Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) versus Verus International (OTCMKTS:VRUS) Critical Comparison

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) and Verus International (OTCMKTS:VRUS) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

63.1% of Maplebear shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.3% of Verus International shares are held by institutional investors. 24.0% of Maplebear shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.2% of Verus International shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Maplebear and Verus International, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Maplebear	0	9	14	1	2.67
Verus International	0	0	0	0	0.00

Maplebear presently has a consensus price target of $55.86, suggesting a potential upside of 11.60%. Given Maplebear’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Maplebear is more favorable than Verus International.

Profitability

This table compares Maplebear and Verus International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Maplebear	11.97%	20.19%	14.13%
Verus International	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Maplebear	$3.99 billion	2.90	$447.00 million	$1.83	27.35
Verus International	N/A	N/A	N/A	($1.25)	N/A

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

Summary

Maplebear beats Verus International on 10 of the 11 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 Verus International

Verus International, Inc. does not have significant operations. Previously, it was engaged in the supply of consumer food products. The company was formerly known as RealBiz Media Group, Inc. and changed its name to Verus International, Inc. in October 2018. Verus International, Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is based in Stafford, Texas.