Head to Head Analysis: Nexxen International (NASDAQ:NEXN) and HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM)

Nexxen International (NASDAQ:NEXN) and HealthStream (NASDAQ:HSTM) are both small-cap business services 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.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

54.2% of Nexxen International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.6% of HealthStream shares are owned by institutional investors. 20.6% of HealthStream 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.

Profitability

This table compares Nexxen International and HealthStream’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nexxen International	-3.12%	4.86%	2.96%
HealthStream	6.30%	5.21%	3.56%

Risk and Volatility

Nexxen International has a beta of 1.83, suggesting that its stock price is 83% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HealthStream has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Nexxen International and HealthStream’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nexxen International	$331.99 million	1.27	-$21.49 million	($0.13)	-46.92
HealthStream	$282.88 million	3.08	$15.21 million	$0.58	49.41

HealthStream has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Nexxen International. Nexxen International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than HealthStream, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Nexxen International and HealthStream, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nexxen International	0	1	3	0	2.75
HealthStream	0	1	2	0	2.67

Nexxen International currently has a consensus price target of $7.88, suggesting a potential upside of 29.10%. HealthStream has a consensus price target of $32.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.65%. Given Nexxen International’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Nexxen International is more favorable than HealthStream.

Summary

HealthStream beats Nexxen International on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nexxen International

Nexxen International Ltd. provides end-to-end software platform that enables advertisers to reach publishers Israel. The company's demand side platform (DSP) offers full-service and self-managed marketplace access to advertisers and agencies to execute their digital marketing campaigns in real time across various ad formats. Its sell supply side platform (SSP) provides access to data and a comprehensive product suite to drive inventory management and revenue optimization. The company also offers data management platform solution, which integrates DSP and SSP solutions enabling advertisers and publishers to use data from various sources in order to optimize results of their advertising campaigns. It serves ad buyers, advertisers, brands, agencies, and digital publishers in the United States, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company was formerly known as Tremor International Ltd and changed its name to Nexxen International Ltd. in January 2024. Nexxen International Ltd. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.

About HealthStream

HealthStream, Inc. provides Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) based applications for healthcare organizations in the United States. The company's solutions help healthcare organizations in meeting their ongoing clinical development, talent management, training, education, assessment, competency management, safety and compliance, and scheduling, as well as provider credentialing, privileging, and enrollment needs. It offers hStream, a technology platform that powers a range of healthcare workforce solutions. The company provides its solutions to customers across a range of entities within the healthcare industry, including private, not-for-profit, and government entities, as well as pharmaceutical and medical device companies through its direct sales teams. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.