Wayfair (W) versus The Competition Head-To-Head Analysis
by Jessica Moore · The Cerbat GemWayfair (NYSE:W – Get Free Report) is one of 285 publicly-traded companies in the “Specialty Retail” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Wayfair to related businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, valuation and risk.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
89.7% of Wayfair shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.6% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are held by institutional investors. 18.4% of Wayfair shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 20.5% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Wayfair and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Wayfair | -2.49% | -3.40% | 3.06% |
| Wayfair Competitors | -3.67% | -14.10% | 3.17% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings for Wayfair and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Wayfair | 1 | 11 | 14 | 1 | 2.56 |
| Wayfair Competitors | 3663 | 15558 | 21593 | 586 | 2.46 |
Wayfair presently has a consensus price target of $122.21, suggesting a potential upside of 8.15%. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies have a potential upside of 8.79%. Given Wayfair’s competitors higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Wayfair has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.
Risk & Volatility
Wayfair has a beta of 3.02, meaning that its share price is 202% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wayfair’s competitors have a beta of 1.67, meaning that their average share price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Wayfair and its competitors revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Net Income | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Wayfair | $12.46 billion | -$313.00 million | -45.93 |
| Wayfair Competitors | $7.26 billion | $386.47 million | 32.31 |
Wayfair has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its competitors. Wayfair is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.
Summary
Wayfair beats its competitors on 8 of the 13 factors compared.
Wayfair Company Profile
Wayfair Inc. provides e-commerce business in the United States and internationally. The company offers approximately thirty million products for the home sector. It offers online selections of furniture, décor, housewares, and home improvement products through its sites consisting of Wayfair, Joss & Main, AllModern, Birch Lane, Perigold, and Wayfair Professional. The company offers its products under the Three Posts and Mercury Row brand name. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.