Critical Contrast: Itochu (OTCMKTS:ITOCY) versus SharkNinja (NYSE:SN)

Itochu (OTCMKTS:ITOCY) and SharkNinja (NYSE:SN) are both large-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Itochu and SharkNinja, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Itochu	0	0	0	0	0.00
SharkNinja	0	1	7	1	3.00

SharkNinja has a consensus target price of $130.71, suggesting a potential upside of 33.39%. Given SharkNinja’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe SharkNinja is more favorable than Itochu.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.1% of Itochu shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.8% of SharkNinja shares are held by institutional investors. 11.1% of SharkNinja shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Itochu and SharkNinja’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Itochu	N/A	N/A	N/A
SharkNinja	8.82%	28.78%	13.23%

Volatility and Risk

Itochu has a beta of 0.75, meaning that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SharkNinja has a beta of 1.56, meaning that its share price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Itochu and SharkNinja”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Itochu	$96.69 billion	0.85	$5.89 billion	$7.66	14.91
SharkNinja	$5.53 billion	2.50	$438.70 million	$3.66	26.77

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

Summary

SharkNinja beats Itochu on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Itochu

ITOCHU Corporation engages in trading and importing/exporting various products worldwide. The company’s Textile segment produces and sells raw materials, threads, and textiles; and garments, home furnishings, and industrial materials, as well as trades in industrial textile and lifestyle products. Its Machinery segment engages in the plants, bridges, railways, and other infrastructure; power generation, transmission, transformation, and sale; water, environment and waste-related; ship trading; renewable and alternative energy; and waste recycling businesses. The company’s Metals & Minerals segment engages in development of metal and mineral resource; processing and steel products; trading of iron ore, coal, pig iron and ferrous raw materials, non-ferrous and light metals, steel products, nuclear fuels, and greenhouse gas emissions; and recycling and waste treatment activities. Its Energy & Chemicals segment trades in crude oil, petroleum products, LPG, LNG, natural gas, hydrogen, organic and inorganic chemicals, functional food, synthetic resins, packaging materials, household goods, fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and electronic materials, as well as engages in the solar and biomass power generation, electricity trading, and the energy storage cell businesses. The company’s Food segment produces, distributes, and retails food products. Its General Products & Realty segment produces and sells paper, pulp, natural rubber, tire, and wood products and materials; develops and operates real estate properties, such as housing, logistics facilities, and other projects; and offers logistics services. The company’s ICT & Financial Business segment offers IT, Internet related and venture capital, mobile telephone equipment, BPO, broadcasting and communications, entertainment and content, healthcare and preventive medicine outsourcing, and financial and insurance brokerage services. The company was founded in 1858 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About SharkNinja

SharkNinja, Inc., a product design and technology company, engages in the provision of various solutions for consumers worldwide. It offers cleaning appliances, including corded and cordless vacuums, including handheld and robotic vacuums, as well as other floorcare products comprising steam mops, wet/dry cleaning floor products, and carpet extraction; cooking and beverage appliances, such as air fryers, multi-cookers, outdoor and countertop grills and ovens, coffee systems, carbonation, cookware, cutlery, kettles, toasters and bakeware; food preparation appliances comprising blenders, food processors, ice cream makers, and juicers; and beauty appliances, such as hair dryers and stylers, as well as home environment products comprising air purifiers and humidifiers. The company sells its products through traditional brick-and-mortar retail channels and e-commerce channels, distributors, and direct-to-consumer channels under the Shark and Ninja brands. SharkNinja, Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts.