Reviewing Jones Soda (OTCMKTS:JSDA) and Primo Brands (NYSE:PRMB)

Jones Soda (OTCMKTS:JSDA) and Primo Brands (NYSE:PRMB) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Jones Soda and Primo Brands, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Jones Soda	0	0	0	0	0.00
Primo Brands	2	3	8	0	2.46

Primo Brands has a consensus target price of $26.09, suggesting a potential upside of 45.14%. Given Primo Brands’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Primo Brands is more favorable than Jones Soda.

Profitability

This table compares Jones Soda and Primo Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Jones Soda	-25.11%	-100.76%	-26.73%
Primo Brands	-1.30%	12.52%	3.73%

Risk & Volatility

Jones Soda has a beta of 1.54, indicating that its share price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Primo Brands has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Jones Soda and Primo Brands”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Jones Soda	$19.16 million	1.51	-$9.90 million	($0.04)	-6.25
Primo Brands	$5.15 billion	1.29	-$16.40 million	($0.31)	-57.99

Jones Soda has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Primo Brands. Primo Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Jones Soda, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.7% of Primo Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 9.8% of Jones Soda shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 58.4% of Primo Brands shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Primo Brands beats Jones Soda on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Jones Soda

Jones Soda Co., together with its subsidiaries, engages in development, production, marketing, and distribution of beverages primarily in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company provides craft sodas under the Jones Soda and Lemoncocco brands; and tetrahydrocannabinol infused cannabis products under the Mary Jones brand name. It also offers co-brand and private label products; fountain products, including cane sugar cola and sugar free cola, cane sugar sweetened ginger ale, orange and cream, root beer, and lemon lime; food products; and other products comprising teas, lemonade, vitamin enhanced waters, hydration beverages, and naturally flavored sparkling waters. The company sells and distributes its products through a network of independent distributors, and directly to national and regional retail accounts, as well as in grocery stores, convenience and gas stores, restaurants, delicatessens, sandwich shops, and burger restaurants; sells various products online, including soda with customized labels, wearables, candy, and other items; and licenses its trademarks for use on products sold by other manufacturers. Jones Soda Co. was founded in 1986 and is based in Seattle, Washington.

About Primo Brands

Primo Brands Corp. is a branded beverage company, which focuses on healthy hydration. It delivers sustainably and domestically sourced diversified offerings across products, formats, channels, price points and consumer occasions, distributed in the United States and Canada. The company provides water filtration units for home and business consumers across North America. It also offers reusable packaging, helping to reduce waste through its reusable, multi-serve bottles and innovative brand packaging portfolio, which includes recycled plastic, aluminum and glass. Primo Brands was founded in 2024 and is headquartered in Tampa, FL.