Head to Head Analysis: Xunlei (NASDAQ:XNET) and N-able (NYSE:NABL)

Xunlei (NASDAQ:XNET) and N-able (NYSE:NABL) are both small-cap technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Volatility and Risk

Xunlei has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, N-able has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Xunlei and N-able, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Xunlei	0	1	0	0	2.00
N-able	2	4	2	0	2.00

N-able has a consensus target price of $6.04, indicating a potential upside of 25.73%. Given N-able’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe N-able is more favorable than Xunlei.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Xunlei and N-able”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Xunlei	$462.41 million	0.48	$1.05 billion	($1.24)	-2.81
N-able	$511.43 million	1.66	-$18.82 million	($0.05)	-96.08

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

Profitability

This table compares Xunlei and N-able’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Xunlei	-15.25%	0.62%	0.52%
N-able	-1.94%	3.74%	2.13%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

5.1% of Xunlei shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of N-able shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.7% of Xunlei shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of N-able shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

N-able beats Xunlei on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Xunlei

Xunlei Limited is a Chinese technology company that provides cloud-based acceleration, storage and digital content services. Its offerings are designed to help users download, transfer, store and access digital files through internet-connected devices. The company’s products and services have included the Xunlei download platform, membership services, cloud storage through Xunlei CloudDisk and network acceleration solutions. Xunlei has also developed distributed cloud-computing capabilities that use shared network resources, including bandwidth and storage, to support content delivery and other online applications.

About N-able

N-able, Inc. develops cloud-based software for managed service providers (MSPs) and IT departments. Its platform helps customers monitor and manage IT systems, provide remote support, automate routine tasks, and deliver cybersecurity and data-protection services. The company’s offerings include network and endpoint management tools, remote access and support, backup and disaster recovery, and email and endpoint security. Its products are designed to help MSPs manage technology environments for businesses of varying sizes.