CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) and Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Critical Contrast

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) and CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Expedia Group and CAVA Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Expedia Group	$14.73 billion	2.11	$1.29 billion	$17.13	15.13
CAVA Group	$1.18 billion	5.83	$63.74 million	$0.54	109.11

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Expedia Group and CAVA Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Expedia Group	2	19	18	0	2.41
CAVA Group	0	10	17	1	2.68

Expedia Group currently has a consensus price target of $314.97, suggesting a potential upside of 21.50%. CAVA Group has a consensus price target of $83.88, suggesting a potential upside of 42.37%. Given CAVA Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe CAVA Group is more favorable than Expedia Group.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

90.8% of Expedia Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.2% of CAVA Group shares are held by institutional investors. 5.2% of Expedia Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of CAVA Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Expedia Group and CAVA Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Expedia Group	12.97%	87.32%	7.85%
CAVA Group	4.82%	8.28%	4.73%

Volatility & Risk

Expedia Group has a beta of 1.39, suggesting that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CAVA Group has a beta of 1.75, suggesting that its share price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Expedia Group beats CAVA Group on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group, Inc. operates as an online travel company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through B2C, B2B, and trivago segments. Its B2C segment includes Brand Expedia, a full-service online travel brand offers various travel products and services; Hotels.com for lodging accommodations; Vrbo, an online marketplace for the alternative accommodations; Orbitz, Travelocity, Wotif Group, ebookers, CheapTickets, Hotwire.com and CarRentals.com. The company's B2B segment provides various travel and non-travel companies including airlines, offline travel agents, online retailers, corporate travel management, and financial institutions who leverage its travel technology and tap into its diverse supply to augment their offerings and market Expedia Group rates and availabilities to its travelers. Its trivago segment, a hotel metasearch website, which send referrals to online travel companies and travel service providers from hotel metasearch websites. In addition, the company provides brand advertising through online and offline channels, loyalty programs, mobile apps, and search engine marketing, as well as metasearch, social media, direct and personalized traveler communications on its websites, and through direct e-mail communication with its travelers. The company was formerly known as Expedia, Inc. and changed its name to Expedia Group, Inc. in March 2018. Expedia Group, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

About CAVA Group

CAVA Group, Inc. owns and operates a chain of restaurants under the CAVA brand in the United States. The company also offers dips, spreads, and dressings through grocery stores. In addition, the company provides online and mobile ordering platforms. Cava Group, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Washington, the District of Columbia.