Critical Analysis: FLUENT (NASDAQ:FLNT) vs. Pop Culture Group (NASDAQ:CPOP)

FLUENT (NASDAQ:FLNT) and Pop Culture Group (NASDAQ:CPOP) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

FLUENT has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pop Culture Group has a beta of 1.83, suggesting that its stock price is 83% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

23.3% of FLUENT shares are owned by institutional investors. 43.5% of FLUENT shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.9% of Pop Culture Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for FLUENT and Pop Culture Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FLUENT	0	1	0	0	2.00
Pop Culture Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

FLUENT presently has a consensus target price of $3.00, suggesting a potential upside of 47.78%. Given FLUENT’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe FLUENT is more favorable than Pop Culture Group.

Profitability

This table compares FLUENT and Pop Culture Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FLUENT	-11.69%	-97.82%	-24.66%
Pop Culture Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares FLUENT and Pop Culture Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FLUENT	$254.62 million	0.19	-$29.28 million	($1.36)	-1.49
Pop Culture Group	$47.38 million	0.13	-$12.41 million	N/A	N/A

Pop Culture Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than FLUENT.

Summary

FLUENT beats Pop Culture Group on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FLUENT

Fluent, Inc. provides data-driven digital marketing services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Fluent and All Other segments. It offers customer acquisition services by operating digital marketing campaigns, through which the company connects its advertiser clients with consumers. The company also delivers data and performance-based marketing executions to various consumer brands, direct marketers, and agencies across a range of industries, including financial products and services, media and entertainment, health and life sciences, retail and consumer, and staffing and recruitment. Fluent, Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Pop Culture Group

Pop Culture Group Co., Ltd hosts entertainment events to corporate clients in China. The company hosts concerts and hip-hop related events, including stage plays, dance competitions, cultural and musical festivals, and promotional parties, as well as creates hip-hop related online programs; and provides event planning and execution services comprising communication, planning, design, production, reception, execution, and analysis services to advertising and media service providers, industry associations, and companies in a range of industries, such as consumer goods, real estate, tourism, entertainment, technology, e-commerce, education, and sports. It also offers marketing services, including brand promotion, such as trademark and logo design, visual identity system design, brand positioning and personality design, and digital solutions; and other services, including digital collection sales, music recording services, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) software services, and advertisement distribution services to corporate clients. The company was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in Xiamen, China. Pop Culture Group Co., Ltd is a subsidiary of Joya Enterprises Limited.