Head to Head Analysis: SEA (NYSE:SE) & Vipshop (NYSE:VIPS)

Vipshop (NYSE:VIPS) and SEA (NYSE:SE) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, earnings and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

48.8% of Vipshop shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.5% of SEA shares are held by institutional investors. 29.5% of Vipshop shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of SEA shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Vipshop has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SEA has a beta of 1.54, indicating that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Vipshop and SEA, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vipshop	1	4	4	1	2.50
SEA	0	4	9	1	2.79

Vipshop presently has a consensus price target of $20.68, suggesting a potential upside of 37.75%. SEA has a consensus price target of $154.81, suggesting a potential upside of 17.74%. Given Vipshop’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Vipshop is more favorable than SEA.

Profitability

This table compares Vipshop and SEA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vipshop	7.08%	16.90%	9.47%
SEA	6.41%	14.12%	5.76%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Vipshop and SEA”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vipshop	$106.23 billion	0.07	$1.04 billion	$2.13	7.05
SEA	$22.94 billion	3.50	$1.58 billion	$2.54	51.76

SEA has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Vipshop. Vipshop is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SEA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

SEA beats Vipshop on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vipshop

Vipshop Holdings Limited operates online platforms in the People's Republic of China. It operates in Vip.com, Shan Shan Outlets, and Others segments. The company offers womenswear, menswear, sportswear and sporting goods, shoes and bags, accessories, baby and children products, skincare and cosmetics, home goods and other lifestyle products, and supermarket products. It also provides internet finance services, including consumer and supplier financing. In addition, the company engages in warehousing, retail business, product procurement, and software development and information technology support activities. The company provides branded products through its vip.com and vipshop.com online platforms, as well as through retail stores. Vipshop Holdings Limited was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Guangzhou, the People's Republic of China.

About SEA

Sea Ltd. is an internet and mobile platform company, which engages in the provision of online gaming services. It operates through the following segments: Digital Entertainment, E-Commerce, and Digital Financial Services. The Digital Entertainment segment offers and develops mobile and PC online games. The E-Commerce segment manages a third-party marketplace through the Shopee mobile app and websites that connect buyers and sellers. The Digital Financial Services segment includes a variety of payment services and loans to individuals and businesses through SeaMoney. Sea was founded by Xiao Dong Li, Gang Ye, and Jing Ye Chen on May 8, 2009 and is headquartered in Singapore.