FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS – Get Free Report) and Katapult (NASDAQ:KPLT – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
80.3% of FirstCash shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.8% of Katapult shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of FirstCash shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.0% of Katapult shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares FirstCash and Katapult’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| FirstCash | 9.48% | 20.17% | 8.52% |
| Katapult | 3.60% | -26.41% | 10.86% |
Risk and Volatility
FirstCash has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Katapult has a beta of 1.58, suggesting that its share price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares FirstCash and Katapult”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| FirstCash | $3.66 billion | 2.20 | $330.38 million | $9.23 | 20.32 |
| Katapult | $291.76 million | 0.17 | $1.37 million | $1.37 | 7.20 |
FirstCash has higher revenue and earnings than Katapult. Katapult is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than FirstCash, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for FirstCash and Katapult, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| FirstCash | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2.83 |
| Katapult | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
FirstCash currently has a consensus target price of $247.50, suggesting a potential upside of 31.96%. Given FirstCash’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe FirstCash is more favorable than Katapult.
Summary
FirstCash beats Katapult on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About FirstCash
FirstCash Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates retail pawn stores in the United States, Mexico, and rest of Latin America. The company operates in three segments: U.S. Pawn, Latin America Pawn, and Retail POS Payment Solutions segments. Its pawn stores lend money on the collateral of pledged personal property, including jewelry, electronics, tools, appliances, sporting goods, and musical instruments; and retails merchandise acquired through collateral forfeitures on forfeited pawn loans and over-the-counter purchases of merchandise directly from customers. The company also provides retail POS payment solutions, which focuses on LTO products and facilitating other retail financing payment options across the network of traditional and e-commerce merchant partners. It serves cash and credit-constrained consumers. The company was formerly known as FirstCash, Inc and changed its name to FirstCash Holdings, Inc. in December 2021. FirstCash Holdings, Inc was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.
About Katapult
Katapult Holdings, Inc., an e-commerce focused financial technology company, provides e-commerce point-of-sale lease-purchase options for nonprime consumers in the United States. The company's technology platform provides nonprime consumers with a lease purchase option to enable them to obtain durable goods from its network of e-commerce retailers. It also offers Katapult Pay, a one-time use virtual card technology that makes lease purchasing and transactions. The company was formerly known as Cognical Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Katapult Holdings, Inc. in February 2020. The company is headquartered in Plano, Texas.
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