Critical Contrast: Amplitude (NASDAQ:AMPL) vs. PAR Technology (NYSE:PAR)

PAR Technology (NYSE:PAR) and Amplitude (NASDAQ:AMPL) are both small-cap technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares PAR Technology and Amplitude”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PAR Technology	$455.55 million	1.28	-$84.46 million	($1.76)	-7.99
Amplitude	$343.21 million	3.92	-$88.54 million	($0.75)	-17.73

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

73.2% of Amplitude shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of PAR Technology shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.6% of Amplitude shares are owned by 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for PAR Technology and Amplitude, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PAR Technology	1	2	5	0	2.50
Amplitude	1	2	7	1	2.73

PAR Technology currently has a consensus price target of $24.61, indicating a potential upside of 74.99%. Amplitude has a consensus price target of $12.55, indicating a potential downside of 5.64%. Given PAR Technology’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe PAR Technology is more favorable than Amplitude.

Profitability

This table compares PAR Technology and Amplitude’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PAR Technology	-14.52%	-1.62%	-0.97%
Amplitude	-26.59%	-42.62%	-22.69%

Volatility & Risk

PAR Technology has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amplitude has a beta of 1.5, indicating that its stock price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Amplitude beats PAR Technology on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PAR Technology

PAR Technology Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides omnichannel cloud-based hardware and software solutions to the restaurant and retail industries worldwide. The Restaurant/Retail segment offers PUNCHH, an enterprise-grade customer loyalty and engagement solution; MENU, an eCommerce platform for restaurant brands; BRINK POS, an open cloud, point-of-sale solution; PAR PAYMENT SERVICES, a merchant services business that enables electronic payment and processing services for businesses; and DATA CENTRAL, a back-office solution that leverages business intelligence and automation technologies. This segment also offers Point-of-Sale Hardware; wireless headsets for drive-thru order-taking; and kitchen display systems, payment devices, cash drawers, printers, and other peripherals. In addition, this segment provides services, such as hardware repair, installation and implementation, training, and on-site and technical support services. The Government segment provides intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions; mission systems operations and maintenance, and commercial software products; systems engineering support and software-based solutions; satellite and teleport facility operation and maintenance, engineering, and installation services comprising inside and outside plant services, and maintenance of infrastructure and information systems; satellite ground system support comprising operations and maintenance, sustainment, upgrades, communications security management, anomaly response/resolution, process improvement, emergency response, and disaster recovery services; and information technology infrastructure library services to the United States Department of Defense, intelligence community (IC), and other federal agencies. This segment also offers various IC support services, systems integration, situational awareness solutions, and mission readiness support services. The company was founded in 1968 and is based in New Hartford, New York.

About Amplitude

Amplitude, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides a digital analytics platform that analyzes customer behavior in the United States and internationally. It offers Amplitude Analytics, which provides real-time product data and reconstructed user visits; Amplitude Experiment, a solution that allows teams to test new capabilities and safely roll out new features; Amplitude CDP, an insight-driven solution that encompasses the data infrastructure, audience management, and data streaming capabilities; and Amplitude Session Replay used by product, marketing, and data teams to understand user behavior, diagnose product issues, and improve product outcomes. The company also provides customer support services related to initial implementation setup, ongoing support, and application training. It delivers its application over the Internet as a subscription service using a software-as-a-service model. The company was formerly known as Sonalight, Inc. and changed its name to Amplitude, Inc. in December 2014. Amplitude, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.