Critical Survey: AvePoint (NASDAQ:AVPT) versus Virnetx (NASDAQ:VHC)

Virnetx (NASDAQ:VHC) and AvePoint (NASDAQ:AVPT) are both technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

10.4% of Virnetx shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.5% of AvePoint shares are owned by institutional investors. 15.7% of Virnetx shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.7% of AvePoint shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Virnetx and AvePoint’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Virnetx	N/A	-92.46%	-66.74%
AvePoint	15.33%	15.97%	9.62%

Risk and Volatility

Virnetx has a beta of 2.37, suggesting that its share price is 137% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AvePoint has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Virnetx and AvePoint, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Virnetx	1	0	0	0	1.00
AvePoint	0	5	10	0	2.67

AvePoint has a consensus price target of $16.82, indicating a potential downside of 0.48%. Given AvePoint’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe AvePoint is more favorable than Virnetx.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Virnetx and AvePoint”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Virnetx	$160,000.00	250.16	-$18.23 million	($5.37)	-1.77
AvePoint	$419.50 million	8.52	$34.80 million	$0.32	52.81

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

Summary

AvePoint beats Virnetx on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Virnetx

VirnetX Holding Corporation, through its subsidiary VirnetX, Inc., operates as an Internet security software and technology company primarily in the United States. The company develops software and technology solutions, including secure domain name registry and GABRIEL Connection Technology that are designed to secure communications over the Internet using zero trust network access. It also offers a portfolio of licenses and services, such as VirnetX One, a security-as-a-service platform that protects enterprise applications, services, and infrastructure from cyber-attacks; GABRIEL Connection Technology software development kit to assist with rapid integration of its techniques into existing software implementations; and War Room software that offers safe and secure video conferencing meeting environment where sensitive communications and data is invisible to those not authorized to view it. In addition, the company provides GABRIEL Collaboration Suite that enables seamless and secure cross-platform communications between users’ devices. It serves domain infrastructure and communication service providers, and system integrators; and enterprise customers, developers, and original equipment manufacturers of chips, servers, desktops, smart phones, tablets, laptops, net books, and other devices in the IP-telephony, mobility, fixed-mobile convergence, and unified communications markets. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Zephyr Cove, Nevada.

About AvePoint

AvePoint, Inc. provides cloud-native data management software platform in North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. It also offers software-as-a-service solutions and productivity applications. The company offers modularity and cloud services architecture to address critical challenges and the management of data to organizations that leverage third-party cloud vendors, including Microsoft, Salesforce, Google, AWS, Box, DropBox, and others; license and support; and maintenance services. AvePoint, Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey.