Financial Review: Arteris (NASDAQ:AIP) vs. BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL)

Arteris (NASDAQ:AIP) and BlackLine (NASDAQ:BL) are both small-cap technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Arteris	$70.58 million	14.62	-$34.75 million	($0.89)	-23.30
BlackLine	$747.55 million	2.10	$24.17 million	$0.66	41.74

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

64.4% of Arteris shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.1% of BlackLine shares are held by institutional investors. 23.3% of Arteris shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.1% of BlackLine shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Arteris and BlackLine’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arteris	-44.83%	-112.51%	-19.32%
BlackLine	5.37%	23.73%	4.88%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Arteris and BlackLine, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arteris	1	0	6	0	2.71
BlackLine	3	5	5	0	2.15

Arteris presently has a consensus price target of $35.86, indicating a potential upside of 72.88%. BlackLine has a consensus price target of $37.58, indicating a potential upside of 36.42%. Given Arteris’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Arteris is more favorable than BlackLine.

Volatility & Risk

Arteris has a beta of 1.93, suggesting that its share price is 93% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BlackLine has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

BlackLine beats Arteris on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Arteris

Arteris provides semiconductor intellectual property and software used to design and integrate systems-on-chip (SoCs). Its network-on-chip technology connects components such as processors, memory and specialized accelerators, helping chip designers manage data movement within complex devices. The company’s offerings include interconnect IP such as FlexNoC and Ncore, cache-coherent technology, and tools for SoC integration and design. These products are used in applications including automotive systems, artificial intelligence, consumer electronics, communications and computing.

About BlackLine

BlackLine, Inc. provides cloud-based software that helps organizations automate accounting and finance operations. Its platform supports processes such as financial close management, account reconciliations, intercompany accounting, and financial reporting. The company’s products also help businesses manage accounts receivable and invoice-to-cash workflows, including cash application and collections. BlackLine’s software is designed to work alongside enterprise resource planning systems and other financial applications.