First Advantage (FA) Competitors

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) and Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, media sentiment, risk, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.

Is FA or APLD more profitable?

First Advantage has a net margin of 0.65% compared to Applied Digital's net margin of -111.29%. First Advantage's return on equity of 13.16% beat Applied Digital's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Advantage	0.65%	13.16%	7.33%
Applied Digital	-111.29%	-37.14%	-12.01%

Do analysts recommend FA or APLD?

First Advantage presently has a consensus price target of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 42.76%. Applied Digital has a consensus price target of $22.10, indicating a potential downside of 35.46%. Given First Advantage's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Advantage is more favorable than Applied Digital.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Advantage	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Applied Digital	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92

Which has more risk and volatility, FA or APLD?

First Advantage has a beta of 1.21, meaning that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Digital has a beta of 6.77, meaning that its share price is 577% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor FA or APLD?

In the previous week, Applied Digital had 25 more articles in the media than First Advantage. MarketBeat recorded 29 mentions for Applied Digital and 4 mentions for First Advantage. Applied Digital's average media sentiment score of 0.76 beat First Advantage's score of 0.70 indicating that Applied Digital is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Advantage	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Applied Digital	14 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in FA or APLD?

94.9% of First Advantage shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.7% of Applied Digital shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Advantage shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.5% of Applied Digital shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, FA or APLD?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Advantage	$1.25B	1.95	$37.29M	-$0.92	-15.23
Applied Digital	$144.19M	66.42	-$231.07M	-$1.13	-30.30

Summary

First Advantage beats Applied Digital on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.