Clearwater Analytics (NYSE:CWAN) vs. Snap (NYSE:SNAP) Financial Review

Snap (NYSE:SNAP) and Clearwater Analytics (NYSE:CWAN) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

47.5% of Snap shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 50.1% of Clearwater Analytics shares are held by institutional investors. 22.7% of Snap shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Clearwater Analytics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Snap and Clearwater Analytics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Snap	3	25	4	0	2.03
Clearwater Analytics	0	2	9	0	2.82

Snap currently has a consensus price target of $35.06, indicating a potential upside of 349.78%. Clearwater Analytics has a consensus price target of $30.56, indicating a potential upside of 47.43%. Given Snap’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Snap is more favorable than Clearwater Analytics.

Risk & Volatility

Snap has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clearwater Analytics has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Snap and Clearwater Analytics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Snap	-8.60%	-21.61%	-6.42%
Clearwater Analytics	61.28%	2.77%	2.01%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Snap and Clearwater Analytics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Snap	$5.36 billion	2.50	-$697.86 million	($0.29)	-26.88
Clearwater Analytics	$451.80 million	13.42	$424.38 million	$1.53	13.55

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

Summary

Clearwater Analytics beats Snap on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Snap

Snap Inc. operates as a technology company in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers Snapchat, a visual messaging application with various tabs, such as camera, visual messaging, snap map, stories, and spotlight that enable people to communicate visually through short videos and images. It also provides Spectacles, an eyewear product that connects with Snapchat and captures photos and video from a human perspective; and advertising products, including AR ads and Snap ads comprises a single image or video ads, collection ads, dynamic ads, story ads, and commercials. The company was formerly known as Snapchat, Inc. and changed its name to Snap Inc. in September 2016. Snap Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California.

About Clearwater Analytics

Clearwater Analytics Holdings, Inc. develops and provides a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution for automated investment data aggregation, reconciliation, accounting, and reporting services to insurers, investment managers, corporations, institutional investors, and government entities in the United States and internationally. It offers investment accounting and reporting, performance measurement, compliance monitoring, and risk analytics solutions. The company’s Clearwater Prism SaaS-based data and reporting platform for investment data delivers a range of product modules, including Prism reporting and statements, Prism connectors, Prism data ops, and Prism managed services. It also provides Clearwater JUMP that provides a modular front, middle and back office solution to investment managers, private banks, and insurer, as well as portfolio management and order management, unit-linked funds, tri-partite templates, and full trade life cycle solutions. In addition, the company offers Clearwater LPx, a full-service solution for private funds that delivers complete, timely, accurate, and consumable data for limited partnerships; and Clearwater MLx, a comprehensive mortgage loan investment solution that provides investors to drive growth and make informed decisions, oversight, and reporting capabilities for mortgage loan investments, as well as enhances risk reporting, servicer tracking, oversight, and accounting capabilities. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.