Critical Review: Linkage Global (NASDAQ:LGCB) and Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Linkage Global (NASDAQ:LGCB) and Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Linkage Global has a beta of -0.85, indicating that its stock price is 185% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Expedia Group has a beta of 1.43, indicating that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Linkage Global and Expedia Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Linkage Global	N/A	N/A	N/A
Expedia Group	9.66%	64.15%	6.25%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.3% of Linkage Global shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.8% of Expedia Group shares are held by institutional investors. 9.1% of Expedia Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Linkage Global and Expedia Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Linkage Global	1	0	0	0	1.00
Expedia Group	0	22	13	1	2.42

Expedia Group has a consensus target price of $290.10, indicating a potential upside of 6.35%. Given Expedia Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Expedia Group is more favorable than Linkage Global.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Linkage Global and Expedia Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Linkage Global	$10.29 million	1.40	-$440,000.00	N/A	N/A
Expedia Group	$13.69 billion	2.44	$1.23 billion	$10.45	26.10

Expedia Group has higher revenue and earnings than Linkage Global.

Summary

Expedia Group beats Linkage Global on 13 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Linkage Global

Linkage Global Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a cross-border e-commerce integrated services provider in Japan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China. It provides cross-border product sales; digital marketing services; and e-commerce operation training and software support services. Linkage Global Inc was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group, Inc. operates as an online travel company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through B2C, B2B, and trivago segments. Its B2C segment includes Brand Expedia, a full-service online travel brand offers various travel products and services; Hotels.com for lodging accommodations; Vrbo, an online marketplace for the alternative accommodations; Orbitz, Travelocity, Wotif Group, ebookers, CheapTickets, Hotwire.com and CarRentals.com. The company's B2B segment provides various travel and non-travel companies including airlines, offline travel agents, online retailers, corporate travel management, and financial institutions who leverage its travel technology and tap into its diverse supply to augment their offerings and market Expedia Group rates and availabilities to its travelers. Its trivago segment, a hotel metasearch website, which send referrals to online travel companies and travel service providers from hotel metasearch websites. In addition, the company provides brand advertising through online and offline channels, loyalty programs, mobile apps, and search engine marketing, as well as metasearch, social media, direct and personalized traveler communications on its websites, and through direct e-mail communication with its travelers. The company was formerly known as Expedia, Inc. and changed its name to Expedia Group, Inc. in March 2018. Expedia Group, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.