based in Helsinki, Finland.