Head to Head Contrast: Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK) and Zhihu (NYSE:ZH)

Shutterstock (NYSE:SSTK) and Zhihu (NYSE:ZH) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Shutterstock and Zhihu, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shutterstock	0	3	1	0	2.25
Zhihu	0	0	1	0	3.00

Shutterstock currently has a consensus price target of $43.6667, suggesting a potential upside of 103.57%. Zhihu has a consensus price target of $4.70, suggesting a potential upside of 12.17%. Given Shutterstock’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Shutterstock is more favorable than Zhihu.

Volatility & Risk

Shutterstock has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zhihu has a beta of 0.21, indicating that its share price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Shutterstock and Zhihu’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shutterstock	6.36%	18.42%	7.48%
Zhihu	-0.52%	-0.41%	-0.30%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

82.8% of Shutterstock shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.9% of Zhihu shares are held by institutional investors. 32.0% of Shutterstock shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.6% of Zhihu shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Shutterstock and Zhihu”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Shutterstock	$935.26 million	0.81	$35.93 million	$1.81	11.85
Zhihu	$493.05 million	0.74	-$23.54 million	($0.02)	-209.50

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

Summary

Shutterstock beats Zhihu on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Shutterstock

Shutterstock, Inc. provides platform to connect brands and businesses to high quality content in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers image services consisting of photographs, vectors, and illustrations, which is used in visual communications, such as websites, digital and print marketing materials, corporate communications, books, publications, and others; footage services, including video clips, filmed by industry experts and cinema grade video effects in HD and 4K formats that are integrated into websites, social media, marketing campaigns, and cinematic productions; and music services comprising music tracks and sound effects, which are used to complement images and footage. It also provides 3 dimensional models consisting of 3D models used in various industries, such as advertising, media and video production, gaming, retail, education, design, and architecture; and generative AI content comprising images generated from algorithms trained with ethically sourced content. The company offers its services under the Shutterstock, Pond5, TurboSquid, PicMonkey, PremiumBeat, Splash News, Bigstock, and Offset brand names. In addition, it operates a collection of graphics interchange format visuals and stickers that supplies casual conversational content. The company serves corporate professionals and organizations, media and broadcast companies, and small and medium-sized businesses, and individual creators through digital, live sales, and client management channels. Shutterstock, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Zhihu

Zhihu Inc. operates an online content community in the People’s Republic of China. Its community allows people to seek inspiration, find solutions, make decisions, and have fun. The company offers technology, business support, and consulting services; information transmission, software, and information technology services. It also offers information and marketing services; vocational training; and internet services, as well as holds audio-visual permit. Zhihu Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China.