Financial Survey: Torrid (NYSE:CURV) versus a.k.a. Brands (NYSE:AKA)

Torrid (NYSE:CURV) and a.k.a. Brands (NYSE:AKA) are both small-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, dividends, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Torrid and a.k.a. Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Torrid	2	2	2	0	2.00
a.k.a. Brands	0	1	1	0	2.50

Torrid presently has a consensus price target of $3.69, suggesting a potential upside of 95.62%. a.k.a. Brands has a consensus price target of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 89.30%. Given Torrid’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Torrid is more favorable than a.k.a. Brands.

Volatility and Risk

Torrid has a beta of 1.56, indicating that its share price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, a.k.a. Brands has a beta of 1.64, indicating that its share price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Torrid and a.k.a. Brands”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Torrid	$1.07 billion	0.19	$16.32 million	$0.04	47.13
a.k.a. Brands	$598.11 million	0.19	-$25.99 million	($2.51)	-4.21

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

Profitability

This table compares Torrid and a.k.a. Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Torrid	0.30%	-1.72%	0.68%
a.k.a. Brands	-4.48%	-21.06%	-6.33%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

81.8% of Torrid shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.3% of a.k.a. Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.9% of Torrid shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 17.6% of a.k.a. Brands shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Torrid beats a.k.a. Brands on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Torrid

Torrid Holdings Inc. operates in women’s plus-size apparel and intimates market in North America. The company designs, develops, and merchandises its products under the Torrid, Torrid Curve, CURV, and Lovesick brand names. It is involved in the sale of tops, bottoms, dresses, denims, activewear, intimates, sleep wear, swim wear, and outerwear products; and non-apparel products comprising accessories, footwear, and beauty products. The company sells its products directly to consumers through its e-commerce platform and its physical stores. Torrid Holdings Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in City Of Industry, California.

About a.k.a. Brands

a.k.a. Brands Holding Corp. operates a portfolio of online fashion brands in the United States, Australia, and internationally. The company offers streetwear apparel, dresses, tops, bottoms, shoes, headwear, and accessories through its online stores under the Princess Polly, Petal & Pup, Culture Kings, and mnml brands. It also operates physical stores under the Culture Kings brand. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.