Critical Review: GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) & LightInTheBox (NYSE:LITB)

LightInTheBox (NYSE:LITB) and GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares LightInTheBox and GoDaddy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LightInTheBox	0.63%	-11.29%	2.04%
GoDaddy	17.01%	189.42%	9.68%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for LightInTheBox and GoDaddy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LightInTheBox	0	0	0	0	0.00
GoDaddy	0	5	8	1	2.71

GoDaddy has a consensus price target of $202.4286, suggesting a potential upside of 38.54%. Given GoDaddy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe GoDaddy is more favorable than LightInTheBox.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

56.8% of LightInTheBox shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.3% of GoDaddy shares are held by institutional investors. 62.2% of LightInTheBox shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of GoDaddy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

LightInTheBox has a beta of 0.07, indicating that its stock price is 93% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GoDaddy has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares LightInTheBox and GoDaddy”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LightInTheBox	$231.14 million	0.09	-$2.49 million	$0.10	11.85
GoDaddy	$4.57 billion	4.42	$936.90 million	$5.60	26.09

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

Summary

GoDaddy beats LightInTheBox on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LightInTheBox

LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an online retailer that delivers products directly to its consumers worldwide. The company provides apparel products; and other general merchandise products, such as small accessories and gadgets, home garden, toys and hobbies, electronics and communication devices, and other products. It also offers supplier chain management, research and development, customer, marketing, warehouse management, local delivery, and fulfillment services, as well as engages in the product sourcing, marketing, and operation of its websites and mobile applications. The company provides its products through www.lightinthebox.com and www.ezbuy.sg, and other websites and mobile applications. LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. was founded in 2007 and is based in Singapore.

About GoDaddy

GoDaddy Inc. engages in the design and development of cloud-based products in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Applications and Commerce, and Core Platform. The Applications and Commerce segment provides applications products, including Websites + Marketing, a mobile-optimized online tool that enables customers to build websites and e-commerce enabled online stores; and Managed WordPress, a streamlined and optimized website building that allows customers to easily build and manage a faster WordPress site; Managed WooCommerce Stores to sell anything and anywhere online; and marketing tools and services, such as GoDaddy Studio mobile application, search engine optimization, Meta and Google My Business, and email and social media marketing designed to help businesses acquire and engage customers and create content. The segment also offers connected commerce comprising Smart Terminal, a dual screen all-in-one Point-of-Sale system that allows customers to manage in-store inventory and product catalogs and take payments; GoDaddy Payments, a payment facilitator that enables customers to accept all major forms of payments; and email service plans with a multi-feature web interface, and Microsoft Office 365 accounts that connects to customers’ domains. The Core Platform segment offers domain products, including primary registrations, domain aftermarket platform, and domain name add-ons, as well as GoDaddy Registry, a provider of domain name registry services; and hosting and security services comprising shared website hosting, virtual private servers, and managed wordpress hosting services, as well as security products with a comprehensive suite of tools designed to help secure customers’ online presence. The company serves small businesses, individuals, organizations, developers, designers, and domain investors. GoDaddy Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.