Rakuten (OTCMKTS:RKUNY) & Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) Critical Survey

Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) and Rakuten (OTCMKTS:RKUNY) are both mid-cap communication services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Risk and Volatility

Match Group has a beta of 1.43, suggesting that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rakuten has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Match Group and Rakuten, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Match Group	0	9	7	0	2.44
Rakuten	0	1	0	0	2.00

Match Group presently has a consensus price target of $42.46, suggesting a potential upside of 0.15%. Given Match Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Match Group is more favorable than Rakuten.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.1% of Match Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Match Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Match Group and Rakuten’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Match Group	20.17%	-324.82%	17.36%
Rakuten	-2.48%	-5.09%	-0.22%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Match Group and Rakuten”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Match Group	$3.51 billion	2.77	$613.45 million	$2.83	14.98
Rakuten	$16.70 billion	0.51	-$1.19 billion	($0.19)	-20.68

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

Summary

Match Group beats Rakuten on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Match Group

Match Group, Inc. engages in the provision of dating products. Its portfolio of brands includes Tinder, Hinge, Match, Meetic, OkCupid, Pairs, Plenty Of Fish, Azar, BLK, and Hakuna, as well as a various other brands, each built to increase users' likelihood of connecting with others. Its services are available in over 40 languages to users worldwide. The company was incorporated in 1986 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

About Rakuten

Rakuten Group, Inc. provides services in e-commerce, fintech, digital content, and communications to various users in Japan and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Internet Services, FinTech, and Mobile. The Internet Services segment provides range of e-commerce sites, such as Rakuten Ichiba, an Internet shopping mall, online cash-back sites, travel booking sites, portal sites, and digital content sites. It also offers messaging services and sells advertising; and manages professional sport teams. The FinTech segment offers financial services over the internet related to banking and securities, credit cards, life insurance, general insurance, electronic payment business, crypto asset (virtual currency) spot transaction, etc. The Mobile segment provides communication services and technology, electricity supply, and digital content site services. The company was formerly known as Rakuten, Inc. and changed its name to Rakuten Group, Inc. in April 2021. Rakuten Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Setagaya, Japan.