Critical Survey: Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) & Sysco (NYSE:SYY)

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) and Sysco (NYSE:SYY) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Maplebear has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sysco has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Maplebear and Sysco, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Maplebear	0	8	14	1	2.70
Sysco	1	6	9	0	2.50

Maplebear currently has a consensus price target of $55.90, suggesting a potential upside of 8.52%. Sysco has a consensus price target of $89.50, suggesting a potential upside of 7.18%. Given Maplebear’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Maplebear is more favorable than Sysco.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Maplebear and Sysco”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Maplebear	$3.74 billion	3.19	$447.00 million	$1.83	28.15
Sysco	$84.55 billion	0.47	$1.76 billion	$3.66	22.81

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

63.1% of Maplebear shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.4% of Sysco shares are held by institutional investors. 24.0% of Maplebear shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Sysco shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Maplebear and Sysco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Maplebear	11.97%	20.19%	14.13%
Sysco	2.08%	95.05%	8.00%

Summary

Maplebear beats Sysco on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Maplebear

Maplebear Inc., doing business as Instacart, engages in the provision of online grocery shopping services to households in North America. It sells and delivers grocery products, as well as pickup services through a mobile application and website. It also operates virtual convenience stores; and provides software-as-a-service solutions to retailers. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is based in San Francisco, California.

About Sysco

Sysco Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the marketing and distribution of various food and related products to the foodservice or food-away-from-home industry in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and internationally. It operates through U.S. Foodservice Operations, International Foodservice Operations, SYGMA, and Other segments. The company distributes frozen food, such as meat, seafood, fully prepared entrées, fruits, vegetables, and desserts; canned and dry food products; fresh meat and seafood products; dairy products; beverages; imported specialties; and fresh produce products. It also supplies various non-food items, including paper products comprising disposable napkins, plates, and cups; tableware consisting of glassware and silverware; cookware, such as pots, pans, and utensils; restaurant and kitchen equipment and supplies; and cleaning supplies. The company serves restaurants, hospitals and nursing facilities, schools and colleges, hotels and motels, industrial caterers, and other foodservice venues. Sysco Corporation was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.