Critical Contrast: Growlife (OTCMKTS:PHOT) versus Olaplex (NASDAQ:OLPX)

Growlife (OTCMKTS:PHOT) and Olaplex (NASDAQ:OLPX) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Growlife and Olaplex’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Growlife	N/A	N/A	N/A
Olaplex	-1.18%	1.31%	0.70%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Growlife and Olaplex, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Growlife	0	0	0	0	0.00
Olaplex	1	4	2	1	2.38

Olaplex has a consensus target price of $1.85, suggesting a potential upside of 27.59%. Given Olaplex’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Olaplex is more favorable than Growlife.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.4% of Olaplex shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Growlife shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.2% of Olaplex shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Growlife has a beta of 2.5, indicating that its share price is 150% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Olaplex has a beta of 2.28, indicating that its share price is 128% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Growlife and Olaplex”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Growlife	N/A	N/A	-$4.48 million	($0.16)	0.00
Olaplex	$422.67 million	2.29	$19.52 million	N/A	N/A

Olaplex has higher revenue and earnings than Growlife.

Summary

Olaplex beats Growlife on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Growlife

GrowLife, Inc. focuses on the functional mushroom business. It processes, stores, markets, distributes, and sells fresh and dried mushroom products. The company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Kirkland, Washington.

About Olaplex

Olaplex Holdings, Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells hair care products in the United States and internationally. The company offers hair care shampoos and conditioners for use in treatment, maintenance, and protection of hair, as well as oil, moisture mask, and nourishing hair serum. It provides hair care products to professional hair salons, retailers, and everyday consumers. The company distributes its products through professional distributors in salons, directly to retailers for sale in their physical stores, e-commerce sites, and its website, Olaplex.com, as well as third party e-commerce platforms. The company was founded in 2014 and is based in Santa Barbara, California.