Zhihu (NYSE:ZH) and LiveWorld (OTCMKTS:LVWD) Financial Review

LiveWorld (OTCMKTS:LVWD) and Zhihu (NYSE:ZH) 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 institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, risk, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for LiveWorld and Zhihu, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

28.9% of Zhihu shares are owned by institutional investors. 16.3% of LiveWorld shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.6% of Zhihu shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LiveWorld	4.32%	9.43%	5.24%
Zhihu	-7.18%	-4.82%	-3.57%

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LiveWorld	$11.14 million	0.45	$330,000.00	$0.01	11.01
Zhihu	$393.10 million	0.70	-$27.58 million	($0.36)	-8.63

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

Risk and Volatility

LiveWorld has a beta of 0.19, meaning that its stock price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zhihu has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

LiveWorld beats Zhihu on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Zhihu

Zhihu Inc. operates an online content community in the People’s Republic of China. Its community allows people to seek inspiration, find solutions, make decisions, and have fun. The company offers technology, business support, and consulting services; information transmission, software, and information technology services. It also offers information and marketing services; vocational training; and internet services, as well as holds audio-visual permit. Zhihu Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China.