Head-To-Head Survey: SharpLink Gaming (NASDAQ:SBET) versus Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX)

SharpLink Gaming (NASDAQ:SBET) and Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for SharpLink Gaming and Vertex, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SharpLink Gaming	0	0	0	0	0.00
Vertex	0	3	8	1	2.83

Vertex has a consensus target price of $47.27, suggesting a potential downside of 9.07%. Given Vertex’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Vertex is more favorable than SharpLink Gaming.

Risk and Volatility

SharpLink Gaming has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vertex has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SharpLink Gaming and Vertex”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SharpLink Gaming	$4.95 million	0.52	-$14.24 million	N/A	N/A
Vertex	$572.39 million	14.13	-$13.09 million	$0.18	288.83

Vertex has higher revenue and earnings than SharpLink Gaming.

Profitability

This table compares SharpLink Gaming and Vertex’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SharpLink Gaming	N/A	N/A	-22.00%
Vertex	4.73%	25.27%	7.33%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.8% of SharpLink Gaming shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.1% of Vertex shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.3% of SharpLink Gaming shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 44.6% of Vertex shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Vertex beats SharpLink Gaming on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SharpLink Gaming

SharpLink Gaming, Inc. operates as an online technology company that connects sports fans, leagues, and sports websites to sports betting and iGaming content. The company operates through four segments: Affiliate Marketing Services United States, Affiliate Marketing Services International, Sports Gaming Client Services, and SportsHub Games Network. It operates a performance marketing platform, which owns and operates state-specific web domains to attract, acquire, and drive local sports betting and casino traffic directly to the company's sportsbook and casino partners, which are licensed to operate in each respective state; and offers sports betting data to sports media publishers. It also provides iGaming and affiliate marketing network, which focuses on delivering quality traffic and player acquisitions, and retention and conversions to global iGaming operator partners worldwide; and development, hosting, operations, maintenance, and service of free-to-play games and contests. In addition, the company owns and operates various real-money fantasy sports and sports simulation games and mobile apps on its platform; and is licensed or authorized to operate in every state in the United States, where fantasy sports play is legal and in which SportsHub has elected to operate based on the financial viability. SharpLink Gaming, Inc. was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

About Vertex

Vertex, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides enterprise tax technology solutions for retail trade, wholesale trade, and manufacturing industries in the United States and internationally. The company offers tax determination; compliance and reporting, including workflow management tools, role-based security, and event logging; tax data management; document management; analytics and insights; pre-built integration that includes mapping data fields, and business logic and configurations; industry-specific solutions; and technology specific solutions, such as chain flow accelerator and SAP-specific tools. It provides implementation services, such as configuration, data migration and implementation, and support and training; and managed services, including tax return preparation, filing and tax payment, and notice management. The company sells its software products through software licenses and software as a service subscription. Vertex, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.