Reviewing Sohu.com (NASDAQ:SOHU) and Cinemark (NYSE:CNK)

Cinemark (NYSE:CNK) and Sohu.com (NASDAQ:SOHU) are both communication services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

Cinemark has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sohu.com has a beta of 0.3, indicating that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Cinemark and Sohu.com”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cinemark	$3.12 billion	1.49	$138.20 million	$1.69	23.63
Sohu.com	$584.33 million	0.56	$394.10 million	$8.57	1.46

Sohu.com has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Cinemark. Sohu.com is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cinemark, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

33.0% of Sohu.com shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of Cinemark shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 21.1% of Sohu.com shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Cinemark and Sohu.com’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cinemark	6.44%	50.94%	4.88%
Sohu.com	38.15%	21.63%	16.13%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Cinemark and Sohu.com, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cinemark	0	5	9	1	2.73
Sohu.com	0	1	2	0	2.67

Cinemark presently has a consensus price target of $37.93, indicating a potential downside of 5.02%. Sohu.com has a consensus price target of $19.00, indicating a potential upside of 51.76%. Given Sohu.com’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Sohu.com is more favorable than Cinemark.

Summary

Cinemark beats Sohu.com on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cinemark

Cinemark Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the motion picture exhibition business. As of February 16, 2024, it operated 501 theatres with 5,719 screens in 42 states and 13 countries in South and Central America. Cinemark Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.

About Sohu.com

Sohu.com Limited engages in the provision of online media, video, and game products and services on personal computers (PCs) and mobile devices in China. It operates through two segments: Sohu and Changyou. The company offers online news, information, and content services through the mobile phone application Sohu News APP, mobile portal m.sohu.com, and www.sohu.com for PCs; and online video content and services through mobile phone application Sohu Video APP and tv.sohu.com, as well as ifox, a video application for PC. It also operates Focus (www.focus.cn), which provides online real estate information and services; and 17173.com website, which provides news, electronic forums, online videos, and other online game information services to game players, as well as offers mobile game distribution services. In addition, the company offers interactive online games for PCs and mobile devices. Further, it provides paid subscription and interactive broadcasting services. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.