Comparing Starz Entertainment (NASDAQ:STRZ) and Sound Group (NASDAQ:SOGP)

Sound Group (NASDAQ:SOGP) and Starz Entertainment (NASDAQ:STRZ) 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 institutional ownership, valuation, risk, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Sound Group and Starz Entertainment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sound Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Starz Entertainment	-33.98%	-25.64%	-6.79%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Sound Group and Starz Entertainment, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sound Group	0	1	0	0	2.00
Starz Entertainment	1	4	2	1	2.38

Starz Entertainment has a consensus price target of $30.83, suggesting a potential upside of 24.62%. Given Starz Entertainment’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Starz Entertainment is more favorable than Sound Group.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Sound Group and Starz Entertainment”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sound Group	$3.10 billion	0.02	$32.39 million	($1.21)	-9.50
Starz Entertainment	$963.40 million	0.44	-$115.80 million	($25.49)	-0.97

Sound Group has higher revenue and earnings than Starz Entertainment. Sound Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Starz Entertainment, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.6% of Sound Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 25.2% of Sound Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 22.6% of Starz Entertainment shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Sound Group has a beta of 2.45, indicating that its share price is 145% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Starz Entertainment has a beta of 2.46, indicating that its share price is 146% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Sound Group beats Starz Entertainment on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sound Group

Sound Group Inc. operates as an audio-centric social and entertainment company. It focuses on building audio platform to connect and communicate. The company, through its product portfolio and in-house technologies, caters to user interest in audio entertainment and social networking. The company was formerly known as LIZHI INC. and changed its name to Sound Group Inc. in January 2024. Sound Group Inc. was founded in 2010 and is based in Singapore.

About Starz Entertainment

Starz is a premium cable and streaming network owned by Starz Entertainment, which was formerly a part of Lionsgate. Starz had about 20 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada as of Dec. 31, 2024. The company’s franchises include “Outlander” and “Power.”