Comparing Carnival (NYSE:CCL) & Bally’s (NYSE:BALY)

Bally’s (NYSE:BALY) and Carnival (NYSE:CCL) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Bally’s and Carnival, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bally’s	2	3	0	0	1.60
Carnival	0	5	21	1	2.85

Bally’s presently has a consensus price target of $11.75, indicating a potential upside of 18.21%. Carnival has a consensus price target of $35.08, indicating a potential upside of 47.99%. Given Carnival’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Carnival is more favorable than Bally’s.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Bally’s and Carnival”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bally’s	$2.45 billion	0.20	-$701.10 million	($6.80)	-1.46
Carnival	$27.31 billion	1.19	$2.76 billion	$2.22	10.68

Carnival has higher revenue and earnings than Bally’s. Bally’s is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Carnival, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

70.4% of Bally’s shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.2% of Carnival shares are owned by institutional investors. 69.3% of Bally’s shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.9% of Carnival 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.

Risk & Volatility

Bally’s has a beta of 1.77, indicating that its share price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Carnival has a beta of 2.31, indicating that its share price is 131% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Bally’s and Carnival’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bally’s	-25.83%	-40.97%	-7.66%
Carnival	11.24%	26.11%	6.36%

Summary

Carnival beats Bally’s on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bally’s

Bally’s Corp. is a global casino-entertainment company with a portfolio of casinos and resorts and online gaming businesses. It operates through the following segments: Casinos & Resorts, International Interactive, and North America Interactive. The Casinos & Resorts segment consists of the company’s casino and resort properties, a horse racetrack, and a golf course. The International Interactive segment includes the European and Asian operations of Gamesys, a business-to-consumer iCasino operator. The North America Interactive segment covers a portfolio of sports betting, iGaming, and free-to-play gaming brands such as Bally’s Interactive, SportCaller, and Live at the Bike, and the North American operations of Gamesys. The company was founded on March 1, 2004 and is headquartered in Providence, RI.

About Carnival

Carnival Corp. engages in the operation of cruise ships. It operates through the following business segments: North America and Australia (NAA) Cruise, Europe and Asia (EA) Cruise Operations, Cruise Support, and Tour and Others. The North America and Australia (NAA) Cruise segment includes the Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn. The Europe and Asia (EA) Cruise Operations segment consists of AIDA, Costa, Cunard, and P&O Cruises (UK). The Cruise Support segment represents port destinations and private islands for the benefit of its cruise brands. The Tour and Other segment operates hotel and transportation operations of Holland America Princess Alaska Tours. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Miami, FL.