Head-To-Head Contrast: Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) & 36Kr (NASDAQ:KRKR)

36Kr (NASDAQ:KRKR) and Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

36Kr has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Morningstar has a beta of 1.06, indicating that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares 36Kr and Morningstar’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
36Kr	N/A	N/A	N/A
Morningstar	15.70%	24.68%	11.10%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares 36Kr and Morningstar”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
36Kr	$31.66 million	0.33	-$19.00 million	($6.00)	-0.88
Morningstar	$2.40 billion	3.72	$369.90 million	$8.79	24.62

Morningstar has higher revenue and earnings than 36Kr. 36Kr is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Morningstar, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.1% of 36Kr shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.0% of Morningstar shares are owned by institutional investors. 39.4% of 36Kr shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 36.2% of Morningstar shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for 36Kr and Morningstar, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
36Kr	1	0	0	0	1.00
Morningstar	0	1	2	0	2.67

Morningstar has a consensus target price of $285.00, indicating a potential upside of 31.69%. Given Morningstar’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Morningstar is more favorable than 36Kr.

Summary

Morningstar beats 36Kr on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About 36Kr

36Kr Holdings Inc. provides content and business services in the People's Republic of China. It creates and distributes various content, including insightful reports on companies and industries, timely market updates, thought-provoking editorials, and commentaries, as well as original video and audio content in various industries, such as technology, consumer, retail, healthcare, media and entertainment, and enterprise services. The company's business services include online advertising services; enterprise value-added services, such as integrated marketing, advertisement agent, online/offline event, and consulting services; and subscription services to individuals, institutional investors, and enterprises. 36Kr Holdings Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

About Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc. provides independent investment insights in the United States, Asia. Australia, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates in five segments: Morningstar Data and Analytics; PitchBook; Morningstar Wealth; Morningstar Credit; and Morningstar Retirement. The company offers managing investments, including mutual funds, ETFs, separate accounts, collective investment trusts, model portfolios, equities, and fixed income securities; Morningstar Direct is an investment-analysis and reporting platform; Morningstar Advisor Workstation, a suite of tool to provide help and advice. The PitchBook segment provides data and research covering the private capital markets comprising venture capital, private equity, private credit and bank loans, and merger and acquisition activities; and pitchbook platform. It provides model portfolios and wealth platforms; Morningstar Managed Portfolios, an advisor service with model portfolios designed for fee-based independent financial advisors; and Morningstar.com that discovers, evaluates, and monitors stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds; build and monitor portfolios and markets. In addition, the company provides credit ratings, research, data, and credit analytics solutions; Morningstar DBRS which offers securitizations and other structured finance instruments, such as asset-backed securities, residential mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities, and collateralized loan obligations. Further, it offers managed retirement accounts, fiduciary services, Morningstar Lifetime Allocation funds, and custom models; Morningstar Indexes offers market indexes used for performance benchmarks and as the basis for investment products and other portfolio strategies; and Morningstar Sustainalytics provides environmental, social and governance data, research, analysis, and insights. Morningstar, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.