Viking (NYSE:VIK) versus United Parks & Resorts (NYSE:PRKS) Head-To-Head Comparison

United Parks & Resorts (NYSE:PRKS) and Viking (NYSE:VIK) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for United Parks & Resorts and Viking, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Parks & Resorts	0	10	4	0	2.29
Viking	1	3	15	1	2.80

United Parks & Resorts presently has a consensus target price of $45.90, indicating a potential upside of 14.14%. Viking has a consensus target price of $107.44, indicating a potential upside of 19.68%. Given Viking’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Viking is more favorable than United Parks & Resorts.

Risk & Volatility

United Parks & Resorts has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Viking has a beta of 1.39, suggesting that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares United Parks & Resorts and Viking”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Parks & Resorts	$1.66 billion	1.10	$168.35 million	$2.67	15.06
Viking	$6.50 billion	6.15	$1.15 billion	$3.01	29.83

Viking has higher revenue and earnings than United Parks & Resorts. United Parks & Resorts is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Viking, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares United Parks & Resorts and Viking’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Parks & Resorts	7.57%	-23.19%	4.73%
Viking	19.33%	117.98%	10.80%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.8% of Viking shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of United Parks & Resorts shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Viking beats United Parks & Resorts on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About United Parks & Resorts

United Parks & Resorts Inc. is a theme park and entertainment company that owns and operates parks featuring marine life, thrill rides, animal experiences and family attractions. Its portfolio includes the SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Aquatica, Discovery Cove and Sesame Place brands, as well as other regional parks. The company’s parks are located primarily in the United States. Its history includes its former identity as SeaWorld Entertainment and SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment; it adopted the United Parks & Resorts name in 2024.

About Viking

Viking Holdings Ltd. operates cruise voyages through its Viking brand, offering river, ocean and expedition cruises. Its trips are designed around destination-focused itineraries and include onboard cultural and educational programming. The company’s river cruises visit destinations across Europe, Asia, Egypt and the United States, while its ocean and expedition voyages travel to regions around the world. Viking began as a river cruise company in 1997 and later expanded into ocean and expedition cruising.