Inuvo (NYSE:INUV – Get Rating) and Direct Digital (NASDAQ:DRCT – Get Rating) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Inuvo and Direct Digital's gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
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| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
| Inuvo | $59.83 million | 0.44 | -$7.60 million | ($0.09) | -2.44 |
| Direct Digital | $38.14 million | 0.93 | -$1.51 million | ($62.19) | -0.04 |
Direct Digital has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Inuvo. Inuvo is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Direct Digital, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Inuvo and Direct Digital, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
| Inuvo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Direct Digital | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 |
Direct Digital has a consensus target price of $6.50, suggesting a potential upside of 167.49%. Given Direct Digital's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Direct Digital is more favorable than Inuvo.
Profitability
This table compares Inuvo and Direct Digital's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
| Inuvo | -13.28% | -35.24% | -25.11% |
| Direct Digital | 0.87% | 99.00% | 6.44% |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
16.1% of Inuvo shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.3% of Direct Digital shares are held by institutional investors. 8.3% of Inuvo shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 78.3% of Direct Digital shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Direct Digital beats Inuvo on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Inuvo
(Get Rating)
Inuvo, Inc., a technology company, develops and sells information technology solutions in the United States. The company's platforms identify and message online audiences for various products or services across devices, formats, and channels, including video, mobile, connected TV, linear TV, display, social, search, and native. Its platforms optimizes the purchase and placement of advertising in real time. The company's products and services include ValidClick that provides marketing and advertising services, as well as collection of data, analytics, software, and publishing gets used to align merchant advertising messages with anonymous consumers across various websites online; and IntentKey, an artificial intelligence-based consumer intent recognition system designed to reach targeted mobile and desktop in-market audiences. It also operates a collection of websites under the Bonfire Publishing brand, which creates content across a range of topics, including health, finance, travel, careers, auto, education, and lifestyle categories. The company's marketing channels consist of websites, social media, blogs, public relations, trade shows, and conferences. Inuvo, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.
About Direct Digital
(Get Rating)
Direct Digital Holdings, Inc. operates as an end-to-end full-service programmatic advertising platform. The company's platform primarily focuses on providing advertising technology, data-driven campaign optimization, and other solutions to underserved and less efficient markets on both the buy- and sell-side of the digital advertising ecosystem. It serves various industry verticals, such as travel, healthcare, education, financial services, consumer products, etc. with focus on small- and mid-sized businesses. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
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