From Amazon.com and Google Shopping to Become and Shopzilla, there are a lot of comparison shopping websites and apps around these days. They are helping consumers save money and make informed purchase decisions. 

Wouldn’t it be great if something like this existed for stock investors?

It does!

MarketBeat’s free Stock Comparison tool helps investors evaluate prospective stock purchases across a wide range of data points. It allows users to compare publicly traded companies across various fundamental and technical metrics as well as by price and performance. 

As many as 10 stocks can be stacked up against each other at a time. Information like profitability, dividend, analyst rating and news sentiment can provide valuable insights as to which stocks to buy or sell. There are even some prebuilt comparison ideas that start with companies that have exposure to a certain industry, theme or investing style. 

While these are incredibly useful, it can also be fun to build your own stock comparison ‘sandbox.’ 

Feeling in need of a caffeine boost? Great, because we just lined up a battle between three popular coffee shop chains. Let’s meet the contenders.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) - With over 38,000 locations focused on ethically-sourced, high-quality arabica coffee, Starbucks is the world’s largest coffee retailer.

Dutch Bros Inc. (NYSE:BROS) - A fast-growing coffee and energy drink company with 794 drive-thru shops across 16 U.S. states.

Luckin Coffee Inc. (OTCMKTS:LKNCY) - China’s largest coffee chain operator with 13,273 locations and a tech-driven business model that features cashier-less transactions and AI data analytics.

We set up a comparison of these three stocks to learn where they’ve been and where they might be heading next. Here are just some of the highlights.

Historical performance - 365 days

SBUX: -10.8%

LKNCY: -24.2%

BROS: -31.1%

It’s been a tough past 12 months for all three companies due to the effects of inflation and rising rates on consumer demand in addition to supply chain constraints and wage pressures (e.g., Starbucks employee unionization efforts).

Current stock price and 52-week range

LKNCY: $22.25 ($17.77 to $38.88)

BROS: $26.00 ($22.67 to $40.87)

SBUX: $94.50 ($89.21 to $115.48)

All three stocks are trading within 25% of their 52-week low, which could point to a long-term opportunity for all three. The Luckin Coffee ADR has the lowest share price — but this doesn’t necessarily make it the best deal.

Valuation - price-to-sales (P/S) ratio

SBUX: 2.97x

LKNCY: 3.21x

BROS: 6.23x

At roughly 3x trailing 12 months revenue, SBUX is the least expensive stock from a valuation standpoint. BROS, which has perhaps the biggest growth potential, is naturally twice as expensive as SBUX. LKNCY commands a P/S multiple that is comparable to SBUX.

Risk - beta

BROS: 2.41

SBUX: 0.99

LKNCY: -0.59

As an unproven mid-cap company, BROS is by far the most risky of the three. Its 2.41 beta means that for every 1% move in the U.S. stock market (up or down), BROS typically moves 2.41%. This could make it an attractive candidate for high-risk investors.

For more conservative investors, SBUX may be the better choice because it is the most mature company and historically moves in tandem with the broader market. LKNCY is a unique case. Its negative beta means that it generally moves in the opposite direction of the U.S. stock market, which could make it a valuable diversification piece.

Analyst ratings and price targets

BROS: Hold ($34.70)

SBUX: Hold ($111.43)

LKNCY: n/a

According to the consensus Wall Street opinion, neither BROS nor SBUX is a buy. Last week, several analysts lowered their price targets on SBUX in the wake of the company’s fiscal 2024 Q1 earnings miss. BROS got an upgrade from Hold to Buy at Stifel Nicholas last month after it forecasted 150 to 165 shop openings in 2024 and announced a leadership shakeup.

Despite the hold ratings, consensus targets implying 33% and 18% upside for BROS and SBUX, respectively, suggest decent gains will be made over the next 12 months. LKNCY isn’t currently followed by U.S. research firms, which adds uncertainty to the stock on top of China's risk.

Overall

As the incumbent and only large cap in the group, SBUX appears to be the most appropriate option for low to moderate risk equity investors. It is also the only company to offer a dividend with a current yield of 2.4%. BROS has ambitious growth plans and significant upside, but as the smallest of the three coffee chains, carries the most risk. LKNCY has exposure to China’s massive consumer base and is trading near a low, but as a bit of a wildcard, won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.

Both BROS and LKNCY are expected to announce Q4 financials on February 28th. Until then, we hope you enjoy sipping on this stock comparison tool for other tasty insights.