Head-To-Head Contrast: Kartoon Studios (NASDAQ:TOON) & Lionsgate Studios (NYSE:LION)

Kartoon Studios (NASDAQ:TOON) and Lionsgate Studios (NYSE:LION) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Kartoon Studios and Lionsgate Studios’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kartoon Studios	-114.48%	-78.36%	-38.43%
Lionsgate Studios	-4.02%	N/A	-0.44%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

8.6% of Kartoon Studios shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.4% of Kartoon Studios shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.4% of Lionsgate Studios shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Kartoon Studios and Lionsgate Studios”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kartoon Studios	$36.02 million	0.97	-$77.10 million	($0.48)	-1.52
Lionsgate Studios	$3.20 billion	0.52	-$128.50 million	($0.43)	-13.44

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Kartoon Studios and Lionsgate Studios, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kartoon Studios	0	0	0	0	0.00
Lionsgate Studios	0	3	4	1	2.75

Lionsgate Studios has a consensus target price of $8.86, indicating a potential upside of 53.24%. Given Lionsgate Studios’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Lionsgate Studios is more favorable than Kartoon Studios.

Summary

Lionsgate Studios beats Kartoon Studios on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kartoon Studios

Kartoon Studios Inc., a content and brand management company, creates, produces, licenses, and broadcasts educational and multimedia animated content for children worldwide. The company offers Shaq’s Garage, a children’s animated series about the secret adventures; Cocomelon that provides 3D animation videos of traditional nursery rhymes and children’s songs; Eggventurers, a preschool animated series; Barbie Productions that provides animated Barbie series; Octonauts, a children’s television series based on the children’s books; Roblox Rumble, an elimination-style competitive reality series; and Spin Master Productions. It also operates a kartoon channel network and channel frederator network, as well as distributes subscription video on demand services for kids. In addition, the company acts as a licensing agent for Llama Llama, Bee & PuppyCat, and Castlevania. It serves various customers and partners, including broadcasters, consumer products licensees, and online platforms. The company was formerly known as Genius Brands International, Inc. and changed its name to Kartoon Studios Inc. in June 2023. Kartoon Studios Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California.

About Lionsgate Studios

Lionsgate Studios Corp. engages in the provision of motion picture and studio operations that bring a varied portfolio of entertainment to consumers. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA.