United Parks & Resorts (NYSE:PRKS) vs. Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Head to Head Review

United Parks & Resorts (NYSE:PRKS) and Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Volatility & Risk

United Parks & Resorts has a beta of 1.28, suggesting that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Royal Caribbean Cruises has a beta of 1.94, suggesting that its stock price is 94% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for United Parks & Resorts and Royal Caribbean Cruises, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Parks & Resorts	2	7	4	0	2.15
Royal Caribbean Cruises	0	4	19	1	2.88

United Parks & Resorts presently has a consensus target price of $50.82, suggesting a potential upside of 35.89%. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a consensus target price of $324.82, suggesting a potential upside of 4.30%. Given United Parks & Resorts’ higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe United Parks & Resorts is more favorable than Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares United Parks & Resorts and Royal Caribbean Cruises”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Parks & Resorts	$1.67 billion	1.22	$227.50 million	$3.27	11.44
Royal Caribbean Cruises	$16.48 billion	5.15	$2.88 billion	$14.87	20.94

Royal Caribbean Cruises has higher revenue and earnings than United Parks & Resorts. United Parks & Resorts is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Royal Caribbean Cruises, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.5% of Royal Caribbean Cruises shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of United Parks & Resorts shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.0% of Royal Caribbean Cruises shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares United Parks & Resorts and Royal Caribbean Cruises’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Parks & Resorts	10.83%	-44.47%	6.88%
Royal Caribbean Cruises	23.33%	44.68%	10.36%

Summary

Royal Caribbean Cruises beats United Parks & Resorts on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About United Parks & Resorts

United Parks & Resorts, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the ownership and operation of theme parks. Its portfolio includes SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Aquatica, Discovery Cove, Sesame Place, and Sea Rescue. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Orlando, FL.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates as a cruise company worldwide. The company operates cruises under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises brands, which comprise a range of itineraries. As of February 21, 2024, it operated 65 ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.