Reviewing Perion Network (NASDAQ:PERI) & New York Times (NYSE:NYT)

Perion Network (NASDAQ:PERI) and New York Times (NYSE:NYT) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Perion Network and New York Times”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Perion Network	$439.93 million	0.82	-$7.93 million	($0.35)	-26.26
New York Times	$2.82 billion	3.82	$343.98 million	$2.40	27.88

New York Times has higher revenue and earnings than Perion Network. Perion Network is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than New York Times, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Perion Network has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, New York Times has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

68.1% of Perion Network shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.4% of New York Times shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Perion Network shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of New York Times shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Perion Network and New York Times, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Perion Network	1	1	4	0	2.50
New York Times	0	6	4	1	2.55

Perion Network presently has a consensus target price of $13.88, indicating a potential upside of 50.98%. New York Times has a consensus target price of $82.33, indicating a potential upside of 23.06%. Given Perion Network’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Perion Network is more favorable than New York Times.

Profitability

This table compares Perion Network and New York Times’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Perion Network	-2.95%	2.43%	1.81%
New York Times	13.19%	22.64%	15.58%

Summary

New York Times beats Perion Network on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Perion Network

Perion Network Ltd. provides digital advertising solutions to brands, agencies, and publishers in North America, Europe, and internationally. It offers Wildfire, a content monetization platform; search monetization solutions, including website monetization, search mediation, and app monetization; and cross-channel digital advertising software as a service platform. The company also provides supply management platform; demand management platform for campaign planning and design; analytics platform, which provides information and performance insights; creative platform, a robust media platform; and an AI platform that uses machine learning to bring intelligence to the various phases of campaigns. In addition, it offers an actionable performance monitoring platform to support the various phases of campaign management; an online video player and integrated ad server to upload, manage, and stream video content; content monetization system, which integrates ads within the content layouts at the page level. Further, the company provides a publisher management system that provides analytics and performance optimization tools, as well as reports; search-demand management systems; monetization products that integrate and onboards demand vendors; and AI Systems. Additionally, it offers Intelligent HUB (iHUB), which connects the supply and demand sides of the marketplace; and strategic optimization of relevant traits (SORT), a provisional patent technology that eliminates the need for cookies. The company was formerly known as IncrediMail Ltd. and changed its name to Perion Network Ltd. in November 2011. Perion Network Ltd. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Holon, Israel.

About New York Times

The New York Times Company, together with its subsidiaries, creates, collects, and distributes news and information worldwide. The company operates through two segments, The New York Times Group and The Athletic. It offers The New York Times (The Times) through company’s mobile application, website, printed newspaper, and associated content, such as podcast. The company also offers The Athletic, a sports media product; Cooking, a recipe product; Games, a puzzle games product; and Audio, an audio product. In addition, it offers a portfolio of advertising products and services to advertisers, such as luxury goods, technology, and financial companies, to promote products, services or brands on digital platforms in the form of display ads, audio and video, in print in the form of column-inch ads, and at live events; and Wirecutter, a product review and recommendation product. Further, the company licenses content to digital aggregators in the business, professional, academic and library markets, and third-party digital platforms; articles, graphics, and photographs, including newspapers, magazines, and websites; and for use in television, films, and books, as well as provide rights to reprint articles, and create and sell new digests. Additionally, it engages in commercial printing and distribution for third parties; and operates the NYTimes.com website. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in New York, New York.