ARTISTdirect (OTCMKTS:ARTD) and Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) Critical Analysis

ARTISTdirect (OTCMKTS:ARTD) and Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares ARTISTdirect and Groupon’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ARTISTdirect	N/A	N/A	N/A
Groupon	-28.52%	-717.37%	-22.78%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ARTISTdirect and Groupon”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ARTISTdirect	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Groupon	$492.56 million	1.43	-$59.03 million	($3.49)	-4.96

ARTISTdirect has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Groupon.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for ARTISTdirect and Groupon, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ARTISTdirect	0	0	0	0	0.00
Groupon	2	1	4	0	2.29

Groupon has a consensus price target of $29.80, indicating a potential upside of 72.15%. Given Groupon’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Groupon is more favorable than ARTISTdirect.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

90.1% of Groupon shares are held by institutional investors. 35.7% of Groupon shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Groupon beats ARTISTdirect on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ARTISTdirect

ARTISTdirect, Inc. operates an online platform that provides music and recorded labels. It offers multi-media content, music news and information, online fan communities, music related commerce, and digital music services. The company also provides iMusic record labels of rock and urban music. ARTISTdirect, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is based in Santa Monica, California.

About Groupon

Groupon, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a marketplace that connects consumers to merchants. It operates in two segments, North America and International. The company sells goods or services on behalf of third-party merchants. It serves customers through its mobile applications and websites. The company was formerly known as ThePoint.com, Inc. and changed its name to Groupon, Inc. in October 2008. Groupon, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.