Financial Review: Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) versus ZKH Group (NYSE:ZKH)

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) and ZKH Group (NYSE:ZKH) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Sprout Social has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ZKH Group has a beta of 0.44, indicating that its stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Sprout Social and ZKH Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sprout Social	2	5	4	0	2.18
ZKH Group	1	0	0	0	1.00

Sprout Social presently has a consensus price target of $13.22, indicating a potential upside of 76.77%. Given Sprout Social’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Sprout Social is more favorable than ZKH Group.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Sprout Social and ZKH Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sprout Social	$457.55 million	0.98	-$43.33 million	($0.66)	-11.33
ZKH Group	$1.29 billion	0.28	-$19.44 million	($0.08)	-35.30

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

9.5% of ZKH Group shares are held by institutional investors. 9.6% of Sprout Social shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Sprout Social and ZKH Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sprout Social	-8.18%	-13.90%	-5.72%
ZKH Group	-0.90%	-2.80%	-1.30%

About Sprout Social

Sprout Social, Inc. designs, develops, and operates a web-based social media management platform in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides cloud software for social messaging, data and workflows in a unified system of record, intelligence, and action. It offers integrated tools, such as social engagement/response; publishing; reporting and analytics; social listening and business intelligence; reputation management; social commerce; employee advocacy; and automation and workflows. In addition, the company provides smart inbox, social customer relationship management, social monitoring and alerts, customer service tools, and automation; and centralized content planning, creation, and publishing, automated scheduling, content performance reporting, suggested content, message approval workflows, publishing permissions and governance, and content and asset libraries. Further, it offers social media; content performance, customer service and team, custom report builder, and reporting API; and market research, brand health, competitive insights, consumer trends, and product feedback; and social commerce, reputation management, employee advocacy, mobile applications, and chat bot creation and management. Additionally, the company offers professional services consisting of consulting and training services. It serves social and community management; public relations; marketing; influencer marketing; customer service and care; commerce, sales and customer acquisition; recruiting and hiring, product development, and business strategy; and small-and-medium-sized businesses, mid-market companies, enterprises, marketing agencies, government, non-profit, and educational institutions. Sprout Social, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

About ZKH Group

ZKH Group Limited develops and operates a maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO) products trading and service platform that offers spare parts, chemicals, manufacturing parts, general consumables, and office supplies in the People’s Republic of China. The company provides MRO procurement and management services; digitalized MRO procurement solutions; and logistics and warehousing services. It also engages in the production and sale of intelligent warehousing equipment. ZKH Group Limited was founded in 1998 and is based in Shanghai, the People’s Republic of China.