Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) and Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) Critical Contrast

Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) and Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Bentley Systems and Palantir Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bentley Systems	27.73%	29.50%	8.49%
Palantir Technologies	16.13%	7.21%	5.76%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bentley Systems and Palantir Technologies”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bentley Systems	$1.23 billion	10.91	$326.71 million	$1.11	41.51
Palantir Technologies	$2.87 billion	93.32	$209.82 million	$0.19	617.87

Bentley Systems has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Palantir Technologies. Bentley Systems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Palantir Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Bentley Systems and Palantir Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bentley Systems	0	2	5	0	2.71
Palantir Technologies	6	12	3	0	1.86

Bentley Systems currently has a consensus price target of $57.00, suggesting a potential upside of 23.70%. Palantir Technologies has a consensus price target of $69.44, suggesting a potential downside of 40.84%. Given Bentley Systems’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Bentley Systems is more favorable than Palantir Technologies.

Risk and Volatility

Bentley Systems has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Palantir Technologies has a beta of 2.81, indicating that its share price is 181% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

44.2% of Bentley Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.7% of Palantir Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.1% of Bentley Systems shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.9% of Palantir Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Bentley Systems beats Palantir Technologies on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bentley Systems

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, provides infrastructure engineering software solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company offers open modeling engineering applications, such as MicroStation, OpenBridge, OpenBuildings, OpenCities, OpenComms, OpenFlows, OpenPlant, OpenRail, OpenRoads, OpenSite, OpenTower, OpenTunnel, OpenUtilities, and OpenWindowPower; and open simulation engineering applications, including ADINA, AutoPIPE, CUBE, DYNAMEQ, EMME, LEGION, Power Line Systems, RAM, SACS, SPIDA, and STAAD; and geoprofessional applications for modeling and simulation of near and deep subsurface conditions, including AGS, Central, GeoStudio, Imago, Leapfrog, MX Deposit, Oasis montaj, OpenGround, and PLAXIS. It also provides infrastructure cloud applications, such as ProjectWise, SYNCHRO, and AssetWise, as well as iTwin platform that enables users to create and curate cloud native 4D/5D digital representations of physical infrastructure assets consisting of iTwin Capture, iTwin Experience, and iTwin IoT platforms. The company serves civil, structural, geotechnical, subsurface, process engineers, architects, geospatial professionals, city and regional planners, contractors, fabricators, and operations and maintenance engineers. Bentley Systems, Incorporated was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania.

About Palantir Technologies

Palantir Technologies, Inc. engages in the business of building and deploying software platforms that serve as the central operating systems for its customers. It operates under the Commercial and Government segments. The Commercial segment focuses on customers working in non-government industries. The Government segment is involved in providing services to customers that are the United States government and non-United States government agencies. The company was founded by Alexander Ceadmon Karp, Peter Andreas Thiel, Stephen Cohen, and Nathan Dale Gettings in 2003 and is headquartered in Denver, CO.