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DTC or MELI: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Internet - Commerce sector might want to consider either Solo Brands, Inc. (DTC - Free Report) or MercadoLibre (MELI - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to take a closer look.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, Solo Brands, Inc. is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while MercadoLibre has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that DTC likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than MELI has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

DTC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 5.18, while MELI has a forward P/E of 67.31. We also note that DTC has a PEG ratio of 0.44. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. MELI currently has a PEG ratio of 1.44.

Another notable valuation metric for DTC is its P/B ratio of 0.71. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, MELI has a P/B of 26.86.

These metrics, and several others, help DTC earn a Value grade of B, while MELI has been given a Value grade of D.

DTC has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than MELI, so it seems like value investors will conclude that DTC is the superior option right now.


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