Critical Comparison: Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) and Telos (NASDAQ:TLS)

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) and Telos (NASDAQ:TLS) are both technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Oracle and Telos’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oracle	25.37%	58.62%	8.36%
Telos	-8.13%	-2.60%	-1.80%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Oracle and Telos, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oracle	1	8	28	2	2.79
Telos	1	2	3	0	2.33

Oracle presently has a consensus target price of $263.97, indicating a potential upside of 82.70%. Telos has a consensus target price of $7.10, indicating a potential upside of 61.18%. Given Oracle’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Oracle is more favorable than Telos.

Risk and Volatility

Oracle has a beta of 1.72, indicating that its share price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Telos has a beta of 1, indicating that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Oracle and Telos”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Oracle	$67.36 billion	6.18	$17.09 billion	$5.83	24.78
Telos	$193.71 million	1.70	-$36.55 million	($0.21)	-20.98

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

42.4% of Oracle shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.1% of Telos shares are owned by institutional investors. 40.9% of Oracle shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.9% of Telos shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Oracle beats Telos on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Oracle

Oracle Corporation offers products and services that address enterprise information technology environments worldwide. Its Oracle cloud software as a service offering include various cloud software applications, including Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP), Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise performance management, Oracle Fusion cloud supply chain and manufacturing management, Oracle Fusion cloud human capital management, Oracle Cerner healthcare, Oracle Advertising, and NetSuite applications suite, as well as Oracle Fusion Sales, Service, and Marketing. The company also offers cloud-based industry solutions for various industries; Oracle application licenses; and Oracle license support services. In addition, it provides cloud and license business' infrastructure technologies, such as the Oracle Database and MySQL Database; Java, a software development language; and middleware, including development tools and others. The company's cloud and license business' infrastructure technologies also comprise cloud-based compute, storage, and networking capabilities; and Oracle autonomous database, MySQL HeatWave, Internet-of-Things, digital assistant, and blockchain. Further, it provides hardware products and other hardware-related software offerings, including Oracle engineered systems, enterprise servers, storage solutions, industry-specific hardware, virtualization software, operating systems, management software, and related hardware services; and consulting and customer services. The company markets and sells its cloud, license, hardware, support, and services offerings directly to businesses in various industries, government agencies, and educational institutions, as well as through indirect channels. The company has a collaboration with Amdocs Limited to empower customers on their journey towards cloud and digital adoption. Oracle Corporation was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Telos

Telos Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides cyber, cloud, and enterprise security solutions worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Security Solutions and Secure Networks. It provides Xacta, a platform for enterprise cyber risk management and security compliance automation; and consulting, assessment and compliance, engineering and evaluation, operations, and penetration testing services. The company also offers Telos Automated Message Handling System, a web-based organizational message distribution and management for mission-critical communications used by military field operatives; and Telos Advanced Cyber Analytics solution, which is a threat feed source of global Internet Protocol addresses known to engage in potentially malicious activity, including mass scanning and generic opportunistic attacks; and Telos Ghost, a solution to eliminate cyberattack surfaces by obfuscating and encrypting data, masking user identity and location, and hiding network resources, as well as provides security and privacy for intelligence gathering, cyber threat protection, securing critical infrastructure, and protecting communications and applications. In addition, the company provides IDTrust360, an enterprise digital trusted identity risk platform for extending flexible hybrid cloud identity services; and ONYX, a touchless fingerprint biometric solution for mobile devices. Further, it offers secure mobility solutions that enable remote work and minimize operational and security concerns across and beyond the enterprise; and network management and defense services for operating, administrating, and defending complex enterprise networks and services for defensive cyber operations. It serves the United States federal government, large commercial businesses, state and local governments, and international customers. Telos Corporation was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia.