Analyzing Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) and Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL)

Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL) and Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) are both small-cap communication services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and profitability.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bumble and Ziff Davis”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bumble	$965.66 million	0.81	-$693.14 million	($4.23)	-1.41
Ziff Davis	$1.45 billion	1.35	$47.35 million	$17.67	3.23

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Bumble and Ziff Davis, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bumble	2	15	1	0	1.94
Ziff Davis	0	6	4	0	2.40

Bumble presently has a consensus price target of $4.12, suggesting a potential downside of 30.74%. Ziff Davis has a consensus price target of $60.67, suggesting a potential upside of 6.38%. Given Ziff Davis’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ziff Davis is more favorable than Bumble.

Volatility and Risk

Bumble has a beta of 1.88, suggesting that its stock price is 88% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ziff Davis has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Bumble and Ziff Davis’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bumble	-58.99%	35.88%	17.46%
Ziff Davis	48.57%	10.73%	5.54%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.8% of Bumble shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.8% of Ziff Davis shares are owned by institutional investors. 15.3% of Bumble shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of Ziff Davis shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Ziff Davis beats Bumble on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bumble

Bumble Inc. provides online dating and social networking platforms in North America, Europe, internationally. It owns and operates websites and applications that offers subscription and in-app purchases dating products. The company operates apps, including Bumble, a dating app built with women at the center, where women make the first move; Badoo, the web and mobile free-to-use dating app; Official app where users connect their profile with that of their partner enabling a shared, linked product experience; Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz Modes that have a format similar to the date mode requiring users to set up profiles and matching users through yes and no votes, similar to the dating platform; and Bumble for Friends, a friendship app where people in all stages of life can meet people nearby and create meaningful platonic connections, as well as Fruitz app is centered around encouraging honesty and transparency by sharing dating intentions from the first touch point. Bumble Inc. was founded in 2006 in and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Ziff Davis

Ziff Davis, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital media and internet company in the United States and internationally. The company offers PCMag, an online resource for laboratory-based product reviews, technology news, buying guides, and research papers; Mashable for publishing technology and culture content; Spiceworks Ziff Davis provides digital content of IT products and services; retailMeNot, a savings destination platform; Offers.com, a coupon and deals website; and event-based properties, including BlackFriday.com, TheBlackFriday.com, BestBlackFriday.com, and DealsofAmerica.com. It also offers gaming and entertainment content under the IGN Entertainment and Humble Bundle brands; and information on internet connectivity under the Ookla, Ekahau, Downdetector, and RootMetrics brands. The company also offers digital content and information services for health and wellness consumers under the Everyday Health, DailyOM, Lose It!, Diabetes Daily, Castle Connolly, and Migraine Again brands; pregnancy and parenting content under the BabyCenter, Emma's Diary, and What to Expect brands; and Medpage Today that delivers medical news. In addition, the company offers PRIME Education, a medical education program for healthcare professionals; and Health eCareers, a digital portal for healthcare professionals. Further, it provides endpoint and email security, security awareness training, secure backup and file sharing, and virtual private network solutions under the IPVanish, VIPRE, Livedrive, Inspired eLearning, and SugarSync brands; and email marketing and delivery solutions, search engine optimization tools, and voice and text communication services under the Campaigner, iContact, SMTP, Kickbox, MOZ Pro, MOZ Local, Stat Analytics, eVoice, and Line2 brands. The company was formerly known as j2 Global, Inc. and changed its name to Ziff Davis, Inc. in October 2021. Ziff Davis, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, New York.