VNET Group (NASDAQ:VNET) and AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) Head to Head Contrast

VNET Group (NASDAQ:VNET) and AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) are both mid-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, earnings and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

VNET Group has a beta of 0.2, meaning that its share price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AppFolio has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares VNET Group and AppFolio’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VNET Group	0.74%	0.98%	0.19%
AppFolio	23.54%	26.32%	21.33%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares VNET Group and AppFolio”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
VNET Group	$9.05 billion	0.28	$25.10 million	($0.08)	-117.38
AppFolio	$794.20 million	10.81	$204.07 million	$5.54	43.24

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for VNET Group and AppFolio, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
VNET Group	1	0	4	1	2.83
AppFolio	0	1	6	0	2.86

VNET Group presently has a consensus target price of $11.15, indicating a potential upside of 18.74%. AppFolio has a consensus target price of $318.20, indicating a potential upside of 32.83%. Given AppFolio’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe AppFolio is more favorable than VNET Group.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

72.8% of VNET Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.2% of AppFolio shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.1% of VNET Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.7% of AppFolio shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

AppFolio beats VNET Group on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About VNET Group

VNET Group, Inc., an investment holding company, provides hosting and related services in China. It offers managed hosting services consisting of managed retail services, such as colocation services that dedicate data center space to house customers' servers and networking equipment, as well as allow customers to lease partial or entire cabinets for their servers; interconnectivity services that allow customers to connect their servers; value-added services, including hybrid IT, bare metal, firewall, server load balancing, data backup and recovery, data center management, server management, and backup server services; cloud services that allow customers to run applications over the internet using IT infrastructure; and VPN Services that extend customers' private networks by setting up connections through the public internet. The company also provides server administration services, such as operating system support and assistance with updates, server monitoring, server backup and restoration, server security evaluation, firewall services, and disaster recovery services. It serves information technology and cloud services, communications and social networking, gaming and entertainment, e-commerce, automobile, financial services, and blue-chip and small-to-mid-sized enterprises; government agencies; individuals; and telecommunication carriers. The company was formerly known as 21Vianet Group, Inc. and changed its name to VNET Group, Inc. in October 2021. VNET Group, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

About AppFolio

AppFolio, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud business management solutions for the real estate industry in the United States. The company provides a cloud-based platform that enables users to automate and optimize common workflows; tools that assist with leasing, maintenance, and accounting; and other technology and services offered by third parties. It offers AppFolio Property Manager Core, a platform that provides the basic functionalities required to operate a property management business, as well as serves as a system of record; AppFolio Property Manager Plus, which offers housing management, student housing management, complex accounting, leasing insights, large-scale operations support, role-based permissions, stack integrations, and enhanced customer support services; AppFolio Property Manager Max offers customer relationship management functionality, field customization, customer database functionality, and customer success management services; and AppFolio Investment Manager, a software that provides investment management, asset management, and relationship management solutions. The company also provides value-added services that are designed to enhance, automate, and streamline processes and workflows for property management businesses, such as electronic payment, tenant screening, and insurance services. AppFolio, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.