Perception Capital Corp. III (NASDAQ:PFTA) vs. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) Critical Survey

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL) and Perception Capital Corp. III (NASDAQ:PFTA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Morgan Stanley Direct Lending and Perception Capital Corp. III”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending	$275.66 million	6.34	$231.01 million	$3.10	6.31
Perception Capital Corp. III	N/A	N/A	$7.15 million	N/A	N/A

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has higher revenue and earnings than Perception Capital Corp. III.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Morgan Stanley Direct Lending and Perception Capital Corp. III, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending	0	5	1	0	2.17
Perception Capital Corp. III	0	0	0	0	N/A

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending currently has a consensus price target of $21.42, suggesting a potential upside of 9.49%. Given Morgan Stanley Direct Lending’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Morgan Stanley Direct Lending is more favorable than Perception Capital Corp. III.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

26.9% of Perception Capital Corp. III shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Perception Capital Corp. III shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Morgan Stanley Direct Lending and Perception Capital Corp. III’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending	60.60%	12.57%	6.36%
Perception Capital Corp. III	N/A	-28.86%	1.93%

Summary

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending beats Perception Capital Corp. III on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is a business development company. It is a non-diversified, externally managed specialty finance company focused on lending to middle-market companies. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is based in NEW YORK.

About Perception Capital Corp. III

Perception Capital Corp. III does not have significant operations. It intends to effect a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities in the financial technology or financial services ecosystem. The company was formerly known as Portage Fintech Acquisition Corporation and changed its name to Perception Capital Corp. III in October 2023. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.