Critical Analysis: Trip.com Group (NASDAQ:TCOM) & Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR)

Trip.com Group (NASDAQ:TCOM) and Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, risk, dividends and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Trip.com Group and Shift4 Payments”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Trip.com Group	$48.74 billion	0.80	$1.40 billion	$2.22	27.27
Shift4 Payments	$2.92 billion	2.79	$86.20 million	$1.49	62.41

Trip.com Group has higher revenue and earnings than Shift4 Payments. Trip.com Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Shift4 Payments, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

35.4% of Trip.com Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.9% of Shift4 Payments shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.0% of Trip.com Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 30.6% of Shift4 Payments shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Trip.com Group and Shift4 Payments’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Trip.com Group	28.78%	11.52%	6.33%
Shift4 Payments	3.64%	24.19%	6.10%

Risk and Volatility

Trip.com Group has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Shift4 Payments has a beta of 1.64, indicating that its share price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Trip.com Group and Shift4 Payments, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Trip.com Group	0	4	7	1	2.75
Shift4 Payments	0	3	17	0	2.85

Trip.com Group currently has a consensus target price of $64.63, suggesting a potential upside of 6.77%. Shift4 Payments has a consensus target price of $95.11, suggesting a potential upside of 2.27%. Given Trip.com Group’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Trip.com Group is more favorable than Shift4 Payments.

Summary

Shift4 Payments beats Trip.com Group on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Trip.com Group

Trip.com Group Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates as a travel service provider for accommodation reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged tours and in-destination, corporate travel management, and other travel-related services in China and internationally. The company acts as an agent for hotel-related transactions and selling air tickets, as well as provides train, long-distance bus, and ferry tickets; travel insurance products, such as flight delay, air accident, and baggage loss coverage; and air-ticket delivery, online check-in and seat selection, express security screening, real-time flight status tracker, and airport VIP lounge services. It also provides independent leisure travelers bundled packaged-tour products comprising group, semi-group, and customized and packaged tours with various transportation arrangements, including air, cruise, bus, and car rental services. In addition, the company offers integrated transportation and accommodation services; destination transportation and ticket, activity, insurance, visa, and tour guide services; user support, supplier management, and customer relationship management services; and in-destination products and services. Further, It provides its corporate clients with business visit, incentive trip, meeting and conference, travel data collection and analysis, and industry benchmarking solutions; and Corporate Travel Management System, an online platform that integrates information management, online booking and authorization, online inquiry, and travel reporting systems. Additionally, the company offers online advertising and financial services, such as marketing planning and travel media services. It operates under the Ctrip, Qunar, Trip.com, and Skyscanner brands. The company was formerly known as Ctrip.com International, Ltd. and changed its name to Trip.com Group Limited in October 2019. Trip.com Group Limited was founded in 1999 and is based in Singapore.

About Shift4 Payments

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE FOUR) provides integrated payment processing and technology solutions in the United States. Its payments platform provides omni-channel card acceptance and processing solutions, including end-to-end payment processing for various payment types; merchant acquiring; proprietary omni-channel gateway; complementary software integrations; integrated and mobile point-of-sale (POS) solutions; security and risk management solutions; and reporting and analytical tools, as well as tokenization, risk management/underwriting, payment device and chargeback management, fraud prevention, and gift card solutions. The company also offers suite of technology solutions, such as Lighthouse, a cloud-based business intelligence tool that includes customer engagement, social media management, online reputation management, scheduling, and product pricing, as well as reporting and analytics; integrated POS for merchants business; and Skytab, a mobile payment solution. In addition, it provides marketplace technology that enable seamless integrations into third-party applications, which includes online delivery services, payroll, timekeeping, and other human resource services. Further, the company offers merchant management, training and education, marketing management, and incentives tracking solutions. Additionally, it provides merchant underwriting, onboarding and activation, training, risk management, and support services; and software integrations and compliance management, and partner support and services. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania.