Dolphin Entertainment (NASDAQ:DLPN) vs. Cardlytics (NASDAQ:CDLX) Critical Analysis

Dolphin Entertainment (NASDAQ:DLPN) and Cardlytics (NASDAQ:CDLX) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Dolphin Entertainment and Cardlytics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dolphin Entertainment	-6.02%	-41.42%	-6.00%
Cardlytics	-46.03%	-956.56%	-34.57%

Risk & Volatility

Dolphin Entertainment has a beta of 1.89, suggesting that its stock price is 89% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cardlytics has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

8.9% of Dolphin Entertainment shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.1% of Cardlytics shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.3% of Dolphin Entertainment shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.9% of Cardlytics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Dolphin Entertainment and Cardlytics”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dolphin Entertainment	$56.70 million	0.25	-$3.09 million	($0.29)	-3.83
Cardlytics	$233.27 million	0.15	-$103.49 million	($1.77)	-0.34

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Dolphin Entertainment and Cardlytics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dolphin Entertainment	1	0	0	0	1.00
Cardlytics	2	1	0	0	1.33

Cardlytics has a consensus price target of $1.00, indicating a potential upside of 67.11%. Given Cardlytics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Cardlytics is more favorable than Dolphin Entertainment.

Summary

Dolphin Entertainment beats Cardlytics on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Dolphin Entertainment

Dolphin Entertainment, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an independent entertainment marketing and production company in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Entertainment Publicity, and Marketing and Content Production. The Entertainment Publicity and Marketing segment provides diversified marketing services, including public relations, entertainment and hospitality content marketing, strategic communications, strategic marketing consulting, social media and influencer marketing, digital marketing, creative branding, talent publicity, and entertainment marketing services, as well as produces promotional video content. The Content Production segment produces and distributes feature films and digital content. In addition, it offers strategic marketing and publicity services to individuals and corporates in the entertainment, hospitality, and music industries; and marketing direction, public relations counsel, and media strategy for video game publishers, as well as eSports leagues and other entities in the gaming industry. The company was formerly known as Dolphin Digital Media, Inc. and changed its name to Dolphin Entertainment, Inc. in July 2017. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida.

About Cardlytics

Cardlytics, Inc. operates an advertising platform in the United States and the United Kingdom. It offers Cardlytics platform, a proprietary native bank advertising channel that enables marketers to reach customers through their network of financial institution partners through digital channels, such as online, mobile applications, email, and various real-time notifications; and Bridg platform, a customer data platform which utilizes point-of-sale data and enables marketers to perform analytics and targeted loyalty marketing, as well as measure the impact of their marketing. The company was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.