Amer Sports (NYSE:AS) versus Birkenstock (NYSE:BIRK) Critical Analysis

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

Risk & Volatility

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

40.3% of Amer Sports shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.9% of Birkenstock shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Amer Sports and Birkenstock, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

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

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

Profitability

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

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

Earnings and Valuation

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

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

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.

Summary

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

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.

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.