Contrasting Waitr (NASDAQ:ASAP) & First Advantage (NYSE:FA)

Waitr (NASDAQ:ASAP) and First Advantage (NYSE:FA) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Waitr and First Advantage, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Waitr	0	0	0	0	0.00
First Advantage	0	5	3	0	2.38

First Advantage has a consensus target price of $66.00, indicating a potential upside of 299.27%. Given First Advantage’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Advantage is more favorable than Waitr.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Waitr and First Advantage”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Waitr	$130.00 million	0.00	-$206.79 million	N/A	N/A
First Advantage	$1.05 billion	2.75	$37.29 million	($0.91)	-18.16

First Advantage has higher revenue and earnings than Waitr.

Volatility and Risk

Waitr has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Advantage has a beta of 1.27, meaning that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.0% of Waitr shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.9% of First Advantage shares are held by institutional investors. 14.2% of Waitr shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of First Advantage shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Waitr and First Advantage’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Waitr	-111.96%	N/A	-209.50%
First Advantage	0.65%	13.16%	7.33%

Summary

First Advantage beats Waitr on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Waitr

Waitr Holdings Inc. operates an online ordering technology platform in the United States. Its platform allows to order food, alcohol, convenience, grocery, flowers, auto parts, and others. The company's platform also facilitates access to third parties that provide payment processing solutions for restaurants and other merchants. Waitr Holdings Inc. was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana.

About First Advantage

First Advantage Corporation provides employment background screening, identity, and verification solutions worldwide. It offers pre-onboarding products and solutions, such as criminal background checks, drug/health screening, extended workforce screening, FBI channeling, identity checks and biometric fraud mitigation tools, education/work history verification, driver records and compliance, healthcare credentials, executive screening, and other screening products. The company also provides post-onboarding solutions, including criminal records monitoring, healthcare sanctions, motor vehicle records, social media screening, and global sanctions and licenses; and other products comprising fleet/vehicle compliance, hiring tax credits and incentives, resident/tenant screening, and investigative research. Its products and solutions are used by personnel in recruiting, human resources, risk, compliance, vendor management, safety, and/or security in global enterprises, mid-sized, and small companies. The company was formerly known as Fastball Intermediate, Inc. and changed its name to First Advantage Corporation in March 2021. First Advantage Corporation was founded in 2002 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.