The shares of Finisar Corporation have decreased by more than -23.24% this year alone. The shares recently went down by -4.05% or -$0.66 and now trades at $15.62. The shares of Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL), has slumped by -7.53% year to date as of 04/16/2018. The shares currently trade at $43.35 and have been able to report a change of -4.96% over the past one week.

The stock of Finisar Corporation and Foot Locker, Inc. were two of the most active stocks on Monday. Investors seem to be very interested in what happens to the stocks of these two companies but do investors favor one over the other? We will analyze the growth, profitability, risk, valuation, and insider trends of both companies and see which one investors prefer.

When a company is able to grow consistently in terms of earnings at a high compound rate have the highest likelihood of creating value for its shareholders over time. Analysts have predicted that FNSR will grow it’s earning at a 16.50% annual rate in the next 5 years. This is in contrast to FL which will have a positive growth at a 6.72% annual rate. This means that the higher growth rate of FNSR implies a greater potential for capital appreciation over the years.

Growth alone cannot be used to see if the company will be valuable. Shareholders will be the losers if a company invest in ventures that aren’t profitable enough to support upbeat growth. In order for us to accurately measure profitability and return, we will be using the EBITDA margin and Return on Investment (ROI), which balances the difference in capital structure. FNSR has an EBITDA margin of 14%, this implies that the underlying business of FNSR is more profitable. The ROI of FNSR is 11.60% while that of FL is 14.20%. These figures suggest that FL ventures generate a higher ROI than that of FNSR.

The value of a stock is ultimately determined by the amount of cash flow that the investors have available. Over the last 12 months, FNSR’s free cash flow per share is a negative -1.58, while that of FL is positive 2.66.

The ability of a company to meet up with its short-term obligations and be able to clear its longer-term debts is measured using Liquidity and leverage ratios. The current ratio for FNSR is 4.10 and that of FL is 4.10. This implies that it is easier for FNSR to cover its immediate obligations over the next 12 months than FL. The debt ratio of FNSR is 0.45 compared to 0.00 for FL. FNSR can be able to settle its long-term debts and thus is a lower financial risk than FL.

FNSR currently trades at a forward P/E of 16.69, a P/B of 1.09, and a P/S of 1.31 while FL trades at a forward P/E of 9.04, a P/B of 2.07, and a P/S of 0.69. This means that looking at the earnings, book values and sales basis, FNSR is the cheaper one. It is very obvious that earnings are the most important factors to investors, thus analysts are most likely to place their bet on the P/E.

The mistake some people make is that they think a cheap stock has more value to it. In order to know the value of a stock, there is need to compare its current price to its likely trading price in the future. The price of FNSR is currently at a -27.08% to its one-year price target of 21.42. Looking at its rival pricing, FL is at a -15.99% relative to its price target of 51.60.

When looking at the investment recommendation on say a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being a strong buy, 3 a hold, and 5 a sell), FNSR is given a 2.30 while 2.10 placed for FL. This means that analysts are more bullish on the outlook for FNSR stocks.

Short interest or otherwise called the percentage of a stock’s tradable shares currently being shorted is another data that investors use to get a handle on sentiment. The short ratio for FNSR is 2.89 while that of FL is just 0.00. This means that analysts are more bullish on the forecast for FL stock.

Conclusion

The stock of Finisar Corporation defeats that of Foot Locker, Inc. when the two are compared, with FNSR taking 5 out of the total factors that were been considered. FNSR happens to be more profitable, generates a higher ROI, has higher cash flow per share, higher liquidity and has a lower financial risk. When looking at the stock valuation, FNSR is the cheaper one on an earnings, book value and sales basis. Finally, the sentiment signal for FNSR is better on when it is viewed on short interest.