Tucows (NASDAQ:TCX) versus LiveWorld (OTCMKTS:LVWD) Critical Survey

Tucows (NASDAQ:TCX) and LiveWorld (OTCMKTS:LVWD) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Tucows and LiveWorld’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tucows	-20.08%	N/A	-9.18%
LiveWorld	4.32%	9.43%	5.24%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

73.6% of Tucows shares are held by institutional investors. 9.4% of Tucows shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 16.3% of LiveWorld shares are held by 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Tucows and LiveWorld”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tucows	$390.30 million	0.42	-$75.82 million	($7.10)	-2.06
LiveWorld	$11.14 million	0.45	$330,000.00	$0.01	11.01

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

Risk & Volatility

Tucows has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LiveWorld has a beta of 0.19, suggesting that its share price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Tucows and LiveWorld, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tucows	1	0	0	0	1.00
LiveWorld	0	0	0	0	0.00

Summary

LiveWorld beats Tucows on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tucows

Tucows Inc. provides network access, domain name registration, email, mobile telephony, and other Internet services in North America and Europe. It operates in three segments: Ting, Wavelo and Tucows Domains. The Ting segment provides fiber and fixed wireless internet services. The Wavelo segment offers individual developer tools, subscription, billing management, network orchestration, and provisioning services. This segment also provides billing solutions under Platypus brand. The Tucows Domains segment offers name registration, as well as value added services under OpenSRS, eNom, Ascio, EPAG, and Hover brands. The company was formerly known as Infonautics, Inc. and changed its name to Tucows Inc. in August 2001. Tucows Inc. was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

About LiveWorld

LiveWorld, Inc., a digital agency and software company, provides social media and technology solutions for pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and financial-travel service industries. It offers consulting, strategy, and creative solutions with human agents for moderation, engagement, customer care, and adverse events management, as well as conversation management software, and chatbots for digital campaigns and social media programs. The company was formerly known as Talk City, Inc. and changed its name to Liveworld, Inc. in May 2001. Liveworld, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Campbell, California.