Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) and Potbelly (NASDAQ:PBPB) Head to Head Survey

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) and Potbelly (NASDAQ:PBPB) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership and dividends.

Volatility and Risk

Sweetgreen has a beta of 2.32, suggesting that its stock price is 132% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Potbelly has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Sweetgreen and Potbelly”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sweetgreen	$648.95 million	6.19	-$113.38 million	($0.93)	-38.12
Potbelly	$477.37 million	0.52	$5.12 million	$0.12	69.50

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

Profitability

This table compares Sweetgreen and Potbelly’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sweetgreen	-14.33%	-19.34%	-10.82%
Potbelly	7.58%	21.42%	1.85%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.8% of Sweetgreen shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.6% of Potbelly shares are held by institutional investors. 21.5% of Sweetgreen shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.1% of Potbelly shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Sweetgreen and Potbelly, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sweetgreen	0	3	8	0	2.73
Potbelly	0	1	3	0	2.75

Sweetgreen currently has a consensus price target of $38.20, indicating a potential upside of 7.76%. Potbelly has a consensus price target of $14.33, indicating a potential upside of 71.86%. Given Potbelly’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Potbelly is more favorable than Sweetgreen.

Summary

Potbelly beats Sweetgreen on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sweetgreen

Sweetgreen, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates fast food restaurants serving healthy foods at scale in the United States. The company also accepts orders through its online and mobile ordering platforms, as well as sells gift cards that do not have an expiration date and can be redeemed. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About Potbelly

Potbelly Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns, operates, and franchises Potbelly sandwich shops in the United States. The company was formerly known as Potbelly Sandwich Works, Inc. and changed its name to Potbelly Corporation in 2002. Potbelly Corporation was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.