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BABA vs. CART: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Internet - Commerce sector might want to consider either Alibaba (BABA - Free Report) or Maplebear (CART - 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.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. 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, Alibaba is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Maplebear has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that BABA's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

BABA currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.91, while CART has a forward P/E of 38.39. We also note that BABA has a PEG ratio of 0.41. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. CART currently has a PEG ratio of 1.39.

Another notable valuation metric for BABA is its P/B ratio of 1.73. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, CART has a P/B of 3.90.

Based on these metrics and many more, BABA holds a Value grade of A, while CART has a Value grade of C.

BABA sticks out from CART in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that BABA is the better option right now.


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