Benchmark Energy (OTCMKTS:BMRK) vs. 8X8 (NASDAQ:EGHT) Critical Survey

8X8 (NASDAQ:EGHT) and Benchmark Energy (OTCMKTS:BMRK) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

8X8 has a beta of 1.63, meaning that its stock price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Benchmark Energy has a beta of 3.86, meaning that its stock price is 286% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.0% of 8X8 shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of 8X8 shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares 8X8 and Benchmark Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
8X8	-9.68%	-6.00%	-0.83%
Benchmark Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for 8X8 and Benchmark Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
8X8	3	2	3	0	2.00
Benchmark Energy	0	0	0	0	0.00

8X8 currently has a consensus target price of $2.87, suggesting a potential upside of 5.57%. Given 8X8’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe 8X8 is more favorable than Benchmark Energy.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares 8X8 and Benchmark Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
8X8	$719.56 million	0.49	-$67.59 million	($0.55)	-4.95
Benchmark Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Benchmark Energy has lower revenue, but higher earnings than 8X8.

Summary

8X8 beats Benchmark Energy on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About 8X8

8×8, Inc. provides voice, video, chat, contact center, and enterprise-class application programmable interface (API) Software-as-a-Service solutions for small business, mid-market, enterprise customers, government agencies, and other organizations worldwide. It offers 8×8 Work, a self-contained end-to-end united communications solution that delivers voice services, secure video meetings, and unified messaging, including direct messages, public and private team messaging rooms, and peer-to-peer short and multimedia messaging; 8×8 Contact Center, a cloud-based contact center as-a-service solution; and 8×8 Engage, an artificial intelligence-powered solution that equips customer-facing employees outside the contact center with the tools and capabilities to deliver successful customer engagements. The company also provides 8×8 Communications Platform as-a-Service, a communications platform-as-a-service capabilities that enable businesses to directly integrate its platform services within their websites, mobile apps, and business systems for personalized customer engagement; and Solutions for Microsoft Teams. In addition, it offers and X1 through X4 and X5 through X8, which provide enterprise-grade voice, unified communications, and video meetings and team collaboration, and contact center solutions. The company markets its services to end users through industry conferences, trade shows, webinars, and local and digital advertising channels. 8×8, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Campbell, California.

About Benchmark Energy

Benchmark Energy Corporation, through its subsidiary, Energy Partners LLC, buys industrial grade glycerin and sells it to boiler plants as an alternative bunker fuel in the United States and internationally. The company offers crude and refined glycerin, a co-product of biodiesel production used in various industrial and commercial applications, such as power, energy, and boiler operations, as well as in the de-icing process and manufacturing of animal feed. It has a strategic relationship with the University of North Dakota (UND) to utilize industrial grade glycerin as an additive to the UND coal-burning plant. The company is based in Coldspring, Texas.