ACV Auctions (NASDAQ:ACVA) and Flywire (NASDAQ:FLYW) Financial Review

Flywire (NASDAQ:FLYW) and ACV Auctions (NASDAQ:ACVA) are both mid-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.9% of Flywire shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.6% of ACV Auctions shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of Flywire shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.5% of ACV Auctions shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Flywire and ACV Auctions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Flywire	4.23%	2.49%	1.86%
ACV Auctions	-12.89%	-12.11%	-5.52%

Volatility and Risk

Flywire has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ACV Auctions has a beta of 1.7, meaning that its stock price is 70% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Flywire and ACV Auctions”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Flywire	$475.14 million	5.27	-$8.57 million	$0.15	134.20
ACV Auctions	$596.02 million	6.16	-$75.26 million	($0.47)	-46.57

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Flywire and ACV Auctions, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Flywire	0	4	10	1	2.80
ACV Auctions	0	2	8	0	2.80

Flywire currently has a consensus price target of $25.29, suggesting a potential upside of 25.61%. ACV Auctions has a consensus price target of $23.60, suggesting a potential upside of 7.81%. Given Flywire’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Flywire is more favorable than ACV Auctions.

Summary

Flywire beats ACV Auctions on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Flywire

Flywire Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a payments enablement and software company in the United States and internationally. Its payment platform and network, and vertical-specific software help clients to get paid and help their customers to pay. The company’s platform facilitates payment flows across multiple currencies, payment types, and payment options, as well as provides direct connections to alternative payment methods, such as Alipay, Boleto, PayPal/Venmo, and Trustly. It serves education, healthcare, travel, and business to business organizations. The company was formerly known as peerTransfer Corporation and changed its name to Flywire Corporation in December 2016. Flywire Corporation was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

About ACV Auctions

ACV Auctions Inc. operates a digital marketplace that connects buyers and sellers for the online auction of wholesale vehicles. The company’s marketplace platform includes digital marketplace, which connects buyers and sellers by providing online auction, which facilitates real-time transactions of wholesale vehicles; Run List for pre-filtering and pre-screening of vehicles up to 24 hours prior to an auction taking place; ACV transportation service to enable the buyers to see real-time transportation quotes and status reports of the vehicle; ACV capital, a short-term inventory financing services for buyers to purchase vehicles; and Go Green’s seller assurance service for against claims related to defects in the vehicle. It also provides remarketing centers, which offers value-added services, such as vehicle reconditioning and storage for dealers and commercial partners. In addition, the company offers data services, including True360 report, which provides cosmetic and structural vehicle assessments integrated into vehicle history reports for dealer to make wholesale and retail transaction decisions on and off the marketplace; ACV market report provides transaction data and condition reports for comparable used vehicles, including pricing data from third-party sources and allows dealers to determine pricing and valuation strategies for used vehicles; and ACV MAX inventory management software enables dealers to manage their inventory and set pricing while turning vehicles. Further, it provides data and technology through inspection, such as condition reports, virtual lift solutions, apex device, and vehicle intelligence platform; and marketplace enablement, comprising MyACV application, private marketplaces, operations automation, live appraisals, and programmatic buying service. ACV Auctions Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Buffalo, New York.