Comparing Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) and Xometry (NASDAQ:XMTR)

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) and Xometry (NASDAQ:XMTR) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Liquidity Services and Xometry’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Liquidity Services	6.30%	18.51%	10.37%
Xometry	-13.68%	-15.90%	-7.54%

Risk and Volatility

Liquidity Services has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Xometry has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Liquidity Services and Xometry’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Liquidity Services	$314.46 million	1.94	$20.98 million	$0.65	30.74
Xometry	$463.41 million	1.15	-$67.47 million	($1.36)	-8.50

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

71.2% of Liquidity Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.3% of Xometry shares are owned by institutional investors. 29.8% of Liquidity Services shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 19.2% of Xometry shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Liquidity Services and Xometry, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Liquidity Services	0	0	1	0	3.00
Xometry	1	2	4	0	2.43

Liquidity Services currently has a consensus price target of $27.00, suggesting a potential upside of 35.14%. Xometry has a consensus price target of $22.71, suggesting a potential upside of 96.49%. Given Xometry’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Xometry is more favorable than Liquidity Services.

Summary

Liquidity Services beats Xometry on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Liquidity Services

Liquidity Services, Inc. provides e-commerce marketplaces, self-directed auction listing tools, and value-added services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: GovDeals, Retail Supply Chain Group (RSCG), Capital Assets Group (CAG), and Machinio. Its marketplaces include liquidation.com that enable corporations to sell surplus and salvage consumer goods and retail capital assets; GovDeals marketplace, which provides self-directed service solutions in which sellers list their own assets that enables local and state government entities, and commercial businesses located in the United States and Canada to sell surplus and salvage assets; and AllSurplus, a centralized marketplace that connects global buyer base with assets from across the network of marketplaces in a single destination. The company also offers a suite of services, including surplus management, asset valuation, asset sales, marketing, returns management, asset recovery, and ecommerce services. In addition, it operates a global search engine platform for listing used equipment for sale in the construction, machine tool, transportation, printing, and agriculture sectors. The company offers products from industry verticals, such as consumer electronics, general merchandise, apparel, scientific equipment, aerospace parts and equipment, technology hardware, real estate, energy equipment, industrial capital assets, heavy equipment, fleet and transportation equipment, and specialty equipment. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.

About Xometry

Xometry, Inc. operates an online marketplace that enables buyers to source custom-manufactured parts and assemblies in the United States and internationally. It provides computer numerical control manufacturing, sheet metal forming, and sheet cutting; 3D printing, including fused deposition modeling, direct metal laser sintering, PolyJet, stereolithography, selective laser sintering, binder jetting, carbon digital light synthesis, multi jet fusion, and lubricant sublayer photo-curing; and die casting, stamping, injection molding, urethane casting, tube cutting, and tube bending, as well as finishing services, rapid prototyping, and high-volume production services. It serves aerospace, healthcare, robotics, industrial, defense, energy, automotive, government, education, and consumer goods industries. The company was formerly known as NextLine Manufacturing Corp. and changed its name to Xometry, Inc. in June 2015. Xometry, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in North Bethesda, Maryland.