Head to Head Review: Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) versus ZoomInfo Technologies (NASDAQ:ZI)

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) and ZoomInfo Technologies (NASDAQ:ZI) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

79.9% of Meta Platforms shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.5% of ZoomInfo Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.5% of Meta Platforms shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.0% of ZoomInfo Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Meta Platforms and ZoomInfo Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Meta Platforms	0	10	44	3	2.88
ZoomInfo Technologies	2	2	1	0	1.80

Meta Platforms currently has a consensus target price of $791.86, suggesting a potential upside of 9.85%. ZoomInfo Technologies has a consensus target price of $5.19, suggesting a potential upside of 40.39%. Given ZoomInfo Technologies’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe ZoomInfo Technologies is more favorable than Meta Platforms.

Profitability

This table compares Meta Platforms and ZoomInfo Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Meta Platforms	29.83%	33.18%	20.07%
ZoomInfo Technologies	0.74%	12.05%	3.46%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Meta Platforms and ZoomInfo Technologies”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Meta Platforms	$200.97 billion	9.14	$60.46 billion	$26.55	27.15
ZoomInfo Technologies	$1.21 billion	1.04	$107.30 million	$0.12	30.79

Meta Platforms has higher revenue and earnings than ZoomInfo Technologies. Meta Platforms is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ZoomInfo Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Meta Platforms has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ZoomInfo Technologies has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Meta Platforms beats ZoomInfo Technologies on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately. The Reality Labs segment provides augmented and virtual reality related products comprising consumer hardware, software, and content that help people feel connected, anytime, and anywhere. The company was formerly known as Facebook, Inc. and changed its name to Meta Platforms, Inc. in October 2021. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California

About ZoomInfo Technologies

ZoomInfo Technologies Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides go-to-market intelligence and engagement platform for sales and marketing teams in the United States and internationally. The company's cloud-based platform provides information on organizations and professionals to help users identify target customers and decision makers, obtain continually updated predictive lead and company scoring, monitor buying signals and other attributes of target companies, craft messages, engage through automated sales tools, and track progress through the deal cycle. It serves enterprises, mid-market companies, and down to small businesses that operate in various industry, including software, business services, manufacturing, telecommunications, financial services, media and internet, transportation, education, hospitality, and real estate. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Washington.