Analyzing Audioeye (NASDAQ:AEYE) & Lightspeed Commerce (NYSE:LSPD)

Lightspeed Commerce (NYSE:LSPD) and Audioeye (NASDAQ:AEYE) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

68.7% of Lightspeed Commerce shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.1% of Audioeye shares are held by institutional investors. 28.8% of Audioeye shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lightspeed Commerce and Audioeye”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lightspeed Commerce	$1.08 billion	1.36	-$667.20 million	($4.55)	-2.37
Audioeye	$35.20 million	3.32	-$4.25 million	($0.28)	-33.64

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

Volatility & Risk

Lightspeed Commerce has a beta of 2.08, meaning that its stock price is 108% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Audioeye has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Lightspeed Commerce and Audioeye, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lightspeed Commerce	2	12	5	0	2.16
Audioeye	1	0	4	0	2.60

Lightspeed Commerce presently has a consensus target price of $13.66, suggesting a potential upside of 26.56%. Audioeye has a consensus target price of $20.67, suggesting a potential upside of 119.39%. Given Audioeye’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Audioeye is more favorable than Lightspeed Commerce.

Profitability

This table compares Lightspeed Commerce and Audioeye’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lightspeed Commerce	-59.16%	0.39%	0.36%
Audioeye	-8.88%	40.94%	9.77%

Summary

Audioeye beats Lightspeed Commerce on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lightspeed Commerce

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. engages in sale of cloud-based software subscriptions and payments solutions for small and midsize businesses, retailers, restaurants, and golf course operators in North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and internationally. Its Software as a Service platform enables customers to engage with consumers, manage operations, accept payments, etc. The company's cloud platforms are designed interrelated elements, such as omni-channel consumer experience, a comprehensive back-office operations management suite to improve customers' efficiency and insight, and the facilitation of payments. Its platform functionalities include full omni-channel capabilities, point of sale (POS), product and menu management, employee and inventory management, analytics and reporting, multi-location connectivity, order-ahead and curbside pickup functionality, loyalty, and customer management solutions. The company also offers tailored financial solutions, such as Lightspeed Retail, Lightspeed eCommerce, Lightspeed Restaurant, and Lightspeed B2B solutions. In addition, it sells hardware, including tablets, customer facing displays, receipt printers, networking hardware, cash drawers, payment terminals, servers, stands, bar-code scanners, and an assortment of accessories, as well as provides installation and implementation services. The company was formerly known as Lightspeed POS Inc. and changed its name to Lightspeed Commerce Inc. in August 2021. Lightspeed Commerce Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

About Audioeye

AudioEye, Inc. provides patented, internet content publication, distribution software, and related services to Internet and other media to people regardless of their device, location, or disabilities in the United States. Its software and services enable conversion of digital content into accessible formats and allows for real time distribution to end users on any Internet connected device. The company offers AudioEye, an always-on testing, remediation, and monitoring solution that improves conformance with web content accessibility guidelines; identifies and fixes the accessibility errors and addresses a range of disabilities, including dyslexia, color blindness, epilepsy, and others; and provides additional solutions to provide for enhanced compliance and accessibility, including periodic auditing, human assisted technological remediations, and legal support services, as well as PDF remediation services, Native Mobile App and audit reports to help customers with their digital accessibility needs. The company serves small- and medium-sized businesses, corporate enterprises, non-profit organizations, and federal government agencies, as well as federal, state, and local governments and agencies through content management system partners, platform and agency partners, authorized resellers, and the marketplace. AudioEye, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is based in Tucson, Arizona.