Comparing ZW Data Action Technologies (NASDAQ:CNET) and Sound Group (NASDAQ:SOGP)

ZW Data Action Technologies (NASDAQ:CNET) and Sound Group (NASDAQ:SOGP) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, earnings and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

ZW Data Action Technologies has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sound Group has a beta of 1.69, indicating that its share price is 69% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares ZW Data Action Technologies and Sound Group’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ZW Data Action Technologies	$29.74 million	0.18	-$9.79 million	($0.82)	-0.93
Sound Group	$316.83 million	0.03	$12.54 million	$0.99	2.09

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

Profitability

This table compares ZW Data Action Technologies and Sound Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ZW Data Action Technologies	-28.87%	-81.34%	-48.92%
Sound Group	1.69%	8.71%	4.96%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.0% of ZW Data Action Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.6% of Sound Group shares are held by institutional investors. 17.7% of ZW Data Action Technologies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 25.2% of Sound Group shares are held by 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for ZW Data Action Technologies and Sound Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ZW Data Action Technologies	0	0	0	0	N/A
Sound Group	0	0	0	0	N/A

Summary

Sound Group beats ZW Data Action Technologies on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ZW Data Action Technologies

ZW Data Action Technologies Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides omni-channel advertising, precision marketing, and data analysis management systems in the People's Republic of China. It offers Internet advertising, precision marketing, and related data services to small and medium enterprises through its Internet portals, including 28.com and liansuo.com that provide advertisers with tools to build sales channels in the form of franchisees, sales agents, distributors, and/or resellers. The company also develops and operates blockchain technology-based products and services, as well as blockchain-based SaaS services to provide one-stop blockchain-powered enterprise management solutions in forms of NFT generations, data record, share and storage modules subscriptions, etc. In addition, it provides other e-commerce online to offline advertising and marketing, and related value-added technical services. The company was formerly known as ChinaNet Online Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to ZW Data Action Technologies Inc. in October 2020. ZW Data Action Technologies Inc. was founded in 2003 and is based in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

About Sound Group

Sound Group Inc. operates as an audio-centric social and entertainment company. It focuses on building audio platform to connect and communicate. The company, through its product portfolio and in-house technologies, caters to user interest in audio entertainment and social networking. The company was formerly known as LIZHI INC. and changed its name to Sound Group Inc. in January 2024. Sound Group Inc. was founded in 2010 and is based in Singapore.