Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Critical Review

Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Ziff Davis and Meta Platforms, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ziff Davis	2	4	3	0	2.11
Meta Platforms	0	9	34	4	2.89

Ziff Davis currently has a consensus price target of $47.25, suggesting a potential upside of 4.84%. Meta Platforms has a consensus price target of $840.19, suggesting a potential upside of 32.25%. Given Meta Platforms’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Meta Platforms is more favorable than Ziff Davis.

Profitability

This table compares Ziff Davis and Meta Platforms’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ziff Davis	3.26%	12.17%	6.16%
Meta Platforms	32.84%	36.93%	23.09%

Risk and Volatility

Ziff Davis has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Meta Platforms has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.8% of Ziff Davis shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.9% of Meta Platforms shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of Ziff Davis shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.5% of Meta Platforms shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ziff Davis and Meta Platforms”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ziff Davis	$1.45 billion	1.14	$47.35 million	$1.13	39.88
Meta Platforms	$200.97 billion	8.00	$60.46 billion	$27.51	23.09

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

Summary

Meta Platforms beats Ziff Davis on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ziff Davis

Ziff Davis, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital media and internet company in the United States and internationally. The company offers PCMag, an online resource for laboratory-based product reviews, technology news, buying guides, and research papers; Mashable for publishing technology and culture content; Spiceworks Ziff Davis provides digital content of IT products and services; retailMeNot, a savings destination platform; Offers.com, a coupon and deals website; and event-based properties, including BlackFriday.com, TheBlackFriday.com, BestBlackFriday.com, and DealsofAmerica.com. It also offers gaming and entertainment content under the IGN Entertainment and Humble Bundle brands; and information on internet connectivity under the Ookla, Ekahau, Downdetector, and RootMetrics brands. The company also offers digital content and information services for health and wellness consumers under the Everyday Health, DailyOM, Lose It!, Diabetes Daily, Castle Connolly, and Migraine Again brands; pregnancy and parenting content under the BabyCenter, Emma's Diary, and What to Expect brands; and Medpage Today that delivers medical news. In addition, the company offers PRIME Education, a medical education program for healthcare professionals; and Health eCareers, a digital portal for healthcare professionals. Further, it provides endpoint and email security, security awareness training, secure backup and file sharing, and virtual private network solutions under the IPVanish, VIPRE, Livedrive, Inspired eLearning, and SugarSync brands; and email marketing and delivery solutions, search engine optimization tools, and voice and text communication services under the Campaigner, iContact, SMTP, Kickbox, MOZ Pro, MOZ Local, Stat Analytics, eVoice, and Line2 brands. The company was formerly known as j2 Global, Inc. and changed its name to Ziff Davis, Inc. in October 2021. Ziff Davis, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately. The Reality Labs segment provides augmented and virtual reality related products comprising consumer hardware, software, and content that help people feel connected, anytime, and anywhere. The company was formerly known as Facebook, Inc. and changed its name to Meta Platforms, Inc. in October 2021. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California