VerifyMe (NASDAQ:VRME) vs. Kubient (NASDAQ:KBNT) Critical Comparison

Kubient (NASDAQ:KBNT) and VerifyMe (NASDAQ:VRME) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

Kubient has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, VerifyMe has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Kubient and VerifyMe, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kubient	0	0	0	0	N/A
VerifyMe	0	0	2	0	3.00

VerifyMe has a consensus price target of $2.85, indicating a potential upside of 87.50%. Given VerifyMe’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe VerifyMe is more favorable than Kubient.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Kubient and VerifyMe’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kubient	$2.40 million	0.00	-$13.62 million	($0.87)	0.00
VerifyMe	$25.31 million	0.61	-$3.39 million	($0.23)	-6.61

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

Profitability

This table compares Kubient and VerifyMe’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kubient	N/A	N/A	N/A
VerifyMe	-9.30%	-16.79%	-10.89%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

13.9% of Kubient shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.8% of VerifyMe shares are held by institutional investors. 22.3% of Kubient shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 24.1% of VerifyMe shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

VerifyMe beats Kubient on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kubient

Kubient, Inc. develops a cloud-based software platform for digital advertising industry. It develops Audience Marketplace, a platform for real-time trading of digital, programmatic advertising. The company's platform allows advertisers and publishers the ability to use machine learning during programmatic advertising inventory auction. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is based in New York, New York.

About VerifyMe

VerifyMe, Inc., together with its subsidiary, PeriShip Global, LLC, operates as a technology solutions provider that specializes in products to connect brands with consumers and providing brands with end-to-end logistics management for their products. The company operates through two segments, VerifyMe Solutions and PeriShip Global Solutions. The VerifyMe Solutions segment offers technology solutions to connect brands with consumers allowing brand owners to gather business intelligence while engaging directly with their consumers. Its solutions provide brand protection and supply chain functions, such as counterfeit prevention, traceability, consumer engagement solutions, and authentication for labels, packaging, and products, as well as tamper-proof labels. The PeriShip Global Solutions segment offers predictive analytics for optimizing delivery of time and temperature sensitive perishable products. This segment's products include PeriTrack customer dashboard, an integrated web portal tool gives its customers an in-depth look at their shipping activities based on real-time data. It also provides call center, pre-transit, post-delivery, and weather/traffic services. The company has a strategic partnership with INX International Ink Company. The company was formerly known as LaserLock Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to VerifyMe, Inc. in July 2015. VerifyMe, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida.