Head-To-Head Contrast: Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) vs. Regis (NASDAQ:RGS)

Regis (NASDAQ:RGS) and Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Regis and Duolingo’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Regis	3.09%	4.10%	1.36%
Duolingo	35.88%	12.10%	8.24%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Regis and Duolingo, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Regis	0	1	1	0	2.50
Duolingo	1	14	8	1	2.38

Regis currently has a consensus target price of $42.00, suggesting a potential upside of 50.71%. Duolingo has a consensus target price of $124.38, suggesting a potential downside of 14.91%. Given Regis’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Regis is more favorable than Duolingo.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Regis and Duolingo”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Regis	$224.49 million	0.31	$6.94 million	$2.42	11.52
Duolingo	$1.04 billion	6.59	$414.07 million	$8.44	17.32

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

31.5% of Regis shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Duolingo shares are held by institutional investors. 4.8% of Regis shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 16.6% of Duolingo shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Regis has a beta of 1.42, indicating that its stock price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Duolingo has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Duolingo beats Regis on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Regis

Regis Corporation owns, operates, and franchises hairstyling and hair care salons in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The company operates in two segments, Franchise Salons and Company-owned Salons. Its salons provide haircutting and styling, including shampooing and conditioning; hair coloring; and other services, as well as sells various hair care and other beauty products. The company also offers OpenSalon Pro, a back-office salon management system; and Opensalon mobile application. Regis Corporation operates its salons primarily under the SmartStyle, Supercuts, Cost Cutters, Roosters, and First Choice Haircutters names. As of June 30, 2021, the company operated 5,917 salons, such as 5,563 franchised salons, 276 company-owned salons, and 78 non-controlling ownership salons. It also operates accredited cosmetology schools. The company was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

About Duolingo

Duolingo, Inc. operates as a mobile learning platform in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers courses in 40 different languages, including Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese through its Duolingo app. It also provides a digital English language proficiency assessment exam. Duolingo, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.