PSO vs. VIK: Pearson vs. Viking Stock Comparison

Company Profile

Pearson (PSO) and Viking (VIK) both fall under the Consumer Services industry group, but PSO is classified in Diversified Consumer Services while VIK is classified in Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure.

Pearson (PSO) carries decades of public-market history since November 18, 1996, while Viking (VIK) listed on May 1, 2024 — long-window comparisons have far more historical data on the PSO side.

Viking (VIK) trades as ordinary local shares, while Pearson (PSO) trades as an ADR — compare with FX exposure, depositary-program fees, and dividend-withholding-tax differences in mind.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Viking (VIK) has an aggressive beta of 1.38, indicating higher sensitivity to broad-market moves, while Pearson (PSO) is defensive at 0.43 and tends to be less market-sensitive — they sit on opposite ends of the beta spectrum.

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

Viking (VIK) at 139.62% clears its industry range for ROE, a sharper capital-efficiency signal than Pearson (PSO) at 9.16%, which is closer to a typical peer reading.

Viking (VIK) at 19.33% retains a top-quartile share of revenue as profit, ahead of Pearson (PSO) at 8.78%, which keeps about the industry-typical share.

Viking (VIK) at 29.40% operates in the top operating margin quartile, ahead of Pearson (PSO) at 13.32%, which runs around its industry’s norm.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Viking (VIK) at 21.89% sits in the top revenue growth quartile, while Pearson (PSO) at 0.70% is in the bottom quartile, showing a clear gap in revenue momentum.

Viking (VIK) at 613.89% clears its industry range for EPS growth, a much stronger earnings trajectory than Pearson (PSO) at -20.16%, which is closer to a typical peer reading.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

Viking (VIK) at 0.81 keeps current ratio within its industry’s typical mid-range, while Pearson (PSO) at 2.00 sits above its industry’s typical mid-range — comfortable liquidity, though possibly with more idle current assets relative to peers.

Pearson (PSO) at 0.52 carries an industry-typical debt-to-equity mix, while Viking (VIK) at 3.75 uses more debt funding than most peers.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

Viking (VIK) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Pearson (PSO) reports a yield of 1.46%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Viking (VIK) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Pearson (PSO) reports a payout of 51.09%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

Both Pearson (PSO) at 25.78 and Viking (VIK) at 29.06 land around their industries’ usual P/E ratio levels — neither is getting a clear earnings-multiple discount or premium versus peers.

Pearson (PSO) at 2.86 is priced about in line with its industry on P/S ratio, while Viking (VIK) at 5.61 sits in the pricier quartile — VIK costs more per dollar of sales.

Pearson (PSO) at 2.38 sits near its industry’s typical P/B ratio, while Viking (VIK) at 24.05 prices above its benchmark range — VIK looks rich relative to book.

Valuation Metrics