Alliance Entertainment (NASDAQ:AENT) versus Core & Main (NYSE:CNM) Critical Analysis

Alliance Entertainment (NASDAQ:AENT) and Core & Main (NYSE:CNM) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Alliance Entertainment has a beta of 0.01, meaning that its stock price is 99% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Core & Main has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Alliance Entertainment and Core & Main’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alliance Entertainment	N/A	-18.17%	-3.11%
Core & Main	5.45%	15.75%	7.20%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.1% of Alliance Entertainment shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.2% of Core & Main shares are held by institutional investors. 19.7% of Alliance Entertainment shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Core & Main shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Alliance Entertainment and Core & Main’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alliance Entertainment	N/A	N/A	$860,000.00	N/A	N/A
Core & Main	$6.65 billion	1.03	$366.00 million	$2.12	13.96

Core & Main has higher revenue and earnings than Alliance Entertainment.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Alliance Entertainment and Core & Main, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alliance Entertainment	0	0	1	0	3.00
Core & Main	0	3	6	0	2.67

Alliance Entertainment currently has a consensus target price of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 226.09%. Core & Main has a consensus target price of $36.20, indicating a potential upside of 22.30%. Given Alliance Entertainment’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Alliance Entertainment is more favorable than Core & Main.

Summary

Core & Main beats Alliance Entertainment on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alliance Entertainment

Alliance Entertainment Holding Corporation operates as a wholesaler, distributor, and e-commerce provider for the entertainment industry worldwide. The company offers gaming products, vinyl records, digital video discs and blu-rays, compact discs, and consumer products and collectibles. It also provides third party logistics products and services. The company distributes its physical media, entertainment products, hardware, and accessories through multi-channel strategy. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Plantation, Florida.

About Core & Main

Core & Main, Inc. distributes water, wastewater, storm drainage, and fire protection products and related services to municipalities, private water companies, and professional contractors in the municipal, non-residential, and residential end markets in the United States. Its products portfolio include pipes, valves, hydrants, fittings, and other products and services; storm drainage products, such as corrugated piping systems, retention basins, inline drains, manholes, grates, geosynthetics, erosion control, and other related products; fire protection products, including fire protection pipes, and sprinkler heads and devices, as well as fabrication services; and meter products, such as smart meter products, meter accessories, installation, software, and other services. The company's specialty products and services are used in the maintenance, repair, replacement, and construction of water, wastewater, storm drainage, and fire protection infrastructure. Core & Main, Inc. was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.