eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) and ARTISTdirect (OTCMKTS:ARTD) Critical Review

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares eBay and ARTISTdirect”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
eBay	$11.10 billion	4.48	$2.03 billion	$4.41	25.41
ARTISTdirect	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

eBay has higher revenue and earnings than ARTISTdirect.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for eBay and ARTISTdirect, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
eBay	1	18	14	0	2.39
ARTISTdirect	0	0	0	0	0.00

eBay currently has a consensus price target of $110.52, suggesting a potential downside of 1.38%. Given ARTISTdirect’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ARTISTdirect is more favorable than eBay.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

87.5% of eBay shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of eBay shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
eBay	17.58%	46.11%	11.97%
ARTISTdirect	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

eBay beats ARTISTdirect on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About eBay

eBay Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates marketplace platforms that connect buyers and sellers in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Germany, and internationally. The company’s marketplace platform includes its online marketplace at ebay.com, off-platform businesses, and the eBay suite of mobile apps. Its platforms enable users to list, sell, and buy various products. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

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.