Analyzing Next (OTCMKTS:NXGPY) and Children’s Place (NASDAQ:PLCE)

Next (OTCMKTS:NXGPY) and Children’s Place (NASDAQ:PLCE) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Next and Children’s Place’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Next	N/A	N/A	N/A
Children’s Place	-4.01%	N/A	-6.44%

Risk & Volatility

Next has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Children’s Place has a beta of 1.97, suggesting that its stock price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Next and Children’s Place, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Next	0	1	0	1	3.00
Children’s Place	1	1	0	0	1.50

Children’s Place has a consensus price target of $4.50, indicating a potential upside of 12.22%. Given Children’s Place’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Children’s Place is more favorable than Next.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Next and Children’s Place”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Next	$7.82 billion	2.75	$938.45 million	N/A	N/A
Children’s Place	$1.39 billion	0.06	-$57.82 million	($2.62)	-1.53

Next has higher revenue and earnings than Children’s Place.

Summary

Next beats Children’s Place on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Next

NEXT plc engages in the retail of clothing, beauty, footwear, and home products in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through NEXT Retail; NEXT Online; NEXT Finance; Total Platform; Property Management; and Franchise, Sourcing, and other segments. It offers consumer credit; NEXT branded products; and women’s, men’s, children’s, clothing, homeware, and beauty products under the LABEL brand, as well as other third-party brands. The company also provides property management services, including holding and lease of properties; operates call centers; and websites, marketing, warehousing, and distribution networks to third-party brands. It operates through retail stores, online retail platforms, and franchise stores. The company was formerly known as J Hepworth & Son and changed its name to NEXT plc in 1986. NEXT plc was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Enderby, the United Kingdom.

About Children’s Place

The Children’s Place, Inc. engages in the provision of apparel, footwear, accessories, and other items for children. The firm also designs contracts to manufacture and sell fashionable and value-priced merchandise under the brand names of The Children’s Place, Baby Place, and Gymboree. It operates through The Children’s Place U.S. and The Children’s Place International segments. The Children’s Place U.S. segment refers to the company’s U.S. and Puerto Rico-based stores and revenue from its U.S. based wholesale business. The Children’s Place International segment is involved in the Canadian-based stores, revenue from the company’s Canadian-based wholesale business, as well as revenue from international franchisees. The company was founded by David Pulver and Clinton A. Clark in 1969 and is headquartered in Secaucus, NJ.