Square Enix (OTCMKTS:SQNXF – Get Free Report) and Ziff Davis (NASDAQ:ZD – Get Free Report) are both communication services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.
Profitability
This table compares Square Enix and Ziff Davis’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Square Enix | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Ziff Davis | 48.57% | 10.73% | 5.54% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings for Square Enix and Ziff Davis, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Square Enix | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.00 |
| Ziff Davis | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2.33 |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
99.8% of Ziff Davis shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of Ziff Davis shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility and Risk
Square Enix has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ziff Davis has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Square Enix and Ziff Davis”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Square Enix | $1.98 billion | 3.30 | $195.47 million | $0.75 | 24.16 |
| Ziff Davis | $1.44 billion | 1.32 | $47.35 million | $17.67 | 3.12 |
Square Enix has higher revenue and earnings than Ziff Davis. Ziff Davis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Square Enix, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Ziff Davis beats Square Enix on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Square Enix
Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. operates in the content and service businesses in Japan and internationally. It operates through Digital Entertainment Business, Amusement Business, Publishing Business, and Rights Property Business. The company plans, develops, sells, and manages digital entertainment content primarily in the form of computer games. It is also involved in the operation of amusement facilities; and planning, development, manufacture, sale, and rental of arcade game machines and related products for amusement facilities. In addition, the company publishes and licenses comic books, magazines, game-related books, periodicals, etc. Further, it plans, produces, distributes, and licenses secondary works; and offers content under the SQUARE ENIX PRODUCTS brand; and stuffed toys and utility goods under the SQEX TOYS brand. The company was incorporated in 1975 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
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.
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