Comparing XOS (NASDAQ:XOS) & Manitowoc (NYSE:MTW)

Manitowoc (NYSE:MTW) and XOS (NASDAQ:XOS) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Manitowoc and XOS, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Manitowoc	2	1	0	0	1.33
XOS	1	1	0	0	1.50

Manitowoc currently has a consensus price target of $17.50, suggesting a potential downside of 26.70%. Given Manitowoc’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Manitowoc is more favorable than XOS.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

78.7% of Manitowoc shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.9% of XOS shares are held by institutional investors. 4.0% of Manitowoc shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.7% of XOS shares are held 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.

Volatility & Risk

Manitowoc has a beta of 1.78, suggesting that its stock price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, XOS has a beta of 1.74, suggesting that its stock price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Manitowoc and XOS”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Manitowoc	$2.24 billion	0.38	$7.20 million	$0.71	33.63
XOS	$45.99 million	0.53	-$25.32 million	($1.62)	-1.06

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

Profitability

This table compares Manitowoc and XOS’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Manitowoc	1.10%	4.75%	1.77%
XOS	-109.26%	-132.89%	-51.78%

Summary

Manitowoc beats XOS on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Manitowoc

The Manitowoc Company, Inc. designs, manufactures and supports lifting equipment for construction and other industries. Its products include mobile hydraulic cranes, crawler cranes, tower cranes and boom trucks, along with replacement parts and aftermarket services. The company sells equipment under brands including Grove, Manitowoc, Potain and National Crane. Its products and services support customers in markets around the world, including the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.

About XOS

Xos, Inc. develops and manufactures battery-electric commercial vehicles and related fleet solutions. Its offerings have included electric stepvans and chassis designed for medium- and heavy-duty applications, such as delivery and other vocational fleets. The company’s products include its modular X-Platform vehicle architecture and Xos Hub, a mobile charging solution intended to support fleet operations. Xos has focused on commercial customers in the United States. Founded in 2016 as Thor Trucks, the company adopted the Xos name in 2020.