Financial Comparison: Kairous Acquisition (NASDAQ:KACL) and CION Investment (NYSE:CION)

Kairous Acquisition (NASDAQ:KACL) and CION Investment (NYSE:CION) are both small-cap unclassified companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Kairous Acquisition has a beta of -0.04, meaning that its stock price is 104% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CION Investment has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Kairous Acquisition and CION Investment, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kairous Acquisition	0	0	0	0	0.00
CION Investment	0	2	0	0	2.00

CION Investment has a consensus price target of $12.25, indicating a potential upside of 6.85%. Given CION Investment’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe CION Investment is more favorable than Kairous Acquisition.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Kairous Acquisition and CION Investment”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kairous Acquisition	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
CION Investment	$251.01 million	2.43	$95.31 million	$1.47	7.80

CION Investment has higher revenue and earnings than Kairous Acquisition.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

36.4% of Kairous Acquisition shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.0% of CION Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Kairous Acquisition shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of CION Investment shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Kairous Acquisition and CION Investment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kairous Acquisition	N/A	N/A	N/A
CION Investment	31.21%	11.49%	5.04%

Summary

CION Investment beats Kairous Acquisition on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kairous Acquisition

Kairous Acquisition Corp. Limited does not have significant operations. It focuses on effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The company intends to focus on opportunities in Asia, excluding China. Kairous Acquisition Corp. Limited was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

About CION Investment

CION Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in investments in senior secured loans, including unitranche loans, First Lien, second lien loans, long-term subordinated loans, and mezzanine loans; equity interests such as warrants or options; and corporate bonds; and other debt securities in middle-market companies. The firm invests in growth capital, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, market/product expansion, refinancing and recapitalization. The fund also invests up to 30 percent of their assets opportunistically in other types of investments, including the securities of larger public companies and foreign securities. It also makes investments in the secondary loan market. The fund does not invest in start-up companies, turnaround situations, or companies with speculative business plans. The fund prefers to invest in high tech industries, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, business services, media, chemicals, plastic, rubber, telecommunication, consumer services, advertising, printing and publishing, consumer goods, durables, diversified financials, and other industries. It also invests in homebuilding, restaurants, beverage and tobacco bars, broadcasting, distributors, Non-durable good distribution, food beverage and tobacco, energy, oil gas and consumables fuels, insurance, aerospace and defense, industrial machinery, paper and forest product machinery, information technology, metals and mining, and real estate. It primarily seeks to invest in the United States. The fund seeks to invest between $5 million and $50 million in companies with an EBITDA between $25 million and $75 million with average targeted hold of $25 million. It also purchases minority interests in the form of common or preferred equity in the target companies, typically in conjunction with its debt investments or through a co-investment with a financial sponsor. The fund seeks to exit its investments through an initial public offering of common stock, a merger, a sale, or other recapitalization.