Critical Review: Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) vs. Telekom Malaysia Berhad (OTCMKTS:MYTEF)

Telekom Malaysia Berhad (OTCMKTS:MYTEF) and Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) are both communication services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

13.5% of Telekom Malaysia Berhad shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.2% of Lumen Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 2.3% of Lumen Technologies shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Telekom Malaysia Berhad and Lumen Technologies”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Telekom Malaysia Berhad	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.27	7.53
Lumen Technologies	$12.40 billion	0.50	-$1.74 billion	($1.02)	-5.93

Telekom Malaysia Berhad has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Lumen Technologies. Lumen Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Telekom Malaysia Berhad, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Telekom Malaysia Berhad and Lumen Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Telekom Malaysia Berhad	0	0	0	0	0.00
Lumen Technologies	1	9	0	0	1.90

Lumen Technologies has a consensus target price of $7.86, indicating a potential upside of 29.87%. Given Lumen Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Lumen Technologies is more favorable than Telekom Malaysia Berhad.

Profitability

This table compares Telekom Malaysia Berhad and Lumen Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Telekom Malaysia Berhad	N/A	N/A	N/A
Lumen Technologies	-8.65%	N/A	-1.56%

Summary

Lumen Technologies beats Telekom Malaysia Berhad on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Telekom Malaysia Berhad

Telekom Malaysia Berhad engages in the establishment, maintenance, and provision of telecommunications and related services in Malaysia and internationally. The company offers fixed telephony and broadband, mobility, Wi-Fi, content, cloud, data centre, cybersecurity, Internet of Things, and smart services. It also provides network connectivity and bandwidth; project management; provision of fiber optic transmission network; managed network, and value-added telecommunication and information technology; and information and communications technology (ICT) and cloud consumption services. In addition, the company engages in the provision of research and development activities in the areas of communications, hi-tech applications, and products and services in related business; and property development activities. Further, it provides network infrastructure facilities and services; last mile services for fixed and wireless consisting of broadband, messaging, and voice; provision of digital solution; managing and administering a multimedia university; and network system integration and centric; and fleet management services, as well as training and related services. Additionally, the company engages in the international telecommunications; and provision of ICT system security and smart building services, including smart tenant services for building owners, operators, residents, and visitors. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

About Lumen Technologies

Lumen Technologies, Inc., a facilities-based technology and communications company, provides various integrated products and services to business and residential customers in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Business and Mass Markets. It offers dark fiber, edge cloud services, internet protocol, managed security, software-defined wide area networks, secure access service edge, unified communications and collaboration, and optical wavelengths services; ethernet and VPN data networks services; and legacy services to manage cash flow, including time division multiplexing voice, private line, and other legacy services, as well as sells communication equipment, and IT solutions. The company also provides high speed and lower speed broadband service to residential and small business customers; local and long-distance voice services, professional services, and other ancillary services; and federal broadband and state support programs. It serves its products and services under the Lumen, Quantum Fiber, and CenturyLink brands. The company was formerly known as CenturyLink, Inc. and changed its name to Lumen Technologies, Inc. in September 2020. Lumen Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana.