Head-To-Head Review: LiveWorld (OTCMKTS:LVWD) and Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA)

LiveWorld (OTCMKTS:LVWD) and Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares LiveWorld and Alibaba Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LiveWorld	-6.51%	-15.86%	-10.25%
Alibaba Group	7.31%	12.08%	7.46%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.5% of Alibaba Group shares are held by institutional investors. 16.3% of LiveWorld shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.5% of Alibaba Group shares are held 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.

Risk and Volatility

LiveWorld has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alibaba Group has a beta of 0.35, indicating that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for LiveWorld and Alibaba Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LiveWorld	0	0	0	0	0.00
Alibaba Group	0	2	13	0	2.87

Alibaba Group has a consensus price target of $113.13, suggesting a potential upside of 20.12%. Given Alibaba Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Alibaba Group is more favorable than LiveWorld.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares LiveWorld and Alibaba Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LiveWorld	$11.46 million	0.51	$210,000.00	($0.01)	-12.78
Alibaba Group	$130.35 billion	1.73	$11.08 billion	$3.82	24.65

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

Summary

Alibaba Group beats LiveWorld on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LiveWorld

LiveWorld, Inc., a digital agency and software company, provides social media and technology solutions for pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and financial-travel service industries. It offers consulting, strategy, and creative solutions with human agents for moderation, engagement, customer care, and adverse events management, as well as conversation management software, and chatbots for digital campaigns and social media programs. The company was formerly known as Talk City, Inc. and changed its name to Liveworld, Inc. in May 2001. Liveworld, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Campbell, California.

About Alibaba Group

Alibaba Group Holding Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help merchants, brands, retailers, and other businesses to engage with their users and customers in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company operates through seven segments: China Commerce, International Commerce, Local Consumer Services, Cainiao, Cloud, Digital Media and Entertainment, and Innovation Initiatives and Others. It operates Taobao, a digital retail platform; Tmall, a third-party online and mobile commerce platform; Alimama, a monetization platform; 1688.com and Alibaba.com, which are online wholesale marketplaces; AliExpress, a retail marketplace; Lazada, Trendyol, and Daraz that are e-commerce platforms; Freshippo, a retail platform for groceries and fresh goods; and Tmall Global, an import e-commerce platform. The company also operates Cainiao Network logistic services platform; Ele.me, an on-demand delivery and local services platform; Koubei, a restaurant and local services guide platform; and Fliggy, an online travel platform. In addition, it offers pay-for-performance, in-feed, and display marketing services; and Taobao Ad Network and Exchange, a real-time online bidding marketing exchange. Further, the company provides elastic computing, storage, network, security, database, big data, and IoT services; and hardware, software license, software installation, and application development and maintenance services. Additionally, it operates Youku, an online video platform; Quark, a platform for information search, storage, and consumption; Alibaba Pictures and other content platforms that provide online videos, films, live events, news feeds, literature, music, and others; Amap, a mobile digital map, navigation, and real-time traffic information app; DingTalk, a business efficiency mobile app; and Tmall Genie smart speaker. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is based in Hangzhou, the People's Republic of China.