Head to Head Survey: Apollo Strategic Growth Capital (NYSE:APSG) and Daseke (NASDAQ:DSKE)

Apollo Strategic Growth Capital (NYSE:APSG – Get Rating) and Daseke (NASDAQ:DSKE – Get Rating) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Apollo Strategic Growth Capital and Daseke, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Apollo Strategic Growth Capital	0	0	0	0	N/A
Daseke	0	1	1	0	2.50

Daseke has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 68.30%. Given Daseke’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Daseke is more favorable than Apollo Strategic Growth Capital.

Profitability

This table compares Apollo Strategic Growth Capital and Daseke’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Apollo Strategic Growth Capital	N/A	-15.61%	-1.86%
Daseke	4.64%	68.94%	6.91%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.0% of Apollo Strategic Growth Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.9% of Daseke shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Apollo Strategic Growth Capital shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 31.2% of Daseke shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Apollo Strategic Growth Capital has a beta of -0.04, suggesting that its stock price is 104% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Daseke has a beta of 1.86, suggesting that its stock price is 86% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Apollo Strategic Growth Capital and Daseke’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Apollo Strategic Growth Capital	N/A	N/A	$6.20 million	N/A	N/A
Daseke	$1.56 billion	0.29	$56.00 million	$1.06	6.73

Daseke has higher revenue and earnings than Apollo Strategic Growth Capital.

Summary

Daseke beats Apollo Strategic Growth Capital on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

Apollo Strategic Growth Capital Company Profile (Get Rating)

Apollo Strategic Growth Capital does not have significant operations. It intends to effect a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or other business combination with one or more businesses. The company was formerly known as APH III (Sub I), Ltd. and changed its name to Apollo Strategic Growth Capital in August 2020. Apollo Strategic Growth Capital was incorporated in 2008 and is based in New York, New York.

Daseke Company Profile (Get Rating)

Daseke, Inc. provides transportation and logistics solutions with a focus on flatbed and specialized freight in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It operates through two segments, Flatbed Solutions and Specialized Solutions. The company transports aircraft parts, manufacturing equipment, structural steel, pressure vessels, wind turbine blades, commercial glass, high security cargo, arms, ammunition and explosives, lumber, and building and construction materials, as well as heavy machinery, such as construction, mining, and agriculture. It also offers logistical planning and warehousing services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 2,623 company-owned tractors and 2,074 independent owned contractors tractors; and 11,266 trailers. Daseke, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Addison, Texas.