Head to Head Analysis: Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADV) and Taboola.com (NASDAQ:TBLA)

Advantage Solutions (NASDAQ:ADV) and Taboola.com (NASDAQ:TBLA) are both small-cap communication services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Advantage Solutions and Taboola.com, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Advantage Solutions	1	2	1	0	2.00
Taboola.com	0	4	3	0	2.43

Advantage Solutions currently has a consensus target price of $42.00, indicating a potential upside of 30.98%. Taboola.com has a consensus target price of $4.33, indicating a potential upside of 109.44%. Given Taboola.com’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Taboola.com is more favorable than Advantage Solutions.

Profitability

This table compares Advantage Solutions and Taboola.com’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Advantage Solutions	-8.91%	-62.88%	-10.98%
Taboola.com	6.84%	12.84%	7.67%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Advantage Solutions and Taboola.com”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Advantage Solutions	$3.54 billion	0.12	-$227.74 million	($24.80)	-1.29
Taboola.com	$1.91 billion	0.27	$42.28 million	$0.44	4.69

Taboola.com has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Advantage Solutions. Advantage Solutions is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Taboola.com, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Advantage Solutions has a beta of 2.21, suggesting that its share price is 121% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Taboola.com has a beta of 1.48, suggesting that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

49.8% of Advantage Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.9% of Taboola.com shares are held by institutional investors. 9.7% of Advantage Solutions shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.6% of Taboola.com shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Taboola.com beats Advantage Solutions on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Advantage Solutions

Advantage Solutions Inc. is a provider of outsourced sales and marketing services for consumer goods manufacturers, retailers and other brands. The company helps clients improve how their products are presented, promoted and sold across retail, e-commerce and other consumer channels. Its services include retail merchandising, sales representation, brand marketing, experiential marketing, digital and omnichannel marketing, category management, analytics and business intelligence. Advantage Solutions also provides services designed to support product launches, in-store execution, shopper engagement and connections between brands and consumers.

About Taboola.com

Taboola.com Ltd. operates a digital advertising and content-discovery platform that connects advertisers with audiences across websites, apps and other digital properties. Its technology recommends sponsored content and advertising based on users’ interests and activity. The company’s platform helps publishers and other digital media businesses engage audiences and generate revenue, while giving advertisers tools to promote products and services and reach potential customers. Taboola serves clients and audiences internationally.