Financial Contrast: Cognyte Software (NASDAQ:CGNT) vs. Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ)

Cognyte Software (NASDAQ:CGNT) and Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Cognyte Software and Marqeta, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cognyte Software	0	3	0	0	2.00
Marqeta	0	5	10	0	2.67

Cognyte Software presently has a consensus target price of $8.25, indicating a potential upside of 21.50%. Marqeta has a consensus target price of $7.11, indicating a potential upside of 42.71%. Given Marqeta’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Marqeta is more favorable than Cognyte Software.

Risk and Volatility

Cognyte Software has a beta of 1.74, indicating that its stock price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Marqeta has a beta of 1.78, indicating that its stock price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

72.9% of Cognyte Software shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of Marqeta shares are owned by institutional investors. 62.7% of Cognyte Software shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.1% of Marqeta shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Cognyte Software and Marqeta’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cognyte Software	-1.35%	-2.56%	-1.17%
Marqeta	-2.62%	0.51%	0.40%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Cognyte Software and Marqeta”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cognyte Software	$330.21 million	1.46	-$15.57 million	($0.17)	-39.94
Marqeta	$470.95 million	5.48	-$222.96 million	($0.36)	-13.83

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

Summary

Marqeta beats Cognyte Software on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cognyte Software

Cognyte Software Ltd. provides an investigative analytics software to governments and enterprises worldwide. Its Actionable Intelligence for a Safer World, an open software designed to help governments and enterprises accelerate and enhance the effectiveness of investigations. The company offers network intelligence analytics, threat intelligence analytics, decision intelligence analytics, and operational intelligence analytics solutions. Its solutions are designed to support various use cases and support a range of users, including data analysts, investigation managers, and security operations center operators, as well as operational field teams. In addition, the company provides customer support, professional, and integration services. Its government customers include national, regional, and local government agencies. Cognyte Software Ltd. was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in Herzliya, Israel.

About Marqeta

Marqeta, Inc. operates a cloud-based open application programming interface platform that delivers card issuing and transaction processing services. It offers its solutions in various verticals, including financial services, on-demand services, expense management, and e-commerce enablement, as well as buy now, pay later. Marqeta, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Oakland, California.