Contrasting FIGS (NYSE:FIGS) and Xcel Brands (NASDAQ:XELB)

Xcel Brands (NASDAQ:XELB) and FIGS (NYSE:FIGS) are both small-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Xcel Brands and FIGS, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Xcel Brands	1	0	1	0	2.00
FIGS	0	6	4	1	2.55

Xcel Brands presently has a consensus price target of $3.00, suggesting a potential upside of 56.25%. FIGS has a consensus price target of $15.93, suggesting a potential upside of 27.43%. Given Xcel Brands’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Xcel Brands is more favorable than FIGS.

Volatility and Risk

Xcel Brands has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FIGS has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Xcel Brands and FIGS”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Xcel Brands	$4.94 million	2.35	-$17.46 million	($4.65)	-0.41
FIGS	$631.10 million	3.31	$34.25 million	$0.22	56.82

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

Profitability

This table compares Xcel Brands and FIGS’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Xcel Brands	-361.04%	-83.71%	-34.96%
FIGS	6.10%	9.69%	7.37%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

18.6% of Xcel Brands shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.2% of FIGS shares are held by institutional investors. 29.5% of Xcel Brands shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 27.1% of FIGS shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

FIGS beats Xcel Brands on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Xcel Brands

Xcel Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a media and consumer products company in the United States. The company designs, produces, markets, wholesales, and sells branded apparel, footwear, accessories, jewelry, home goods, and other consumer products; and acquires consumer lifestyle brands, including the Isaac Mizrahi, the LOGO by Lori Goldstein, the Judith Ripka, the Halston brand, the C Wonder, the TowerHill by Christie Brinkley brand (the CB brand), and other brands, as well as manages the Longaberger brand. It licenses its brands to third parties; and designs, produces, markets, and distributes through an omni-channel retail sales strategy, which include distribution through interactive television, digital live-stream shopping, brick-and-mortar retail, and e-commerce channels. The company also offers live streaming, social media and other marketing, and public relations support for its brands. In addition, it markets its brands through www.isaacmizrahi.com; www.halston.com; www.judithripka.com; www.cwonder.com; www.lorigoldstein.com; and www.longaberger.com. Xcel Brands, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About FIGS

FIGS, Inc. operates as a direct-to-consumer healthcare apparel and lifestyle company in the United States and internationally. It designs and sells healthcare apparel and scrubwear and non-scrubwear offerings, such as outerwear, underscrubs, footwear, compression socks, lab coats, loungewear, and other apparel. It also offers sports bras, performance leggings, tops, super-soft pima cotton tops, vests, fleeces, and jackets; necessities, scrub caps, lanyards, badge reels, tote bags, baseball caps, and beanies. The company markets and sells its products to healthcare professionals through its direct-to-consumer digital platform comprising website, mobile app, and B2B business, as well as retail store. FIGS, Inc. was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. FIGS, Inc.