Analyzing LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) and Taoping (NASDAQ:TAOP)

LivePerson (NASDAQ:LPSN) and Taoping (NASDAQ:TAOP) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

79.8% of LivePerson shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 4.0% of Taoping shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of LivePerson shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 45.4% of Taoping shares are held by company 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 Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for LivePerson and Taoping, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LivePerson	1	1	0	0	1.50
Taoping	1	0	0	0	1.00

Volatility & Risk

LivePerson has a beta of 1.41, meaning that its stock price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Taoping has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares LivePerson and Taoping’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LivePerson	-62.66%	N/A	-7.86%
Taoping	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares LivePerson and Taoping”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LivePerson	$257.66 million	0.22	-$134.27 million	($27.95)	-0.17
Taoping	$36.20 million	0.08	-$1.82 million	N/A	N/A

Taoping has lower revenue, but higher earnings than LivePerson.

Summary

LivePerson beats Taoping on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LivePerson

LivePerson, Inc. engages in conversational artificial intelligence. It enables brands to leverage the Conversational Cloud's intelligence engine to connect with consumers through an integrated suite of mobile and online business messaging technologies. The company offers the Conversational Cloud, an enterprise-class digital customer conversation platform, which enables businesses and consumers to connect through conversational channels, such as voice, in-app, and mobile messaging. It also provides professional services; LivePerson's Conversational AI, including conversation builder, manager, and intelligence, and intent manager. In addition, it provides Voice AI, conversational intelligence and insights, and integration services. The company sells its products to Fortune 500 companies, Internet businesses, online merchants, automotive dealers, educational institution, public sector, and not-for-profit organizations. It operates in the United States, Canada, Latin America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the United Kingdom, and the Asia-Pacific. LivePerson, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Taoping

Taoping Inc. provides cloud-based platform, resource sharing, and big data solutions to the Chinese new media, education residential community management, and elevator Internet of Things (IoT) industries in the People's Republic of China. It operates through Cloud-Based Technology and Traditional Information Technology segments. The company offers cloud-based software as a service to automate the interactive workflows between advertising agencies and their customers, including establishing new advertising projects, submitting advertisement proposals, revising and approving advertising proposals, processing payment online, remotely uploading advertisement content, and tracking and analyzing performance data. It also provides project-based technology products and services for the public sector; and software and hardware with integrated solutions, such as information technology infrastructure, internet-enabled display technologies, and IoT platforms to customers in government, education, residential community management, media, transportation, and other private sectors, as well as related maintenance and support services. In addition, the company offers cloud-application-terminal, IoT technology based digital advertising distribution network, and media resource sharing platform in the out-of-home advertising markets. Further, it operates Taoping Net, an advertising-resources trading service platform, which connect screen owners, advertisers, and consumers; and Taoping App that enable customers to distribute and manage ads from mobile terminals. The company was formerly known as China Information Technology, Inc. and changed its name to Taoping Inc. in June 2018. Taoping Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, the People's Republic of China.