LightInTheBox (LITB) & Its Rivals Critical Analysis

LightInTheBox (NYSE:LITB) is one of 142 publicly-traded companies in the “Broadline Retail” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare LightInTheBox to similar businesses based on the strength of its earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for LightInTheBox and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LightInTheBox	0	1	0	0	2.00
LightInTheBox Competitors	1408	5411	10897	311	2.56

As a group, “Broadline Retail” companies have a potential upside of 21.74%. Given LightInTheBox’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe LightInTheBox has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares LightInTheBox and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
LightInTheBox	$224.32 million	$8.28 million	5.57
LightInTheBox Competitors	$54.95 billion	$1.71 billion	15.28

LightInTheBox’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than LightInTheBox. LightInTheBox is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares LightInTheBox and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LightInTheBox	3.91%	-231.00%	13.47%
LightInTheBox Competitors	-2.83%	-30.25%	-2.12%

Volatility & Risk

LightInTheBox has a beta of 0.03, suggesting that its share price is 97% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LightInTheBox’s competitors have a beta of 1.74, suggesting that their average share price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

56.8% of LightInTheBox shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.5% of shares of all “Broadline Retail” companies are held by institutional investors. 62.2% of LightInTheBox shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.6% of shares of all “Broadline Retail” companies 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

LightInTheBox competitors beat LightInTheBox on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

About LightInTheBox

LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an online retailer that delivers products directly to its consumers worldwide. The company provides apparel products; and other general merchandise products, such as small accessories and gadgets, home garden, toys and hobbies, electronics and communication devices, and other products. It also offers supplier chain management, research and development, customer, marketing, warehouse management, local delivery, and fulfillment services, as well as engages in the product sourcing, marketing, and operation of its websites and mobile applications. The company provides its products through www.lightinthebox.com and www.ezbuy.sg, and other websites and mobile applications. LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. was founded in 2007 and is based in Singapore.