Contrasting Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) and JOYY (NASDAQ:YY)

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) and JOYY (NASDAQ:YY) are both mid-cap communication services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.1% of Match Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 36.8% of JOYY shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Match Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 43.0% of JOYY shares are owned 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.

Profitability

This table compares Match Group and JOYY’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Match Group	20.17%	-324.82%	17.36%
JOYY	9.02%	4.64%	2.96%

Dividends

Match Group pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. JOYY pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Match Group pays out 28.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. JOYY pays out -120.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. JOYY is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk & Volatility

Match Group has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, JOYY has a beta of 0.21, indicating that its share price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Match Group and JOYY”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Match Group	$3.51 billion	2.52	$613.45 million	$2.83	13.38
JOYY	$2.24 billion	1.74	$301.82 million	($3.10)	-23.28

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Match Group and JOYY, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Match Group	0	9	6	1	2.50
JOYY	0	0	3	0	3.00

Match Group currently has a consensus target price of $41.54, suggesting a potential upside of 9.67%. JOYY has a consensus target price of $66.00, suggesting a potential downside of 8.55%. Given Match Group’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Match Group is more favorable than JOYY.

Summary

Match Group beats JOYY on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Match Group

Match Group, Inc. engages in the provision of dating products. Its portfolio of brands includes Tinder, Hinge, Match, Meetic, OkCupid, Pairs, Plenty Of Fish, Azar, BLK, and Hakuna, as well as a various other brands, each built to increase users' likelihood of connecting with others. Its services are available in over 40 languages to users worldwide. The company was incorporated in 1986 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

About JOYY

JOYY Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates social media platforms that offer users engaging and experience across various video-based social platforms. It operates through two segments, BIGO and All Other. The company operates Bigo Live, a social live streaming platform, that provides an interactive online stage for users to host and watch live streaming sessions, share their life moments, showcase their talents, and interact with people worldwide; Likee, a short-form video social platform, which enables users to discover, create, and share short videos, with video creation tools and personalized feeds; imo, an instant messenger platform, that provides audio and video communication services; Hago, a social networking platform that offers casual games integrating social features, such as audio and video multi-user chatrooms and 3D virtual interactive party games; and Shopline, a smart commerce platform, that provides solutions and services to enable merchants in creating and growing their brands online and reach customers through various sales channels, including e-commerce platforms, social commerce, and physical retail stores. It operates in the People's Republic of China, the United States, the Great Britain, Japan, South Korea, Australia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and internationally. The company was formerly known as YY Inc. and changed its name to JOYY Inc. in December 2019. JOYY Inc. was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Singapore.