Upland Software (NASDAQ:UPLD) and Unity Software (NYSE:U) Critical Survey

Upland Software (NASDAQ:UPLD) and Unity Software (NYSE:U) are both technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Upland Software has a beta of 1.43, meaning that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Unity Software has a beta of 2.11, meaning that its stock price is 111% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Upland Software and Unity Software’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Upland Software	-18.50%	-46.06%	6.92%
Unity Software	-28.97%	4.64%	2.16%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Upland Software and Unity Software”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Upland Software	$216.88 million	0.05	-$38.90 million	($14.43)	-0.23
Unity Software	$1.85 billion	9.67	-$402.77 million	($1.36)	-29.88

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

77.8% of Upland Software shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.5% of Unity Software shares are held by institutional investors. 14.6% of Upland Software shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Unity Software shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Upland Software and Unity Software, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Upland Software	1	0	2	0	2.33
Unity Software	1	3	18	1	2.83

Upland Software currently has a consensus target price of $12.50, suggesting a potential upside of 276.51%. Unity Software has a consensus target price of $48.01, suggesting a potential upside of 18.13%. Given Upland Software’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Upland Software is more favorable than Unity Software.

Summary

Unity Software beats Upland Software on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Upland Software

Upland Software, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud-based software applications under the Upland brand name in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. It offers software applications that enable organizations to plan, manage and execute projects, and work in the areas of marketing, sales, contact center, knowledge management, project management, information technology, business operations, human resources, and legal. The company also provides professional services, such as implementation, data extraction, integration and configuration, and training services, as well as customer support services. It serves corporations, government agencies, and small and medium-sized businesses in the financial, consulting, technology, manufacturing, media, telecommunication, insurance, non-profit healthcare, life sciences, retail, and hospitality sectors. The company was formerly known as Silverback Enterprise Group, Inc. and changed its name to Upland Software, Inc. in November 2013. Upland Software, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Unity Software

Unity Software Inc. operates a real-time 3D development platform. Its platform provides software solutions to create, run, and monetize interactive, real-time 2D and 3D content for mobile phones, tablets, PCs, consoles, and augmented and virtual reality devices. The company offers its solutions directly through its online store and field sales operations in North America, Denmark, Finland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, China, Singapore, and South Korea, as well as indirectly through independent distributors and resellers worldwide. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.