KE (NYSE:BEKE) & Marchex (NASDAQ:MCHX) Head-To-Head Review

Marchex (NASDAQ:MCHX) and KE (NYSE:BEKE) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

73.5% of Marchex shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.3% of KE shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.5% of Marchex shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.8% of KE shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Marchex and KE’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marchex	-11.15%	-14.61%	-11.13%
KE	3.77%	5.47%	3.10%

Risk & Volatility

Marchex has a beta of 1.91, meaning that its stock price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, KE has a beta of -0.36, meaning that its stock price is 136% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Marchex and KE, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marchex	1	1	0	0	1.50
KE	0	1	6	0	2.86

KE has a consensus target price of $23.07, suggesting a potential upside of 43.35%. Given KE’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe KE is more favorable than Marchex.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Marchex and KE”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Marchex	$45.42 million	1.48	-$5.24 million	($0.11)	-13.82
KE	$13.52 billion	1.33	$428.13 million	$0.42	38.31

KE has higher revenue and earnings than Marchex. Marchex is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than KE, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

KE beats Marchex on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Marchex

Marchex, Inc., a conversation intelligence company, provides conversational analytics and related solutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. Its products include Marketing Edge that identifies which campaigns and channels are driving inbound conversations, evaluates what happens during those conversations, and closes the sales loop by connecting converted sales to marketing driven leads; Sonar Business Text Messaging, an artificial intelligence (AI) empowered intelligent workflow enabled mobile messaging solution that enables operations, sales, and marketing teams to communicate personally with field staff, prospects, and customers; Marchex Platform Services, a robust API-based conversation intelligence product that allows executives, sales, customer engagement, and marketing teams to apply Marchex AI to most any calls, regardless of communication platform, in order to identify actionable insights from conversations with their customers; Spotlight, an AI conversation analytics product for multi-location businesses; and Engage, a solution that provides locations with applications to enhance their overall performance. The company was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

About KE

KE Holdings Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in operating an integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and services in the People's Republic of China. It operates through four segments: Existing Home Transaction Services, New Home Transaction Services, Home Renovation and Furnishing, and Emerging and Other Services. The company operates Beike, an integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and services; Lianjia, a real estate brokerage branded store; Agent Cooperation Network, an operating system that fosters reciprocity and bonding among various service providers; and software-as-a-service systems. It also owns the Deyou brand for connected brokerage stores; and other brands. In addition, the company offers contract, secure payment, escrow, and other services. KE Holdings Inc. was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.