Contrasting Fluent (NASDAQ:FLNT) & X3 (NASDAQ:XTKG)

Fluent (NASDAQ:FLNT) and X3 (NASDAQ:XTKG) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Fluent and X3, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fluent	0	1	0	0	2.00
X3	1	0	0	0	1.00

Fluent currently has a consensus target price of $2.50, indicating a potential downside of 23.78%. Given Fluent’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Fluent is more favorable than X3.

Volatility and Risk

Fluent has a beta of 0.95, suggesting that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, X3 has a beta of 1.7, suggesting that its stock price is 70% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Fluent and X3″s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fluent	$254.62 million	0.38	-$29.28 million	($1.15)	-2.85
X3	$11.61 million	0.01	-$76.24 million	N/A	N/A

Fluent has higher revenue and earnings than X3.

Profitability

This table compares Fluent and X3’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fluent	-12.47%	-109.15%	-29.76%
X3	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

23.3% of Fluent shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.9% of X3 shares are held by institutional investors. 43.5% of Fluent shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 23.9% of X3 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.

Summary

Fluent beats X3 on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fluent

Fluent, Inc. provides data-driven digital marketing services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Fluent and All Other segments. It offers customer acquisition services by operating digital marketing campaigns, through which the company connects its advertiser clients with consumers. The company also delivers data and performance-based marketing executions to various consumer brands, direct marketers, and agencies across a range of industries, including financial products and services, media and entertainment, health and life sciences, retail and consumer, and staffing and recruitment. Fluent, Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About X3

X3 Holdings Co Ltd. provides technology solutions and services worldwide. The company offers Global Trade Platform, a digital platform for trading partners, service providers, and government authorities. It also engages in bitcoin cryptomining operations, renewable energy projects, and agriculture technologies and trading. The company was formerly known as Powerbridge Technologies Co., Ltd. and changed its name to X3 Holdings Co Ltd. in January 2024. X3 Holdings Co Ltd. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Singapore.