Comparing LiveOne (NASDAQ:LVO) and Koss (NASDAQ:KOSS)

LiveOne (NASDAQ:LVO) and Koss (NASDAQ:KOSS) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for LiveOne and Koss, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LiveOne	0	0	1	0	3.00
Koss	0	0	0	0	0.00

LiveOne currently has a consensus price target of $1.50, indicating a potential upside of 118.66%. Given LiveOne’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe LiveOne is more favorable than Koss.

Volatility and Risk

LiveOne has a beta of 1.62, meaning that its share price is 62% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Koss has a beta of -1.61, meaning that its share price is 261% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares LiveOne and Koss’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LiveOne	-14.16%	N/A	-15.02%
Koss	-6.06%	-2.44%	-2.01%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

21.3% of LiveOne shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.2% of Koss shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.9% of LiveOne shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 46.7% of Koss 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.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LiveOne	$114.40 million	0.61	-$18.71 million	($0.18)	-3.81
Koss	$12.27 million	4.09	-$950,000.00	($0.08)	-66.88

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

Summary

LiveOne beats Koss on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LiveOne

LiveOne, Inc., a digital media company, engages in the acquisition, distribution, and monetization of live music, Internet radio, podcasting/vodcasting, and music-related streaming and video content. It operates LiveXLive, a live music streaming platform; PodcastOne, a podcasting platform; and Slacker, an integrated membership and advertising streaming music service, as well as produces original music-related content. The company also produces, edits, curates, and streams live music events through broadband transmission over the Internet and satellite networks to its users; provides digital Internet radio and music services to users online and through automotive and mobile original equipment manufacturers on a white label basis; and offers ancillary products and services, such as regulatory and post-implementation support services. In addition, it develops, manufactures, and distributes personalized merchandise and gifts through wholesale and direct-to-consumer distribution channels. Further, the company offers LiveOne App, an application that provides access to live events, audio streams, original episodic content, podcasts, vodcasts, video on demand, real-time livestreams, and social sharing of content. The company was formerly known as LiveXLive Media, Inc. and changed its name to LiveOne, Inc. in October 2021. LiveOne, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California.

About Koss

Koss Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of stereo headphones and related accessories in the United States, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Canada, Korea, Republic of Belgium, Malaysia, and internationally. It offers high-fidelity headphones, wireless bluetooth headphones, wireless bluetooth speakers, computer headsets, telecommunications headsets, and active noise canceling headphones. The company sells its products through distributors, international distributors, audio specialty stores, the internet, national retailers, grocery stores, electronics retailers, and prisons under the Koss name, as well as private label. It sells its products to distributors for resale to school systems, as well as directly to other manufacturers. The company markets through domestic retail outlets and numerous retailers. It exports its products. Koss Corporation was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.