Critical Analysis: Veritone (NASDAQ:VERI) & BlackBerry (NYSE:BB)

BlackBerry (NYSE:BB) and Veritone (NASDAQ:VERI) are both technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Profitability

This table compares BlackBerry and Veritone’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BlackBerry	13.09%	13.71%	8.36%
Veritone	-111.90%	-159.15%	-39.63%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for BlackBerry and Veritone, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BlackBerry	0	7	2	0	2.22
Veritone	1	1	3	0	2.40

BlackBerry presently has a consensus target price of $9.86, suggesting a potential upside of 4.90%. Veritone has a consensus target price of $6.12, suggesting a potential upside of 1,182.99%. Given Veritone’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Veritone is more favorable than BlackBerry.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares BlackBerry and Veritone”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BlackBerry	$549.10 million	10.02	$53.20 million	$0.12	78.31
Veritone	$92.19 million	0.53	-$111.73 million	($0.38)	-1.26

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

54.5% of BlackBerry shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.2% of Veritone shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of BlackBerry shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.4% of Veritone shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

BlackBerry has a beta of 2.23, suggesting that its stock price is 123% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Veritone has a beta of 2.33, suggesting that its stock price is 133% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

BlackBerry beats Veritone on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry Limited is a Canadian software company that provides cybersecurity and secure communications products, as well as embedded software for vehicles and other connected systems. The company serves businesses, government agencies and organizations around the world. Its cybersecurity and communications offerings include endpoint protection, device and identity management, secure messaging, and crisis communications. BlackBerry also develops QNX software, an embedded operating system and development platform used in automotive systems and other safety-critical applications.

About Veritone

Veritone, Inc. (NASDAQ: VERI) is an artificial intelligence technology company that develops software for organizing, analyzing and generating insights from large volumes of data. Its platform is designed to help organizations apply AI to audio, video, text and other data sources across business and public-sector applications. The company’s primary technology platform, aiWARE, provides access to a broad range of AI models and tools through a unified operating environment. Veritone also offers solutions for digital media management, including tools that help media organizations, sports teams and other content owners manage, search, monetize and distribute audio and video assets.