Financial Survey: FIGS (NYSE:FIGS) vs. Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW)

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) and FIGS (NYSE:FIGS) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

Lowe’s Companies has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FIGS has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Lowe’s Companies and FIGS, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lowe’s Companies	2	11	23	0	2.58
FIGS	0	5	6	0	2.55

Lowe’s Companies currently has a consensus target price of $257.63, indicating a potential upside of 34.64%. FIGS has a consensus target price of $18.71, indicating a potential upside of 55.82%. Given FIGS’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe FIGS is more favorable than Lowe’s Companies.

Profitability

This table compares Lowe’s Companies and FIGS’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lowe’s Companies	7.34%	-75.67%	12.82%
FIGS	8.72%	12.53%	9.52%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

74.1% of Lowe’s Companies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.2% of FIGS shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Lowe’s Companies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 27.1% of FIGS shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lowe’s Companies and FIGS”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lowe’s Companies	$86.29 billion	1.24	$6.65 billion	$11.83	16.17
FIGS	$710.08 million	2.81	$34.25 million	$0.33	36.39

Lowe’s Companies has higher revenue and earnings than FIGS. Lowe’s Companies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than FIGS, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

FIGS beats Lowe’s Companies on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lowe’s Companies

Lowe’s Companies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States. The company offers a line of products for construction, maintenance, repair, remodeling, and decorating. It also provides home improvement products, such as appliances, seasonal and outdoor living, lawn and garden, lumber, kitchens and bath, tools, paint, millwork, hardware, flooring, rough plumbing, building materials, décor, and electrical. In addition, the company offers installation services through independent contractors in various product categories; and extended protection plans and repair services. It sells its national brand-name merchandise and private brand products to professional customers, homeowners, renters, businesses, and government. The company also sells its products through Lowes.com website; and through mobile applications. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. was founded in 1921 and is based in Mooresville, North Carolina.

About FIGS

FIGS, Inc. operates as a direct-to-consumer healthcare apparel and lifestyle company in the United States and internationally. It designs and sells healthcare apparel and scrubwear and non-scrubwear offerings, such as outerwear, underscrubs, footwear, compression socks, lab coats, loungewear, and other apparel. It also offers sports bras, performance leggings, tops, super-soft pima cotton tops, vests, fleeces, and jackets; necessities, scrub caps, lanyards, badge reels, tote bags, baseball caps, and beanies. The company markets and sells its products to healthcare professionals through its direct-to-consumer digital platform comprising website, mobile app, and B2B business, as well as retail store. FIGS, Inc. was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. FIGS, Inc.