SMS Alternatives (OTCMKTS:CICN) versus Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) Financial Review

SMS Alternatives (OTCMKTS:CICN) and Progress Software (NASDAQ:PRGS) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends and risk.

Profitability

This table compares SMS Alternatives and Progress Software’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SMS Alternatives	N/A	N/A	N/A
Progress Software	8.87%	43.07%	8.78%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for SMS Alternatives and Progress Software, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SMS Alternatives	0	0	0	0	0.00
Progress Software	1	1	5	0	2.57

Progress Software has a consensus price target of $50.50, suggesting a potential upside of 25.09%. Given Progress Software’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Progress Software is more favorable than SMS Alternatives.

Volatility and Risk

SMS Alternatives has a beta of -0.81, suggesting that its share price is 181% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Progress Software has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares SMS Alternatives and Progress Software”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SMS Alternatives	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Progress Software	$1.00 billion	1.65	$73.13 million	$2.06	19.60

Progress Software has higher revenue and earnings than SMS Alternatives.

Summary

Progress Software beats SMS Alternatives on 8 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SMS Alternatives

SMS Alternatives Inc. provides business integration software solutions in the United States and Europe. The company's software enables organizations to integrate new and existing information and processes at the desktop; and addresses the need for a company's information systems to deliver enterprise-wide views of their business information processes. It offers Cicero Discovery, a configurable tool to collect activity and application performance data, and track business objects across time and multiple users, as well as measure against a defined expected business process flow; and Cicero Insight, a measurement and analytics solution that collects and presents information about quality, productivity, compliance, and revenue from frontline activity to target areas for improvement. The company also provides Cicero Automation that delivers features of the Cicero Discovery product, as well as desktop automation for enterprise contact center and back office employees; integrates applications and automates workflow; and control and adaptability at the end user desktop. In addition, it offers technical support, training, and consulting services. The company sells its products and services directly, as well as through distributors and other intermediaries who resell it to end-users. It serves financial services, insurance, and telecommunications industries; and business process outsourcers, as well as intelligence, security, law enforcement, and other governmental organizations. The company was formerly known as Cicero Inc. and changed its name to SMS Alternatives Inc. in June 2023. SMS Alternatives Inc. was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina.

About Progress Software

Progress Software Corporation develops, deploys, and manages business applications in the United States and internationally. The company offers OpenEdge, an application development platform for running business-critical applications; Chef, a DevOps/DevSecOps automation software; Developer Tools that consists of software development tooling collection, including .NET and JavaScript UI components for web, desktop and mobile applications, reporting and report management tools, and automated testing and mocking tools; Kemp LoadMaster, an application delivery and security product offering cloud-native, and virtual and hardware load balancers; and Sitefinity, a digital experience platform foundation delivering intelligent and ROI-driving tools for marketers. It also provides MOVEit, a managed file transfer software for managing and controlling the movement of sensitive files and securing them both at-rest and in-transit; DataDirect, a secure data connectivity tools for Relational, NoSQL, Big Data and SaaS data sources; WhatsUp Gold, a network infrastructure monitoring software providing complete visibility of all network devices, servers, virtual machines, and cloud and wireless environments to find and fix network problems; Flowmon, a network security and visibility product with automated response across hybrid cloud ecosystems; Corticon, a decision automation platform to transform user experiences by streamlining and automating complex business rules; MarkLogic, a data agility platform to connect data and metadata; and Semaphore, a Semantic AI platform. The company offers project management, implementation, custom software development, programming, and other services, as well as web-enable applications; and training services. It sells its products to end users, independent software vendors, original equipment manufacturers, system integrators, value added resellers, and distributors. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.