Critical Analysis: Xcel Brands (XELB) & Its Rivals

Xcel Brands (NASDAQ:XELB) is one of 117 publicly-traded companies in the “Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Xcel Brands to related businesses based on the strength of its earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Xcel Brands has a beta of 1.35, suggesting that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Xcel Brands’ competitors have a beta of 0.92, suggesting that their average stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Xcel Brands and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Xcel Brands	$4.94 million	-$17.46 million	-0.12
Xcel Brands Competitors	$5.65 billion	$471.75 million	24.04

Xcel Brands’ competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Xcel Brands. Xcel Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Xcel Brands and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Xcel Brands	1	0	1	0	2.00
Xcel Brands Competitors	1657	7664	10087	365	2.46

As a group, “Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods” companies have a potential upside of 9.70%. Given Xcel Brands’ competitors stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Xcel Brands has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares Xcel Brands and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Xcel Brands	-343.68%	-109.17%	-42.19%
Xcel Brands Competitors	-3.21%	14.02%	2.94%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

18.5% of Xcel Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.1% of shares of all “Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods” companies are owned by institutional investors. 27.3% of Xcel Brands shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.1% of shares of all “Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Xcel Brands competitors beat Xcel Brands on 11 of the 13 factors compared.

Xcel Brands Company Profile

Xcel Brands, Inc. is a media and consumer products company that develops, markets and manages lifestyle brands. Its business model combines brand ownership and licensing with television, digital media, e-commerce and other direct-to-consumer channels. The company works with designers and brand partners to create and distribute products across categories such as apparel, accessories, jewelry, beauty and home goods. Xcel Brands supports its brands through product design, licensing partnerships, marketing, content production and retail distribution, including television shopping and online commerce.