Reviewing NEXON (OTCMKTS:NEXOY) and Cinemark (NYSE:CNK)

NEXON (OTCMKTS:NEXOY) and Cinemark (NYSE:CNK) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NEXON	$3.18 billion	4.24	$616.75 million	C$1.11	15.54
Cinemark	$3.36 billion	1.36	$138.20 million	$1.69	23.28

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for NEXON and Cinemark, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NEXON	0	2	2	0	2.50
Cinemark	0	5	9	1	2.73

Cinemark has a consensus price target of $38.79, indicating a potential downside of 1.42%. Given Cinemark’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Cinemark is more favorable than NEXON.

Profitability

This table compares NEXON and Cinemark’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NEXON	26.37%	12.56%	9.86%
Cinemark	6.44%	50.94%	4.88%

Dividends

NEXON pays an annual dividend of C$0.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Cinemark pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. NEXON pays out 19.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cinemark pays out 21.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. NEXON is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Cinemark beats NEXON on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NEXON

NEXON Co., Ltd. produces, develops, and services PC online and mobile games. It operates through five segments: Japan, Korea, China, North America, and Others. The company's PC online game titles include MapleStory, Dungeon & Fighter, and EA SPORTS FIFA ONLINE 4. The company was formerly known as NEXON Japan Co., Ltd. and changed its name to NEXON Co., Ltd. in April 2009. NEXON Co., Ltd. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Cinemark

Cinemark Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the motion picture exhibition business. As of February 16, 2024, it operated 501 theatres with 5,719 screens in 42 states and 13 countries in South and Central America. Cinemark Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.