Critical Analysis: Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) vs. Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) and Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Maplebear and Expedia Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Maplebear	11.89%	16.28%	11.95%
Expedia Group	8.78%	72.23%	6.72%

Risk & Volatility

Maplebear has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Expedia Group has a beta of 1.3, suggesting that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

63.1% of Maplebear shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.8% of Expedia Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 24.0% of Maplebear shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.1% of Expedia Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Maplebear and Expedia Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Maplebear	$3.74 billion	2.67	$447.00 million	$1.59	26.53
Expedia Group	$14.73 billion	2.09	$1.29 billion	$9.85	25.57

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Maplebear and Expedia Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Maplebear	2	9	15	1	2.56
Expedia Group	0	22	14	0	2.39

Maplebear presently has a consensus price target of $51.29, indicating a potential upside of 21.57%. Expedia Group has a consensus price target of $282.74, indicating a potential upside of 12.27%. Given Maplebear’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Maplebear is more favorable than Expedia Group.

Summary

Maplebear beats Expedia Group on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Maplebear

Maplebear Inc., doing business as Instacart, engages in the provision of online grocery shopping services to households in North America. It sells and delivers grocery products, as well as pickup services through a mobile application and website. It also operates virtual convenience stores; and provides software-as-a-service solutions to retailers. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is based in San Francisco, California.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group, Inc. operates as an online travel company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through B2C, B2B, and trivago segments. Its B2C segment includes Brand Expedia, a full-service online travel brand offers various travel products and services; Hotels.com for lodging accommodations; Vrbo, an online marketplace for the alternative accommodations; Orbitz, Travelocity, Wotif Group, ebookers, CheapTickets, Hotwire.com and CarRentals.com. The company's B2B segment provides various travel and non-travel companies including airlines, offline travel agents, online retailers, corporate travel management, and financial institutions who leverage its travel technology and tap into its diverse supply to augment their offerings and market Expedia Group rates and availabilities to its travelers. Its trivago segment, a hotel metasearch website, which send referrals to online travel companies and travel service providers from hotel metasearch websites. In addition, the company provides brand advertising through online and offline channels, loyalty programs, mobile apps, and search engine marketing, as well as metasearch, social media, direct and personalized traveler communications on its websites, and through direct e-mail communication with its travelers. The company was formerly known as Expedia, Inc. and changed its name to Expedia Group, Inc. in March 2018. Expedia Group, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.