Critical Contrast: Baozun (NASDAQ:BZUN) & Grove Collaborative (NYSE:GROV)

Baozun (NASDAQ:BZUN) and Grove Collaborative (NYSE:GROV) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Baozun and Grove Collaborative, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Baozun	0	2	1	0	2.33
Grove Collaborative	0	0	1	0	3.00

Baozun presently has a consensus price target of $3.20, suggesting a potential upside of 5.61%. Grove Collaborative has a consensus price target of $2.00, suggesting a potential upside of 29.87%. Given Grove Collaborative’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Grove Collaborative is more favorable than Baozun.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Baozun and Grove Collaborative”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Baozun	$8.97 billion	0.02	-$39.22 million	($0.54)	-5.61
Grove Collaborative	$213.78 million	0.28	-$43.23 million	($0.69)	-2.23

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

47.3% of Baozun shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Grove Collaborative shares are owned by institutional investors. 59.2% of Baozun shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.1% of Grove Collaborative shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Baozun and Grove Collaborative’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Baozun	-2.55%	-5.58%	-2.33%
Grove Collaborative	-11.35%	-417.96%	-14.19%

Volatility & Risk

Baozun has a beta of 0.31, indicating that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grove Collaborative has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Baozun beats Grove Collaborative on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Baozun

Baozun Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides end-to-end e-commerce solutions to brand partners in the People’s Republic of China. The company operates through two segments, E-Commerce and Brand Management (BBM). The E-Commerce segment offers brands’ store operations, customer services and value-added services in logistics and supply chain management, IT, and digital marketing. The Brand Management segment provides brand management, strategic and tactic positioning, branding and marketing, retail and e-commerce operations, supply chain, and logistics and technology services. It serves brand partners in various categories, including apparel and accessories, appliances, electronics, home and furnishings, food and health products, beauty and cosmetics, fast moving consumer goods, mother and baby products, and automobiles. The company was formerly known as Baozun Cayman Inc. and changed its name to Baozun Inc. in March 2015. Baozun Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People’s Republic of China.

About Grove Collaborative

Grove Collaborative Holdings, Inc. operates as a plastic neutral consumer products retailer in the United States. It offers household, personal care, beauty, and other consumer products through retail channels, third parties, direct-to-consumer platform, and mobile applications, as well as online store. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.