Head to Head Review: Sound Group (NASDAQ:SOGP) and Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU)

Sound Group (NASDAQ:SOGP) and Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.6% of Sound Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 25.2% of Sound Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 16.7% of Baidu shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sound Group and Baidu”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sound Group	$1.77 billion	0.01	-$17.84 million	N/A	N/A
Baidu	$133.13 billion	0.26	$3.26 billion	$9.17	10.71

Baidu has higher revenue and earnings than Sound Group.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Sound Group and Baidu, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sound Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
Baidu	0	12	7	0	2.37

Baidu has a consensus price target of $111.25, indicating a potential upside of 13.24%. Given Baidu’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Baidu is more favorable than Sound Group.

Volatility and Risk

Sound Group has a beta of 1.62, indicating that its stock price is 62% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Baidu has a beta of 0.47, indicating that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Sound Group and Baidu’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sound Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Baidu	17.90%	8.67%	5.51%

Summary

Baidu beats Sound Group on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sound Group

Sound Group Inc. operates as an audio-centric social and entertainment company. It focuses on building audio platform to connect and communicate. The company, through its product portfolio and in-house technologies, caters to user interest in audio entertainment and social networking. The company was formerly known as LIZHI INC. and changed its name to Sound Group Inc. in January 2024. Sound Group Inc. was founded in 2010 and is based in Singapore.

About Baidu

Baidu, Inc. engages in the provision of internet search services in China. It operates through two segments: Baidu Core and iQIYI. The company offers Baidu App to access search, feed, and other services using mobile devices; Baidu Search to access its search and other services; Baidu Feed that provides users with personalized timeline based on their demographics and interests; Baidu Health that helps users to find the doctor and hospital for healthcare needs; and Haokan, a short video app. It also provides Baidu Knows, an online community where users can ask questions to other users; Baidu Wiki; Baidu Experience; Baidu Post; ERNIE Bot, conversational AI bot; Baidu Wenku; Baidu Maps, a voice-enabled mobile app that provides travel-related services; Baidu Drive; Baijiahao; and DuerOS, a smart assistant platform. In addition, it offers online marketing services, which include pay for performance, an auction-based services that allow customers to bid for priority placement of paid sponsored links and reach users who search for information related to their products or services; other marketing services that include display-based marketing services and other online marketing services based on performance criteria other than cost per click; mobile ecosystem, a portfolio of apps, including Baidu App, Haokan, and Baidu Post; various cloud services and solutions, such as platform as a service, software as a service, and infrastructure as a service; self-driving services, including maps, automated valet parking, navigation pilot, electric vehicles, and robotaxi fleets, as well as Xiaodu smart devices. Further, the company provides iQIYI, an online entertainment service, including original and licensed content; other video content and membership; and online advertising services. It has strategic partnership with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. The company was formerly known as Baidu.com, Inc. Baidu, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.