Critical Survey: Lionsgate Studios (NYSE:LION) versus Kartoon Studios (NASDAQ:TOON)

Lionsgate Studios (NYSE:LION) and Kartoon Studios (NASDAQ:TOON) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lionsgate Studios and Kartoon Studios”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lionsgate Studios	$3.20 billion	0.54	-$128.50 million	($0.43)	-13.91
Kartoon Studios	$36.02 million	0.97	-$77.10 million	($0.48)	-1.53

Kartoon Studios has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Lionsgate Studios. Lionsgate Studios is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kartoon Studios, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Lionsgate Studios and Kartoon Studios, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lionsgate Studios	0	3	4	1	2.75
Kartoon Studios	0	0	0	0	0.00

Lionsgate Studios presently has a consensus price target of $8.86, suggesting a potential upside of 48.11%. Given Lionsgate Studios’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Lionsgate Studios is more favorable than Kartoon Studios.

Profitability

This table compares Lionsgate Studios and Kartoon Studios’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lionsgate Studios	-4.02%	N/A	-0.44%
Kartoon Studios	-114.48%	-78.36%	-38.43%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

8.6% of Kartoon Studios shares are held by institutional investors. 6.4% of Kartoon Studios shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Lionsgate Studios beats Kartoon Studios on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lionsgate Studios

Lionsgate Studios Corp. engages in the provision of motion picture and studio operations that bring a varied portfolio of entertainment to consumers. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA.

About Kartoon Studios

Kartoon Studios Inc., a content and brand management company, creates, produces, licenses, and broadcasts educational and multimedia animated content for children worldwide. The company offers Shaq’s Garage, a children’s animated series about the secret adventures; Cocomelon that provides 3D animation videos of traditional nursery rhymes and children’s songs; Eggventurers, a preschool animated series; Barbie Productions that provides animated Barbie series; Octonauts, a children’s television series based on the children’s books; Roblox Rumble, an elimination-style competitive reality series; and Spin Master Productions. It also operates a kartoon channel network and channel frederator network, as well as distributes subscription video on demand services for kids. In addition, the company acts as a licensing agent for Llama Llama, Bee & PuppyCat, and Castlevania. It serves various customers and partners, including broadcasters, consumer products licensees, and online platforms. The company was formerly known as Genius Brands International, Inc. and changed its name to Kartoon Studios Inc. in June 2023. Kartoon Studios Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California.