Financial Review: BT Brands (NASDAQ:BTBD) versus Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL)

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) and BT Brands (NASDAQ:BTBD) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Royal Caribbean Cruises and BT Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Royal Caribbean Cruises	23.54%	43.33%	10.56%
BT Brands	-4.57%	-8.99%	-5.45%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Royal Caribbean Cruises and BT Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Royal Caribbean Cruises	0	8	12	2	2.73
BT Brands	1	0	0	0	1.00

Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has a consensus price target of $353.40, suggesting a potential upside of 35.82%. Given Royal Caribbean Cruises’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Royal Caribbean Cruises is more favorable than BT Brands.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.5% of Royal Caribbean Cruises shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.4% of BT Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.4% of Royal Caribbean Cruises shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.6% of BT Brands shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Royal Caribbean Cruises and BT Brands”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Royal Caribbean Cruises	$18.68 billion	3.73	$4.27 billion	$16.18	16.08
BT Brands	$12.87 million	0.84	-$690,000.00	($0.09)	-19.33

Royal Caribbean Cruises has higher revenue and earnings than BT Brands. BT Brands 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.

Volatility & Risk

Royal Caribbean Cruises has a beta of 1.74, indicating that its share price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BT Brands has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Royal Caribbean Cruises beats BT Brands on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About BT Brands

BT Brands, Inc. owns and operates fast-food restaurants in the north central region of United States. The company operates Burger Time restaurants located in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota; and a Dairy Queen franchise in Ham Lake, Minnesota. Its Burger Time restaurants provide various burgers and other food products, such as chicken sandwiches, pulled pork sandwiches, chicken chunks, side dishes, and soft drinks; and Dairy Queen restaurant offers burgers, chicken, sides, ice cream and other desserts, and various beverages. The company was founded in 1987 and is based in West Fargo, North Dakota.