Financial Comparison: Lionsgate Studios (NYSE:LION) & CuriosityStream (NASDAQ:CURI)

Lionsgate Studios (NYSE:LION) and CuriosityStream (NASDAQ:CURI) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lionsgate Studios and CuriosityStream”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lionsgate Studios	$2.88 billion	1.28	-$198.30 million	($0.42)	-29.50
CuriosityStream	$75.96 million	2.00	-$6.43 million	$0.01	256.50

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

Volatility & Risk

Lionsgate Studios has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CuriosityStream has a beta of 1.71, indicating that its share price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Lionsgate Studios and CuriosityStream, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lionsgate Studios	2	2	8	0	2.50
CuriosityStream	0	2	1	1	2.75

Lionsgate Studios presently has a consensus price target of $15.16, indicating a potential upside of 22.36%. CuriosityStream has a consensus price target of $5.00, indicating a potential upside of 94.93%. Given CuriosityStream’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe CuriosityStream is more favorable than Lionsgate Studios.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

6.8% of CuriosityStream shares are owned by institutional investors. 31.9% of Lionsgate Studios shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 31.1% of CuriosityStream shares are owned 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.

Profitability

This table compares Lionsgate Studios and CuriosityStream’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lionsgate Studios	-4.10%	N/A	-0.44%
CuriosityStream	0.03%	0.06%	0.03%

Dividends

Lionsgate Studios pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. CuriosityStream pays an annual dividend of $0.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.3%. Lionsgate Studios pays out -114.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CuriosityStream pays out 3,400.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. CuriosityStream has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. CuriosityStream is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

CuriosityStream beats Lionsgate Studios on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lionsgate Studios

Lionsgate Studios Corp. engages in the provision of motion picture and studio operations that bring a varied portfolio of entertainment to consumers. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA.

About CuriosityStream

CuriosityStream Inc. operates as a factual content streaming service and media company. The company provides premium video and audio programming services in various categories of factual entertainment, including science, history, society, nature, lifestyle, and technology through direct subscription video on-demand (SVoD) platforms accessible by internet connected devices, or indirectly via distribution partners who deliver CuriosityStream content via distributor's platform or system, as well as through bundled content licenses for SVoD and linear offerings, talks and courses, and partner bulk sales. It offers streaming content through devices, including televisions, set-top boxes, computers, streaming media players, game consoles, and mobile devices. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Silver Spring, Maryland.