Analyzing TH International (NASDAQ:THCH) and Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG)

TH International (NASDAQ:THCH) and Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares TH International and Chipotle Mexican Grill”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TH International	$1.34 billion	0.05	-$57.32 million	($1.43)	-1.50
Chipotle Mexican Grill	$11.93 billion	3.72	$1.54 billion	$1.14	29.85

Chipotle Mexican Grill has higher revenue and earnings than TH International. TH International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Chipotle Mexican Grill, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

91.8% of TH International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.3% of Chipotle Mexican Grill shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Chipotle Mexican Grill shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for TH International and Chipotle Mexican Grill, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TH International	1	0	0	0	1.00
Chipotle Mexican Grill	1	11	23	0	2.63

Chipotle Mexican Grill has a consensus price target of $47.37, suggesting a potential upside of 39.18%. Given Chipotle Mexican Grill’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Chipotle Mexican Grill is more favorable than TH International.

Volatility and Risk

TH International has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chipotle Mexican Grill has a beta of 1, meaning that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares TH International and Chipotle Mexican Grill’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TH International	-25.22%	N/A	-17.98%
Chipotle Mexican Grill	12.88%	47.99%	17.15%

Summary

Chipotle Mexican Grill beats TH International on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TH International

TH International Limited operates Tim Hortons coffee shops in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. The company offers brewed tea, coffee, milk tea, lemonade, hot chocolate, and coffee drinks. It is also involved in franchise related business. The company is based in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China.

About Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants. It sells food and beverages through offering burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, tacos, and salads. The company also provides delivery and related services its app and website. It has operations in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.