Head-To-Head Contrast: Zhihu (ZH) vs. The Competition

Zhihu (NYSE:ZH) is one of 192 public companies in the “Interactive Media & Services” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Zhihu to related businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, dividends and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

Zhihu has a beta of 0.22, indicating that its share price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zhihu’s rivals have a beta of 1.82, indicating that their average share price is 82% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

28.9% of Zhihu shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.2% of shares of all “Interactive Media & Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 13.6% of Zhihu shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.0% of shares of all “Interactive Media & Services” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Zhihu and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zhihu	$393.10 million	-$27.58 million	-5.72
Zhihu Competitors	$12.05 billion	$3.48 billion	21.98

Zhihu’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Zhihu. Zhihu is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Zhihu and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zhihu	-11.33%	-7.71%	-5.75%
Zhihu Competitors	-349.32%	-16.54%	4.26%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Zhihu and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zhihu	1	0	0	0	1.00
Zhihu Competitors	1435	5971	11500	441	2.57

As a group, “Interactive Media & Services” companies have a potential upside of 39.64%. Given Zhihu’s rivals stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Zhihu has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Summary

Zhihu rivals beat Zhihu on 11 of the 13 factors compared.

Zhihu Company Profile

Zhihu Inc. operates an online content community in the People’s Republic of China. Its community allows people to seek inspiration, find solutions, make decisions, and have fun. The company offers technology, business support, and consulting services; information transmission, software, and information technology services. It also offers information and marketing services; vocational training; and internet services, as well as holds audio-visual permit. Zhihu Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China.