Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and LightInTheBox Holding Co. (NYSE:LITB) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Profitability
This table compares Amazon.com and LightInTheBox Holding Co.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Amazon.com | 1.28% | 9.38% | 2.38% |
| LightInTheBox Holding Co. | -3.01% | -9.62% | -5.61% |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Amazon.com and LightInTheBox Holding Co.’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Amazon.com | $150.12 billion | 3.02 | $12.30 billion | $3.94 | 239.91 |
| LightInTheBox Holding Co. | $297.89 million | 0.64 | -$8.31 million | ($0.13) | -21.38 |
Amazon.com has higher revenue and earnings than LightInTheBox Holding Co.. LightInTheBox Holding Co. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Amazon.com, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
Amazon.com has a beta of 1.48, meaning that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LightInTheBox Holding Co. has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Amazon.com and LightInTheBox Holding Co., as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Amazon.com | 0 | 2 | 44 | 1 | 2.98 |
| LightInTheBox Holding Co. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Amazon.com presently has a consensus target price of $1,078.66, indicating a potential upside of 14.11%. Given Amazon.com’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Amazon.com is more favorable than LightInTheBox Holding Co..
Insider & Institutional Ownership
61.9% of Amazon.com shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.6% of LightInTheBox Holding Co. shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.7% of Amazon.com shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 62.2% of LightInTheBox Holding Co. shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Amazon.com beats LightInTheBox Holding Co. on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. offers a range of products and services through its Websites. The Company operates through three segments: North America, International and Amazon Web Services (AWS). The North America segment consists of retail sales of consumer products (including from sellers) and subscriptions through North America-focused Websites, such as www.amazon.com, www.amazon.ca and www.amazon.com.mx. The International segment primarily consists of retail sales of consumer products (including from sellers) and subscriptions through internationally-focused Websites, such as www.amazon.com.au, www.amazon.nl, www.amazon.es and www.amazon.co.uk. The AWS segment consists of sales of compute, storage, database, and other service offerings for start-ups, enterprises, government agencies and academic institutions. The Company’s products include merchandise and content that it purchases for resale from vendors and those offered by third-party sellers. It manufactures and sells electronic devices.
About LightInTheBox Holding Co.
LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. (LightInTheBox) is an online retail company that delivers products directly to consumers around the world. The Company offers a range of products through www.lightinthebox.com, www.miniinthebox.com and its other Websites, as well as mobile applications, which are available in approximately 30 languages. It has over 687,800 product listings. The Company also offers a range of other products in its other general merchandise product category. Its major markets are Europe and North America. The Company’s product offerings include apparel and other general merchandise. Its apparel category includes customized, special occasion apparel and fast fashion. Its other general merchandise category includes small accessories and gadgets, home and garden, electronics and communication devices and other products. The Company has additional Websites for specific products and geographic regions, including www.ouku.com for products targeting its Chinese customer base.
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