FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) versus Atlantic International (NASDAQ:CIRC) Head to Head Survey

Atlantic International (NASDAQ:CIRC) and FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Atlantic International and FirstCash”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Atlantic International	$435.88 million	0.09	-$59.43 million	($2.11)	-0.16
FirstCash	$3.66 billion	2.55	$330.38 million	$8.76	24.53

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

Profitability

This table compares Atlantic International and FirstCash’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atlantic International	-19.39%	N/A	-28.58%
FirstCash	9.42%	19.65%	8.38%

Volatility & Risk

Atlantic International has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FirstCash has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Atlantic International and FirstCash, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atlantic International	1	0	0	1	2.50
FirstCash	0	1	5	0	2.83

FirstCash has a consensus target price of $253.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.72%. Given FirstCash’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe FirstCash is more favorable than Atlantic International.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

80.3% of FirstCash shares are held by institutional investors. 13.6% of Atlantic International shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of FirstCash shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

FirstCash beats Atlantic International on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Atlantic International

Atlantic International Corp., through its subsidiaries, operates as a staffing company servicing the commercial, professional, finance, direct placement, and managed service provider verticals. The company specializes in permanent, temporary, and temporary-to-permanent placement services in various areas, including accounting and finance, administrative and clerical, hospitality, information technology, legal, light industrial, and medical fields. It also provides productivity consulting and workforce management solutions. Atlantic International Corp. was founded in 2018 and is based in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

About FirstCash

FirstCash Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates retail pawn stores in the United States, Mexico, and rest of Latin America. The company operates in three segments: U.S. Pawn, Latin America Pawn, and Retail POS Payment Solutions segments. Its pawn stores lend money on the collateral of pledged personal property, including jewelry, electronics, tools, appliances, sporting goods, and musical instruments; and retails merchandise acquired through collateral forfeitures on forfeited pawn loans and over-the-counter purchases of merchandise directly from customers. The company also provides retail POS payment solutions, which focuses on LTO products and facilitating other retail financing payment options across the network of traditional and e-commerce merchant partners. It serves cash and credit-constrained consumers. The company was formerly known as FirstCash, Inc and changed its name to FirstCash Holdings, Inc. in December 2021. FirstCash Holdings, Inc was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.