MeridianLink (MLNK) Competitors

BOX (NYSE:BOX) and MeridianLink (NYSE:MLNK) are both computer software companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of BOX or MLNK?

86.7% of BOX shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.7% of MeridianLink shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of BOX shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of MeridianLink shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts recommend BOX or MLNK?

BOX presently has a consensus price target of $38.50, suggesting a potential upside of 15.75%. MeridianLink has a consensus price target of $19.42, suggesting a potential upside of 13.42%. Given BOX's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe BOX is more favorable than MeridianLink.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BOX	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80
MeridianLink	2 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is BOX or MLNK more profitable?

BOX has a net margin of 21.38% compared to MeridianLink's net margin of -9.11%. MeridianLink's return on equity of -5.14% beat BOX's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BOX	21.38%	-20.17%	5.22%
MeridianLink	-9.11%	-5.14%	-2.26%

Does the media prefer BOX or MLNK?

In the previous week, BOX had 4 more articles in the media than MeridianLink. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for BOX and 3 mentions for MeridianLink. MeridianLink's average media sentiment score of 1.00 beat BOX's score of 0.49 indicating that MeridianLink is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
BOX	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
MeridianLink	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings and valuation, BOX or MLNK?

BOX has higher revenue and earnings than MeridianLink. MeridianLink is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BOX, 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
BOX	$1.10B	4.34	$244.62M	$1.29	25.78
MeridianLink	$316.30M	4.18	-$29.77M	-$0.38	-45.05

Which has more volatility & risk, BOX or MLNK?

BOX has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MeridianLink has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

BOX beats MeridianLink on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.