Reviewing NIO (NYSE:NIO) & General Motors (NYSE:GM)

NIO (NYSE:NIO) and General Motors (NYSE:GM) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for NIO and General Motors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NIO	2	7	6	0	2.27
General Motors	1	4	22	1	2.82

NIO presently has a consensus target price of $5.78, indicating a potential upside of 75.88%. General Motors has a consensus target price of $101.44, indicating a potential upside of 14.35%. Given NIO’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe NIO is more favorable than General Motors.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

48.5% of NIO shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of General Motors shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of NIO shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of General Motors shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares NIO and General Motors”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NIO	$12.51 billion	0.65	-$2.14 billion	($0.27)	-12.17
General Motors	$185.02 billion	0.40	$2.70 billion	$4.36	20.35

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

Risk & Volatility

NIO has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, General Motors has a beta of 1.4, meaning that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares NIO and General Motors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NIO	-3.95%	-111.37%	-3.62%
General Motors	2.12%	19.36%	4.37%

Summary

General Motors beats NIO on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NIO

NIO Inc. is a China-based electric vehicle company founded in 2014. The company designs, develops, and sells premium smart electric vehicles, including sedans and sport utility vehicles, primarily under the NIO brand. Alongside its vehicles, NIO offers battery-swapping and charging services, vehicle software and connectivity features, and related ownership services. Its battery-as-a-service offering allows customers to separate battery use from vehicle purchase. NIO serves customers in China and selected European markets.

About General Motors

General Motors Company designs, manufactures and sells cars, trucks, crossovers and sport utility vehicles. Its vehicle brands include Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac, and its offerings also include vehicle parts, software and related services. GM Financial provides automotive financing and leasing products to customers and dealers. Founded in 1908, General Motors is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The company serves customers in North America and international markets, with operations and sales spanning multiple regions.