Digimarc (NASDAQ:DMRC) and Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) Financial Review

Digimarc (NASDAQ:DMRC) and Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) are both industrial products companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Digimarc and Waystar’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Digimarc	-104.84%	-41.67%	-34.11%
Waystar	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

66.8% of Digimarc shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.3% of Digimarc shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Digimarc and Waystar”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Digimarc	$39.04 million	17.21	-$45.96 million	($1.95)	-16.08
Waystar	$791.01 million	6.73	-$51.33 million	N/A	N/A

Digimarc has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Waystar.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Digimarc and Waystar, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Digimarc	0	1	1	0	2.50
Waystar	0	0	11	0	3.00

Digimarc presently has a consensus price target of $34.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.42%. Waystar has a consensus price target of $31.90, suggesting a potential upside of 3.17%. Given Digimarc’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Digimarc is more favorable than Waystar.

Summary

Waystar beats Digimarc on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Digimarc

Digimarc Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides automatic identification solutions to commercial and government customers in the United States and internationally. The company offers Digimarc Validate protects, a cloud-based record of product authentication information; Digimarc Engage, an interactive communications channel connecting brands and consumers; and Digimarc Recycle. Its solutions are used in various application solutions, such as sorting of consumer-packaged goods in recycling streams. The company offers its solutions through its sales personnel and business partners. Digimarc Corporation was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Beaverton, Oregon.

About Waystar

Waystar Holding Corp. is a software company which provide healthcare payments. Waystar Holding Corp. is based in LEHI, Utah.