Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) & BT Brands (NASDAQ:BTBD) Head to Head Survey

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.4% of BT Brands shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.5% of Royal Caribbean Cruises shares are held by institutional investors. 19.6% of BT Brands shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.4% of Royal Caribbean Cruises shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

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

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BT Brands	$13.49 million	0.76	-$690,000.00	($0.09)	-18.50
Royal Caribbean Cruises	$17.93 billion	3.80	$4.27 billion	$16.18	15.75

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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for BT Brands and Royal Caribbean Cruises, as provided by MarketBeat.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises has a consensus target price of $353.40, indicating a potential upside of 38.65%. Given Royal Caribbean Cruises’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Royal Caribbean Cruises is more favorable than BT Brands.

Volatility and Risk

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

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.