Contrasting Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) & ALS (OTCMKTS:CPBLF)

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) and ALS (OTCMKTS:CPBLF) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Upwork and ALS’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Upwork	12.94%	16.70%	7.94%
ALS	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

77.7% of Upwork shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 23.2% of ALS shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.9% of Upwork shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Upwork and ALS”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Upwork	$787.28 million	1.34	$115.43 million	$0.77	10.94
ALS	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.29	54.57

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Upwork and ALS, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Upwork	1	9	3	0	2.15
ALS	0	0	1	0	3.00

Upwork currently has a consensus price target of $13.05, suggesting a potential upside of 54.90%. ALS has a consensus price target of $28.00, suggesting a potential upside of 77.50%. Given ALS’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ALS is more favorable than Upwork.

Summary

Upwork beats ALS on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Upwork

Upwork Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a work marketplace that connects businesses with various independent professionals and agencies in the United States, India, the Philippines, and internationally. The company’s work marketplace provides access to talent with various skills across a range of categories, including administrative support, sales and marketing, design and creative, and customer service, as well as web, mobile, and software development. Its work marketplace also enables clients to streamline workflows, such as talent sourcing, outreach, and contracting. The company’s work marketplace offers access to various functionalities for remote engagements with talent, including communication and collaboration, ability to receive talent invoices through their work marketplace, and payment protection. Its marketplace offerings include Upwork Payroll and Upwork Enterprise, as well as managed and escrow services. The company was formerly known as Elance-oDesk, Inc. and changed its name to Upwork Inc. in May 2015. Upwork Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About ALS

ALS Limited provides professional technical services primarily in the areas of testing, measurement, and inspection in Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. It operates in two segments, Commodities and Life Sciences. The Commodities segment offers assaying and analytical testing, and metallurgical services for the mining and mineral exploration companies. Its testing and consulting services cover the resource life cycle, including exploration, feasibility, optimization, production, design, development, trade, and rehabilitation. This segment also provides coal sampling, analysis and certification, formation evaluation, and related analytical testing services. The Life Sciences segment offers analytical testing and sampling, and remote monitoring services for the environmental, food, pharmaceutical, and consumer products markets; and microbiological, physical, and chemical testing services. This segment provides analytical testing data to assist consulting and engineering firms, industries, and governments. ALS Limited was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia.