Critical Comparison: eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) versus ZipLink (OTCMKTS:ZIPL)

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) and ZipLink (OTCMKTS:ZIPL) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares eBay and ZipLink”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
eBay	$10.28 billion	2.97	$2.77 billion	$3.99	16.45
ZipLink	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

eBay has higher revenue and earnings than ZipLink.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

87.5% of eBay shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of eBay shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 57.5% of ZipLink shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for eBay and ZipLink, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
eBay	2	16	9	0	2.26
ZipLink	0	0	0	0	0.00

eBay presently has a consensus target price of $65.13, indicating a potential downside of 0.77%. Given ZipLink’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe ZipLink is more favorable than eBay.

Profitability

This table compares eBay and ZipLink’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
eBay	19.68%	30.97%	8.78%
ZipLink	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility & Risk

eBay has a beta of 1.43, indicating that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ZipLink has a beta of 32.96, indicating that its stock price is 3,196% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

eBay beats ZipLink on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About eBay

eBay Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates marketplace platforms that connect buyers and sellers in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Germany, and internationally. The company’s marketplace platform includes its online marketplace at ebay.com, off-platform businesses, and the eBay suite of mobile apps. Its platforms enable users to list, sell, and buy various products. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

About ZipLink

This record represents the public shell of ZipLink, Inc. In November 2000, ZipLink, Inc. suspended its operations and announced the lay off of substantially all of its employees except those necessary to wind down operations. Ziplink, Inc. operated as a wholesale connectivity provider in North America for the Business-to-Business marketplace, including Internet service providers, competitive local exchange carriers, Web appliance vendors, and PC manufacturers and distributors, as of September 30, 2000. ZipLink also offered a range of Internet connectivity services for Internet appliances, including Internet access and subscriber authentication. The company was founded in 1995 and is based in Lowell, Massachusetts.