Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) vs. Samsara (NYSE:IOT) Critical Analysis

Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE) and Samsara (NYSE:IOT) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Guidewire Software and Samsara”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Guidewire Software	$1.34 billion	9.22	$69.80 million	$2.20	66.39
Samsara	$1.62 billion	10.88	-$9.12 million	($0.02)	-1,516.50

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

Volatility and Risk

Guidewire Software has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Samsara has a beta of 1.5, suggesting that its stock price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Guidewire Software and Samsara, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Guidewire Software	1	3	11	1	2.75
Samsara	1	3	12	2	2.83

Guidewire Software presently has a consensus target price of $249.85, suggesting a potential upside of 71.06%. Samsara has a consensus target price of $46.18, suggesting a potential upside of 52.25%. Given Guidewire Software’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Guidewire Software is more favorable than Samsara.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

96.0% of Samsara shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Guidewire Software shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 46.5% of Samsara shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Guidewire Software and Samsara’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Guidewire Software	14.11%	13.44%	7.48%
Samsara	-0.56%	-0.72%	-0.40%

Summary

Samsara beats Guidewire Software on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Guidewire Software

Guidewire Software, Inc. provides a platform for property and casualty (P&C) insurers worldwide. The company offers Guidewire InsuranceSuite Cloud, such as PolicyCenter Cloud, BillingCenter Cloud, and ClaimCenter Cloud applications. It also provides Guidewire InsuranceNow, a cloud-based platform that offers policy, billing, and claims management functionality to insurers; and Guidewire InsuranceSuite for Self-Managed. In addition, the company offers Guidewire Rating Management to manage the pricing of insurance products; and Guidewire Reinsurance Management to use rules-based logic to execute reinsurance strategy through underwriting and claims processes. Further, it provides Guidewire Underwriting Management, a cloud-based integrated business application; Guidewire AppReader, a submission intake management solution; Guidewire ClaimCenter Package for the London market supports the claims workflow used by London Market insurers and brokers; Guidewire Digital Engagement Applications, which enable insurers to provide digital experiences to customers, agents, vendors, and field personnel through their device of choice; and Guidewire for Salesforce to provide customer information regarding policies and claims. Additionally, the company offers Guidewire Predict, a P&C-specific machine-learning platform; Guidewire HazardHub that allows insurers to understand, assess, price, and manage property risk; Guidewire Canvas, Guidewire Compare, and Guidewire Explore cloud-native applications; and Guidewire Cyence, a cyber-risk economic modeling product. The company was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California.

About Samsara

Samsara Inc. provides solutions that connects physical operations data to its connected operations cloud in the United States and internationally. The company's Connected Operations Cloud includes Data Platform, which ingests, aggregates, and enriches data from its IoT devices and has embedded capabilities for AI, workflows and analytics, alerts, API connections, and data security and privacy. Its applications include video-based safety that enables customers to build a safety program and protect their teams with AI-enabled video; vehicle telematics which provides visibility into real-time vehicle location and diagnostics with GPS tracking, routing and dispatch, fuel efficiency management, electric vehicle usage and charge planning, preventative maintenance, and insights to manage fuel and energy costs; and mobile apps and workflows that improves productivity for frontline workers and enables regulatory compliance for workers to see upcoming jobs, capture electronic documents, perform maintenance inspections, maintain compliance logs, and message with back-office administration. The company also provides equipment monitoring which offers visibility and management of unpowered and powered assets, ranging from generators and compressors to heavy construction equipment and trailers to improve operating efficiency, prevent unplanned downtime, and avoid critical safety and compliance issues; and site visibility that provides remote visibility into sites to improve onsite security, safety, and incident response times. It serves transportation, wholesale and retail trade, construction, field services, logistics, utilities and energy, healthcare and education, manufacturing, food and beverage, and other industries, as well as government. Samsara Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.