Marchex (NASDAQ:MCHX) versus AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) Head to Head Review

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) and Marchex (NASDAQ:MCHX) are both technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

AppFolio has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Marchex has a beta of 1.88, meaning that its share price is 88% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares AppFolio and Marchex”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AppFolio	$950.82 million	8.35	$140.92 million	$4.74	47.26
Marchex	$45.42 million	1.31	-$5.24 million	($0.12)	-11.21

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for AppFolio and Marchex, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AppFolio	0	3	9	0	2.75
Marchex	1	1	0	0	1.50

AppFolio presently has a consensus target price of $250.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.61%. Given AppFolio’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe AppFolio is more favorable than Marchex.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

85.2% of AppFolio shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.5% of Marchex shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of AppFolio shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 36.7% of Marchex shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares AppFolio and Marchex’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AppFolio	15.62%	33.56%	27.03%
Marchex	-12.44%	-18.25%	-13.94%

Summary

AppFolio beats Marchex on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AppFolio

AppFolio, Inc. provides cloud-based software for the real estate industry. Its products help property managers handle day-to-day operations, including accounting, leasing, marketing, maintenance, and communication with residents and owners. The company also offers software for real estate investment managers, supporting investor relations and investment operations. Its offerings include the AppFolio Property Manager platform, with solutions designed for businesses of different sizes and operating needs.

About Marchex

Marchex, Inc. is a conversational intelligence and analytics company that helps businesses understand and improve customer interactions. The company analyzes phone calls, text messages and other customer conversations to provide insights into marketing performance, sales effectiveness and service quality. Its solutions include call tracking and attribution, conversation analytics, lead management and artificial intelligence-powered tools that identify customer intent, buying signals and opportunities for follow-up.