Wayfair (W) and The Competition Critical Comparison

Wayfair (NYSE:W) is one of 285 public companies in the “Specialty Retail” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Wayfair to similar businesses based on the strength of its earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Wayfair and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wayfair	-2.49%	-3.40%	3.06%
Wayfair Competitors	-3.67%	-14.10%	3.17%

Volatility & Risk

Wayfair has a beta of 3.02, meaning that its share price is 202% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wayfair’s peers have a beta of 1.67, meaning that their average share price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Wayfair and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wayfair	$12.46 billion	-$313.00 million	-45.93
Wayfair Competitors	$7.26 billion	$386.47 million	32.31

Wayfair has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its peers. Wayfair is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Wayfair and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wayfair	1	11	14	1	2.56
Wayfair Competitors	3663	15558	21593	586	2.46

Wayfair currently has a consensus price target of $122.21, suggesting a potential upside of 8.15%. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies have a potential upside of 8.79%. Given Wayfair’s peers higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Wayfair has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

89.7% of Wayfair shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.6% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are held by institutional investors. 18.4% of Wayfair shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 20.5% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are held by 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.

Summary

Wayfair beats its peers on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

About Wayfair

Wayfair Inc. provides e-commerce business in the United States and internationally. The company offers approximately thirty million products for the home sector. It offers online selections of furniture, décor, housewares, and home improvement products through its sites consisting of Wayfair, Joss & Main, AllModern, Birch Lane, Perigold, and Wayfair Professional. The company offers its products under the Three Posts and Mercury Row brand name. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.