Financial Contrast: Asana (NYSE:ASAN) vs. Lightspeed Commerce (NYSE:LSPD)

Asana (NYSE:ASAN) and Lightspeed Commerce (NYSE:LSPD) are both mid-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Asana and Lightspeed Commerce’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Asana	-37.73%	-81.88%	-27.14%
Lightspeed Commerce	-15.55%	-0.99%	-0.93%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Asana and Lightspeed Commerce, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Asana	3	8	3	0	2.00
Lightspeed Commerce	1	10	6	1	2.39

Asana currently has a consensus price target of $14.67, suggesting a potential upside of 22.94%. Lightspeed Commerce has a consensus price target of $18.65, suggesting a potential upside of 35.12%. Given Lightspeed Commerce’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Lightspeed Commerce is more favorable than Asana.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

26.2% of Asana shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.7% of Lightspeed Commerce shares are owned by institutional investors. 64.0% of Asana shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Asana and Lightspeed Commerce”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Asana	$689.30 million	3.95	-$257.03 million	($1.17)	-10.20
Lightspeed Commerce	$966.28 million	2.19	-$163.96 million	($1.07)	-12.90

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

Risk and Volatility

Asana has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lightspeed Commerce has a beta of 2.32, suggesting that its stock price is 132% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Lightspeed Commerce beats Asana on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Asana

Asana, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a work management platform for individuals, team leads, and executives in the United States and internationally. Its platform helps organizations to orchestrate work from daily tasks to cross-functional strategic initiatives; manage work across a portfolio of projects or workflows, see progress against goals, identify bottlenecks, resource constraints, and milestones; and communicate company-wide goals, monitor status, and oversee work across projects and portfolios to gain real-time insights. The company serves customers in various industries, such as technology, retail, education, non-profit, government, healthcare, hospitality, media, manufacturing, professional services, and financial services. The company was formerly known as Smiley Abstractions, Inc. and changed its name to Asana, Inc. in July 2009. Asana, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Lightspeed Commerce

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. engages in sale of cloud-based software subscriptions and payments solutions for small and midsize businesses, retailers, restaurants, and golf course operators in North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and internationally. Its Software as a Service platform enables customers to engage with consumers, manage operations, accept payments, etc. The company's cloud platforms are designed interrelated elements, such as omni-channel consumer experience, a comprehensive back-office operations management suite to improve customers' efficiency and insight, and the facilitation of payments. Its platform functionalities include full omni-channel capabilities, point of sale (POS), product and menu management, employee and inventory management, analytics and reporting, multi-location connectivity, order-ahead and curbside pickup functionality, loyalty, and customer management solutions. The company also offers tailored financial solutions, such as Lightspeed Retail, Lightspeed eCommerce, Lightspeed Restaurant, and Lightspeed B2B solutions. In addition, it sells hardware, including tablets, customer facing displays, receipt printers, networking hardware, cash drawers, payment terminals, servers, stands, bar-code scanners, and an assortment of accessories, as well as provides installation and implementation services. The company was formerly known as Lightspeed POS Inc. and changed its name to Lightspeed Commerce Inc. in August 2021. Lightspeed Commerce Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.