Analyzing Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) and LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN)

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) and LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

83.1% of Lyft shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.8% of LivePerson shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Lyft shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of LivePerson shares are owned 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Lyft and LivePerson, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lyft	2	23	8	0	2.18
LivePerson	1	0	0	0	1.00

Lyft currently has a consensus target price of $18.83, suggesting a potential upside of 33.43%. Given Lyft’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Lyft is more favorable than LivePerson.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lyft and LivePerson”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lyft	$6.32 billion	0.85	$2.84 billion	$6.85	2.06
LivePerson	$236.00 million	0.12	-$67.23 million	($13.05)	-0.17

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

Volatility and Risk

Lyft has a beta of 1.84, suggesting that its share price is 84% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LivePerson has a beta of 1.38, suggesting that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Lyft and LivePerson’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lyft	43.82%	-2.09%	-0.54%
LivePerson	-26.24%	N/A	-6.13%

Summary

Lyft beats LivePerson on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lyft

Lyft, Inc. operates a peer-to-peer marketplace for on-demand ridesharing in the United States and Canada. It operates multimodal transportation networks that offer access to various transportation options through the Lyft platform and mobile-based applications. The company's platform provides a ridesharing marketplace, which connects drivers with riders; Express Drive, a car rental program for drivers; and a network of shared bikes and scooters in various cities to address the needs of riders for short trips. It also offers centralized tools and enterprise transportation solutions, such as concierge transportation solutions for organizations; Lyft Pink subscription plans; Lyft Pass commuter programs; first-mile and last-mile services; and university safe rides programs. The company was formerly known as Zimride, Inc. and changed its name to Lyft, Inc. in April 2013. Lyft, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About LivePerson

LivePerson, Inc. engages in conversational artificial intelligence. It enables brands to leverage the Conversational Cloud's intelligence engine to connect with consumers through an integrated suite of mobile and online business messaging technologies. The company offers the Conversational Cloud, an enterprise-class digital customer conversation platform, which enables businesses and consumers to connect through conversational channels, such as voice, in-app, and mobile messaging. It also provides professional services; LivePerson's Conversational AI, including conversation builder, manager, and intelligence, and intent manager. In addition, it provides Voice AI, conversational intelligence and insights, and integration services. The company sells its products to Fortune 500 companies, Internet businesses, online merchants, automotive dealers, educational institution, public sector, and not-for-profit organizations. It operates in the United States, Canada, Latin America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the United Kingdom, and the Asia-Pacific. LivePerson, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in New York, New York.